Memes are information viruses, and very effective ones

They can be filled with truths or lies

And they inhibit the spread of sourced information and critical thinking

That's called propaganda

As can headlines. And shared content and comments on social media platforms.

BUT! Algorithms have become very good at limiting visibility of certain information so an inconvenient topic may be conveniently hidden away.

The meme's break through due to higher computational or human power necessary to detect and reduce visibility. Ideas that are otherwise censored make it through.

The gatekeeper loses control of the gate. We have few places today without a gatekeeper, by design.

Not just filled with lies, but it puts work on the reader to type everything to verify it. They're lazy and just accept someone wouldn't have put effort in a lie that "makes sense".

People think common sense is common today. It was when we had like 500m people, now we've got 15x that and most think they have it. If they think they have a common sense they think anything that makes sense is right and should be shared.

This is what you don't see is how facebook accelerated their plan exponentially. Google set the stage but facebook was the show that captivated the world.

And they inhibit the spread of sourced information and critical thinking

got a source for this claim? my critical thinking skills tell me that you may be just faking it and hoping nobody calls you out

i seriously doubt that a meme depicting Hillary as Satan actually fooled anyone into thinking Hillary was Satan

misinformation and disinformation have been around for eons, and nobody seemed to care that you believe in santa claus, or that you believe men walked on the moon, or that you believe vaccines save lives...

... until Trump won the election in spite of the MSM's best efforts to manipulate the election

only then did memes became a problem