Memes were usually funny though. And just pictures so easily ignored if they weren't. I feel like this is just attention seeking.

Most memes and most application of memes were not that funny. Scrolling reddit 10 years ago is not that different from TikTok just with pictures instead of videos.

Weren't memes always just that? I think we're just old

Eh. They really weren't. "I'm firin' mah lazer" wasn't funny and yet for a while it was ubiquitous. I'd wager in fact that most memes weren't inherently funny: their purpose is in-group signalling for the most part.