Fake Transparent PNGs
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About
Fake Transparent PNGs are non-transparent images that have a checkered grey-and-white background, thus appearing as PNG files with a transparent background in search results. Starting in 2019, the seeming omnipresence of these fake images in search results became the subject of memes online.
Origin
Some of the earliest complaints about images appearing to have a transparent background but do not have it coming up in relevant search results are August 9th, 2018, post by Redditor GorillaNightmare in /r/assholedesign[1] subreddit (shown below, left) and a February 8th, 2019, tweet[2] by @RelaxAlax (shown below, right), which is also the earliest viral post about the problem. The tweet, in which @RelaxAlax condemned uploaders of images that only appear as PNGs with transparent backgrounds, received over 910 retweets and 5,000 likes in two years.
On April 10th, 2019, Redditor opusag posted the earliest found meme about fake transparent PNGs, with the post gaining over 50 upvotes in /r/Animemes[3] in six months (shown below, top left). On April 27th, 2019, content creator Stickfab posted a tweet[4] complaining about fake transparent PNGs that received over 4,800 retweets and 25,800 likes in two years. On July 24th that year, Instagram[5] user eddiebrock2007 posted the earliest viral meme about the phenomenon, with the post gaining nearly 10,000 likes and being widely circulated online in the following months (shown below, top right).
Spread
Prior to July 2020, memes about fake transparent PNGs saw occasional use online (examples shown below), with no known viral posts made during that period; additionally, several posts about the images appeared in /r/mildlyinfuriating subreddit,[6][7] with a January 20th, 2020, post by Redditor[8] LARAUJO gaining over 3,300 upvotes in six months. On April 9th, 2020, Twitter[9] account @teamsecret posted a You Truly Are the Lowest Scum in History meme that gained over 70 retweets and 490 likes in one year (shown below, right).
On July 16th, 2020, Redditor[10] Dellegro posted a Well, I Just Wanna Say That I'm a Huge Fan meme about fake transparent PNGs that received over 14,200 upvotes in six months (shown below, left).
Following the meme, more viral posts were made in the following months. On July 22nd, 2020, YouTuber jschlatt made a tweet[11] that received over 2,900 retweets and 63,500 likes in nine months (shown below, center). On the same day, content creator Stickfab replied[12] with a solution for the issue, tweeting a screenshot of a Google search option setting that filters out non-transparent images (shown below, right).
In September 2020, memes about fake transparent PNGs saw a spike in popularity which followed a viral tweet[13] by Dock of Shame Twitter gimmick account posted on August 30th, 2020.
Various Examples
Search Interest
External References
[1] Reddit – This image as fake transparent background :/
[2] Twitter – @RelaxAlax
[3] Reddit – pure devil
[4] Twitter – @_stickfab_
[5] Instagram – eddiebrock2007
[6] Reddit – These fake 'transparent' backgrounds that are even harder to erase
[7] Reddit – When it looks like a PNG but it's a fake transparent background instead
[8] Reddit – This image has a fake transparent background
[9] Twitter – @teamsecret
[10] Reddit – Fuck people who do this
[12] Twitter – @_stickfab_
[13] Twitter – @FavDockOfShame
