Predictive Text

About

Predictive Text refers to the feature offered on most smartphones that provides the user with automatic word suggestions while using the keyboard. Twitter users often implement predictive text to showcase their personalized autocomplete outcomes in response to prompts.

Origin

On September 17th, 2014, Apple^[1] introduced the new mobile operating system iOS 8 which featured QuickType which predicts what the phone owner might want to say before or while typing (shown below).

Spread

Soon after predictive phone text was introduced, Twitter users began sharing their personalized text predictions. On May 3rd, 2015, Twitter user @brotticelli^[10] tweeted screenshots of he phone predicting a sentence with song lyrics and captioned it "predictive text is literally SUCH a meme" (shown below, left). On May 4th, Twitter user @StickyWalnut^[9] tweeted, "I just signed an email off & predictive text signed it off as Regards Fart" (shown below, right). The tweet was responded to by other users who shared their own phone suggests as a sign off.

In the following years, Twitter users began challenging others to predictive text games. For example, On January 1st, 2018, @azalben^[11] tweeted, "How about we use predictive text to write our own epitaphs? Write “Here lies [YOUR NAME]. [preferred pronoun] was…” and let your phone finish the rest. Mine is: Here lies Alexander Zalben. He was clearly not wrong." the tweet received over 10,800 replies and 14,300 likes in a year (shown below, left). The top response was from @stephani06 who tweeted, "Here lies Stephani Adair. She was going to call you after work today and will not be able to" which gained over 1,600 likes in a year. On March 20th, @hankgreen^[12] tweeted, "PREDICTIVE TEXT HOROSCOPE: (Your Sign), this month is a great time to (predictive text), but watch out for people who (predictive text.)" (shown below, right). The tweet gained over 7,800 likes in a year. On May 8th, 2019, Mashable^[2] published an article entitled "Predictive text memes: The rush of a personality quiz with none of the work" which claims that the main reason predictive text memes are so popular is in the phone feature's personalized quality.

In 2019, I'll …

In 2019, I'll… is a predictive text phrasal template that requires participants type "In 2019, I'll" and let their phone's auto-complete feature finish the remainder of the sentence. On December 27th, 2019, Twitter ^[3] user @kovovevo tweeted, "type 'In 2019, I'll' and let your phone's keyboard finish your new years resolution for you." The tweet received more than 150 retweets, 1,300 likes and 2,000 comments in less than two months (shown below).

Throughout the day, others shared what their predictive text finished the statement with. For example, Twitter user @Nebulanix_ tweeted,^[4] "I'll be able to play with my tits." Within two months, the tweet received more than 15 retweets and 475 likes (shown below, left). Others shared as well (examples below, center and right). On February 11th, 2019, Wired^[5] magazine published an article about predictive text memes and this one in particular.

JK Rowling Reveals

J.K. Rowling Reveals is a predictive text phrasal template that requires participants type "J.K. Rowling reveals that you" and let their phone's auto-complete feature finish the remainder of the sentence. This template appeared soon after the surge of Harry Potter author, J.K. Rowling, tweet parodies. On March 27th, 2019 9GAG ^[6] tweeted, "Type 'JK Rowling reveals that you' and tap the centre predictive word until it forms a sentence" (shown below). The tweet gained 2,000 retweets and 12,900 likes in two days.

On March 27th, 2019 Twitter users began immediately responding in the template provided. For example, @jovin_dc^[7] tweeted, "JK Rowling reveals that you are the best of YouTube to MP3 converter online" (shown below, left). The response received 94 retweets and 1,700 likes in two days. That same night, @tsJatiningtyas^[8] also tweeted, "JK Rowling reveals that you are not going anywhere" (shown below, right). Their tweet garnered 800 likes in two days.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References