I am a Chinese student who studies linguistics. My BA thesis is about the usage of "be like" (non-finite form of "be") followed by a meme. E.g.,

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such "be like" structure is used commonly between Chinese young people, too. I have seen some relevant discussions in this website, and I know the "be" here has something to do with AAE (American African English). But I wonder how does this usage become popular——I mean, the invibrant "be like" is used before a meme, while finite "is/was like" and so on are more commonly used as quotative markers. Or, can "be like" replace "is/was" like in spoken English? Does that happen in daily conversation? I am searching for papers about it, only to find them scarce. I will be delighted if you can give me some help.