About

The origin behind this meme is that the phrase “I want what they have” is sometimes associated with relationships, or when social media users are using that phrase to describe celebrities and or their friends and family who express their positive relationships online. The idea behind this image and how it relates to the meme is that before wireless headphones^[1], users seemed to always be untangling their headphones before using them.

Origin

The origin of using this catchphrase is used as early as 2004, however, the first known use of it for memetic purposes dates to 2016, as it was used for a tweet describing pop star, Lady Gaga's, love life.

Precursor

The precursor to this phrase being used as a meme is from a Twitter user “@frostygary”^[2], from January 28th, 2016, who runs a Lady Gaga fan account in which a picture was posted of the artist and her previous fiancé, saying that this user wants a relationship and or love life like Lady Gaga did. A more recent precursor is rapper Lil Nas X posting a video on his Twitter account on February 22nd, 2020^[3], of what appeared to be a dog and cat video-chatting with each other, also using the phrase “I want what they have”.

Spread

The spread of the meme's image itself hasn't gotten much traction, however, the idea of saying to someone "I want what they have" is traced back as early as January 2004. Over time, the usage of this phrase has gained immense popularity. A spike of using the phrase can be seen in January 2016.

Examples

http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/real-life-origins-legendary-kraken/
https://me.me/i/i-want-what-they-have-5e2819d068a1440e911ed8d97ddb0f0f

^[1] https://www.sciencealert.com/theres-a-scientific-reason-your-iphone-headphones-are-always-tangled

^[2] https://twitter.com/frostygary/status/692773983943524352

^[3] https://twitter.com/LilNasX/status/1231282056019283968