I'm Softblocking Right Now / Unfollowing Now meme depicting the teeth smile emoji used with the phrase "oof yikes."

Oof Yikes / I'm Softblocking Right Now / Unfollowing Now

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Updated Jul 17, 2023 at 01:20PM EDT by Zach.

Added Jul 23, 2019 at 10:53AM EDT by Adam.

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About

Oof Yikes or I'm Softblocking Right Now, also known as Unfollowing Now, refers to a copypasta that was popularized on Twitter in July 2019 and again in September 2021. The copypasta parodies people responding to a user who alerts them that a person they follow may have done something problematic or socially unacceptable in the past. The copypasta reads, "oof. Yikes 😬 thanks for letting me know. Im softblocking him right now. Sorry I saw a joke tweet he made a while back and followed. didn't know he'd…" followed by a humorously over-the-top bit of evildoing, oftentimes referencing the actions of a fictional character.

Origin

On July 20th, 2019, Twitter user @Turing_Police[1] tweeted "oof. Yikes 😬thanks for letting me know. Im softblocking him right now. Sorry I saw a joke tweet he made a while back and followed. didnt know he’s been trying to end your familys bloodline for seven generations so that his malign magickal influence can ravage the world unchecked," a reference to Dio from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, gaining over 1,500 retweets and 7,000 likes (shown below).


Turing Police @turing_police Follow oof. Yikes thanks for letting me know. Im softblocking him right now. Sorry i saw a joke tweet he made a while back and followed. didnt know he's been trying to end your familys bloodline for seven generations so that his malign magickal influence can ravage the world unchecked 2:38 PM - 20 Jul 2019

Spread

Over the following several days, the format grew popular on Twitter as users created examples that often referred to a villain in a fictional piece of media. For example, user @SabitoFan[2] made the joke using a Hunter x Hunter reference, gaining over 3,000 retweets and 7,800 likes (shown below, left). User @ravenbones_[3] made the joke using a The Cask of Amontillado reference, gaining over 2,300 retweets and 5,000 likes (shown below, right).


SASUKE DAY Follow @sabitofan oof. Yikes thanks for letting me know. Im softblocking right now. Sorry i saw a joke tweet he made a while back and followed. didnt know he slaughtered your entire clan and sold their eyes on the black market 8:57 PM -20 Jul 2019 tyler Follow @ravenbones oof. Yikes thanks for letting me know. Im softblocking right now. Sorry i saw a joke tweet he made a while back and followed. Didnt know he lied about having amontillado in his wine cellar and sealed a man away to slowly starve to death 3:15 AM - 22 Jul 2019

Other popular examples include a post by @rotarydials[4] that referenced Fallout: New Vegas, gaining over 210 retweets and 300 likes (shown below, left) and a tweet by @fightsgod[5] that gained over 600 retweets and 1,100 likes that referenced Devilman Crybaby (shown below, right).


this frog sitting on a windshield @rotarydials Follow oof. Yikes thanks for letting me know. Im softblocking right now. Sorry i saw a joke tweet he made a while back and followed. didnt know he followed you all the way to goodsprings just to shoot you and take the package you were trying to deliver 12:38 AM - 21 Jul 2019 lonely thots club @fightsgod Follow oof. Yikes thanks for letting me know. Im softblocking right now. Sorry i saw a joke tweet he made a while back and followed. didnt know he turned you into a demon at an underground sex party and caused the annihilation of humanity 2:09 AM -21 Jul 2019

Unfollowing Now

In September 2021, a variation of the meme trended on Twitter. The variation began on September 5th with a tweet by Twitter user ericthurm,[6] who tweeted a joke (shown below) about the Yu-Gi-Oh! character Pegasus. Thurm's tweet received over 21,000 likes and 5,000 retweets within three days.


