Reblogging

There is no original to identify: this spread through many separate posts at once rather than from a first one. ViralWorld holds no copy of it either — what it was, when it spread and what people called it is the record.

Nothing here is claimed to be the first version of this, because research established there was not one — it appeared in many places at once.

Not established. This index only names a creator where the evidence supports it.

What happens

Reposting an item onto your own blog with the original chain attached and room to add to it. The mechanic Tumblr made central, and the reason a Tumblr post reads as a conversation between people who have never met.