What Is the Difference Between a ‘Meme’ and a ‘Joke’?

A meme is like a fun idea that people pass around and change, while a joke is just a funny thing someone says or writes.

Imagine you have a toy car. If you show it to your friend, and they laugh because it’s silly, that's like a joke, it's funny in the moment. But if you and your friends start drawing pictures of the toy car, changing its color, and making up stories about it, and then other kids hear about it and do the same, that’s a meme, it grows and changes as more people join in.

A joke is like when you tell your friend a funny story, and they laugh. It's short and sweet, but it doesn’t usually keep going after that.

A meme is more like a game where everyone adds their own twist. It starts as one idea, but then it changes every time someone shares it, just like when you play telephone and the message gets funnier or stranger each round.