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Library/Meme & format/Keyboard Cat
Grade B8 sourcesHIS-01010

Keyboard Cat

Meme & format · 2007 · Notable

40Editable slideCertificate

A 2007 cat upload became a failure-video punchline with over 200 remixes by May 2009.

Original · Charlie Schmidt
Keyboard Cat! - THE ORIGINAL!
Keyboard Cat! on YouTube
Charlie Schmidt, who made Keyboard Cat video.
Matt DiGirolamo / CC BY 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Bento the Keyboard Cat, internet sensation and YouTube star, dies
The Guardian
Keyboard Cat | Know Your Meme
Know Your Meme

Spread Score

How it works
Reach39ContagionNo data yetBreadth40VelocityNo data yetLongevityNo data yet40

Numbers

Original upload views reported by TIME (approximately)
3.8M
As of Nov 23, 2009 · YouTube · TIME
Milestone date
May 2009
Jun 7 ’07 to May 2009
Platforms
5
Started on YouTube
Origin
Seeded
Culture (no sector)

Mechanics

  • Response chainPrimary
  • Platform jump
  • Press loop

How it spread

Trace the origin

An old home movie sat on YouTube before O'Farrell added it to a failure clip in 2009. A repeatable play-off gag spread through mashups, comedy sites and television, followed by advertising and a successor cat.

Documented milestone; not a measured attention peak. Dates use the stated precision; chart positions are date anchors.

Jan ’07JulSep ’08May ’09JunOctMay ’10DecMay ’12Jan ’14Feb ’16Mar ’18YouTubeOpen webXTVPress
YouTubeOpen webXTVPress

12 more events on this chart

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Timeline (15)

  1. June 2007

    Charlie Schmidt seed · Jun 7 ’07

    Schmidt uploaded his old keyboard-playing cat footage as Cool Cat.[1][2]

    Keyboard Cat! - THE ORIGINAL!
    Open the first post ↗

  2. February 2009

    Brad O'Farrell platform jump · Feb 2 ’09

    O'Farrell appended the cat clip to a failure video as a play-off gag.[2][3]

    Keyboard Cat | Know Your Meme

  3. April 2009

    Brad O'Farrell / Charlie Schmidt platform jump · Apr 6 ’09

    PlayHimOffKeyboardCat.com launched as a home for the growing remix collection.[2]

Origin
Seeded
Sector
Culture (no sector)
Region
US
Original upload views reported by TIME (approximately)
3.8M
As of Nov 23, 2009 · YouTube · TIME
Evidence
Grade B

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สวนสัตว์เปิดเขาเขียว on Instagram: "สวนสัตว์เปิดเขาเขียว อวดโฉม“ลูกฮิปโปแคระ”สุดน่ารัก ชวนเที่ยว วันหยุดยาว! เด็กเที่ยวฟรี 28 ก.ค. นี้ เมื่อเวลา 10.30 น.วันที่ 25 กรกฎาคม 2567 นายณรงวิทย์ ชดช้อย…

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Game of Thrones coffee cup

Open web · 2019

62
We find coffee cups where they’re not supposed to be all the time. Not sure what the big deal is. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ #leavenotrace

53B impressions

Rickrolling

YouTube · 2007

62
RickRoll'D

64M views

New cases, every week

How the next thing spread, the week it does.

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Jan ’07JulSep ’08May ’09JunOctMay ’10DecMay ’12Jan ’14Feb ’16Mar ’18YouTubeOpen webXTVPress
YouTubeOpen webXTVPress

12 more events on this chart

Join free to see them

  1. June 2007

    Charlie Schmidt seed · Jun 7 ’07

    Schmidt uploaded his old keyboard-playing cat footage as Cool Cat.[1][2]

    Keyboard Cat! - THE ORIGINAL!
    Open the first post ↗

  2. February 2009

    Brad O'Farrell platform jump · Feb 2 ’09

    O'Farrell appended the cat clip to a failure video as a play-off gag.[2][3]

    Keyboard Cat | Know Your Meme

  3. April 2009

    Brad O'Farrell / Charlie Schmidt platform jump · Apr 6 ’09

    PlayHimOffKeyboardCat.com launched as a home for the growing remix collection.[2]

  1. press · Apr 10 ’09

  2. milestone · May 2009

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Why it worked

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