meaning machine @EricThurm ... oof sorry, unfollowing now. really enjoyed his game design work, didn't know he trapped the soul of yugi's grandpa in a duel monsters card 1:08 PM - Sep 5, 2021 · Twitter Web App

Thurm's tweet was referring to Tripwire Interactive CEO John Gibson, who tweeted[7] on September 4th that he supported a recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court against abortion rights in Texas, saying, "I felt it was important to go on record as a pro-life game developer." Gibson would be fired later that week, and Tripwire would distance itself from Gibson's comments.[8]

In the following days, Thurm's variation, with "softblocking" replaced by "unfollowing," kickstarted a resurgence of the meme as multiple users posted variations. For example, on September 5th, Twitter user @ChillStableGuy[9] tweeted, "wow, ok, unfollowing now. I loved her oatmeal reviews, had no idea she was stealing the oatmeal from a lovable family of three rural bears," a reference to Goldilocks and the Three Bears, gaining over 7,400 retweets and 78,000 likes (shown below, left). On September 7th, the @SparkNotes[10] Twitter account posted a Cask of Amontillado joke, gaining over 1,500 retweets and 9,400 likes (shown below, right).


fiona apple neck tattoo @ChillStableGuy ... wow, ok, unfollowing now. i loved her oatmeal reviews, had no idea she was stealing the oatmeal from a lovable family of three rural bears 7:32 PM · Sep 5, 2021 · Twitter for iPhone SparkNotes O * @SparkNotes ... oof sorry, unfollowing now. really enjoyed his wine, had no idea he lured a man into the catacombs on the promise of a fine vintage and bricked him up in the wall 10:14 AM · Sep 7, 2021 · Twitter Web App

Various Examples


nyadoka Follow @meduka_ebooks oof. Yikes thanks for letting me know. Im softblocking right now. Sorry i saw a joke tweet he made a while back and followed didnt know he got you to give him your soul in return for a wish which ultimately caused you fall to despair and then turn into an eldritch horror. 2:03 AM - 21 Jul 2019 eight Follow @scenik8 oof. Yikes thanks for letting me know. Im softblocking right now. Sorry i saw a joke tweet he made a while back and followed. didnt know he cloned your mother by mistake and made her merge with an ancient alien god so he could combine all of humanity into a liquid consciousness 2:12 AM -21 Jul 2019 sephiroth Follow @dauntingtext oof. Yikes thanks for letting me know. Im softblocking right now. Sorry i saw a joke tweet he made a while back and followed. didnt know he trapped you in a flower and created a clone from the other half of your heart while you slept oblivious and comatose for over a year 11:04 AM -21 Jul 2019 Mik Bruno Buccellati is the love @wujumik2 Follow oof. Yikes thanks for letting me know. Im softblocking right now. Sorry i saw a joke tweet he made a while back and followed. didnt know he dismembered and murderer multiple hospital patients and recorded snuff videos of their deaths with his dog friend 11:32 AM - 21 Jul 2019 Sami Follow @samirows oof. Yikes thanks for letting me know. Im softblocking right now. Sorry i saw a joke tweet he made a while back and followed. didnt know he took over an entire test facility, put your gf in a potato and threw her down a bottomless pit, and got off to you pressing buttons 12:00 PM - 21 Jul 2019 vore machine Follow @raigrredtail oof. yikes thanks for letting me know. im softblocking right now. sorry i saw a joke tweet he made a while back and followed. didn't know he assassinated the archduke franz ferdinand 2:50 PM - 21 Jul 2019

Search Interest

Unavailable.

External References

[1] Twitter – @Turing_Police

[2] Twitter – @sabitofan

[3] Twitter – @ravenbones_

[4] Twitter – @rotarydials

[5] Twitter – @fightsgod

[6] Twitter – @ericthurm

[7] Twitter – @RammJaeger

[8] Polygon – Tripwire CEO out after tweeting support for Texas abortion ban

[9] Twitter – @chillstableguy

[10] Twitter – @SparkNotes

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