Complex sentence: This phenomenon proved to be inordinately popular, and so, the "trout-slap" became a kind of Internet meme of the generation; although, at that point in time, only cyber-geeks were aware of such things.
Split into simpler sentences: This phenomenon proved to be inordinately popular, and so, the "trout-slap" became a kind of Internet meme of the generation. Although, at that point in time, only cyber-geeks were aware of such things.