Being 30 in the '80s vs. Being 30 in 2024

About

Being 30 in the '80s vs. Being 30 in 2024 is a comparison meme format that uses an exploitable image macro template to compare the appearance of a person who is 30 years old in the 1980s to someone who is 30 years old in 2024, depicting the '80s 30-year-old as more mature in appearance and the 2024 30-year-old as younger and clean-cut. The earliest example of the meme was posted to Facebook in March 2024, gaining viral spread over the following months and inspiring new variations comparing a variety of images. The memes have also inspired debates online over whether or not the idea that the meme supports, which is that men appeared older at a young age in the past, is true and why that might or might not be.

Origin

On March 15th, 2024, the Facebook^[1] meme page 𝐋𝐂𝐋 𝐅𝐥𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐫 𝟐.𝟎 posted an image macro comparing Jet Black from Cowboy Bebop to Shinji Ikari from Evangelion, the caption beside the former reading, "Being 30 in the 80's," and the caption beside the latter reading, "Being 30 in 2024." The post gained over 39,000 shares and 204,000 reactions in three months (shown below).

Spread

The meme quickly gained viral spread and was reposted across social media numerous times, including a March 15th, 2024, repost to iFunny^[2] that gained over 3,300 smiles in three months. The virality of the meme inspired new variations comparing different images, often in an ironic capacity.

For example, on March 19th, the Facebook^[3] page PokeLogic posted a version of the meme that gained over 8,000 reactions and 1,500 shares in three months (shown below, left). On the same day, the official 9GAG Instagram^[4] page shared a version of the meme that garnered over 779,000 likes in the same span of time (shown below, right).

Sometimes when the meme is posted, the user will add a description suggesting the idea behind the meme is a true phenomenon.

On April 2nd, 2024, a version of the meme was posted to the subreddit /r/Funnymemes^[5] under the title, "Is It Better Healthcare or More Manchildren?" garnering over 10,000 upvotes in two months. On April 7th, Threads^[6] user @nekodecopop posted a version of the meme, writing, "I’ve never seen such an accurate depiction of our generation 😂" garnering over 7,000 likes in two months (shown below).

On June 4th, the Sarcasm Facebook^[7] page posted a version of the meme comparing Jason Alexander to Timothee Chalamet, garnering over 32,000 reactions and 1,500 shares in three days (shown below, left).

On June 5th, 2024, X^[8] user @justalexoki reposted the original iteration of the meme. On June 6th, X^[9] user @simonsarris quote-reposted it, writing, "I have viewed maybe 200,000 historical photos from the 1800's to today, across all kinds of archives. The neoteny effect is very real and began probably around the 1920s for some people. Interestingly historical men resemble modern men more (vs women) in a lot of ways," garnering over 89,000 likes in under a day (shown below, right). The neoteny effect is defined as "the retention of the juvenile features in an adult animal" according to ScienceDirect.^[10]

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References