Overview

Enem, short for "Exame Nacional do Ensino Médio," translated as High School National Exam, which is a non-mandatory yearly Brazilian national exam that evaluates students from all over the country and allows them to use their score to join university education in an easier and simplified way. Online, the test is generally viewed as a tremendous stressful moment for the students, inspiring image macros, viral videos and jokes about the exam’s content.

Background

The Enem exam was created in 1998 by the Brazilian government, initially with the goal to evaluate the level of knowledge of Brazilians during the high school period.^[1] In 2004, the exam started to be used as a score for students to join public, private and federal universities in the country.

Developments

Online, students have long created image macros and the exam is often a trending topic during October and November, period in which Enem occurs. For instance, a recurring event on social media is to post viral video about people failing to enter the exam’s facilites on time, popularly known as “atrasados do Enem,” which translates as “late Enem students.” For example, on November 7th, 2016, YouTube^[2] channel @PagodeDaOfensaNaWeb posted a video making fun of students doing the exam. The video (shown below) amassed over 11 million views and 510,000 likes in seven years.

Enem 2023

The 2023 edition of the Brazilian exam inspired a series of memes on social media, especially on X and TikTok. For instance, on November 5th, 2023, X^[3] user @beaaweb posted an ironic video of her reaction while reading some question of the exam. The post (shown below) amassed more than 67,000 views and 3,300 likes in a day.

Search Interest

External References