Between 2008 and 2014, Pepe spread organically across the early social web. MySpace users posted the “feels good man” image as a reaction to good news. Tumblr communities adopted Sad Pepe and Smug Pepe as emotional shorthand. But the home that defined Pepe’s identity was 4chan’s /b/ board, where users began drawing custom Pepes — Smug Pepe, Sad Pepe, Angry Pepe, Crying Pepe — and trading them like baseball cards.
By 2014, Pepe had become the most reused image on 4chan. He was the universal mascot of internet culture. Anonymous users built entire visual languages around him. The “rare Pepes” subculture began — the idea that some Pepes were more valuable than others. It was a precursor to NFTs, complete with collectors, traders, and an underground economy. Pepe was no longer Matt Furie’s creation. He belonged to the internet.
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