About

Eating Without YouTube refers to a series of memes that imagine that eating a meal without watching a YouTube video in the process can have various adverse effects, such as ending up in a hospital, or describe it as a difficult or impossible feat.

Origin

On April 22nd, 2018, Twitter^[1] user @screamingcryin posted a now-deleted post about refusing to eat food before putting on a YouTube video or a TV show (reupload shown below).

Spread

In the following months, the post was widely shared online. For example, on May 4th, 2018, Instagram^[2] account makeupforblackwomen reposted it as a captioned video, with the post gaining over 33,100 views and 3,500 likes in three years.

Prior to January 2022, jokes based on the premise saw a minor presence online. For example, on January 25th, 2020, Redditor^[3] Siewek posted an image caption meme that gained over 2,800 upvotes in /r/danganronpa subreddit in six months (shown below, left). On May 26th, 2021, iFunny^[4] user Uppish_ posted a GIF caption meme that gained 59 smiles on the app in one year (shown below, right). A May 30th, 2021, repost of the meme in the /r/196 subreddit^[5] accumulated over 16,900 upvotes in six months.

Jokes about eating without YouTube having adverse effects on one's physical condition gained virality after on December 23rd, 2022, Instagram^[6] user notmadewithemematic posted a What Happened to Him? meme using the joke as punchline that gained over 10,000 likes in six months (shown below). On December 31st, 2021, Twitter^[7] user @internetsession reposted a the meme, with the post gaining over 93,100 retweets and 692,500 likes on Twitter in three months.

In the following months, multiple memes exploring the premies were posted on social media, including memes posted on Twitter and TikTok.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References