About

Spend as Much Time on the Computer as Possible is a catchphrase posed as ironic advice which suggests that due to having limited time on Earth, one must spend as much time on the computer as possible, as they won't have access to it after death. Spawned by a viral tweet in late 2021, the joke inspired image macros and has been used as a reaction to instances of people choosing virtual experiences over real ones.

Origin

On September 9th, 2021, X^[1] / Twitter user @afraidofwasps wrote, "You only live once – you should try to spend as much time on the computer as possible. After you die, you won't have access to it any more." The joke garnered over 16,000 reposts and 89,000 likes in three years (shown below).

Spread

In the following years, the post saw further spread online through reposts on Instagram, Reddit and other sites.

On January 23rd, 2024, Tumblr^[2] user kushblazer666 posted an image macro based on the post, combining the post with a photograph of a busy city road. The post (shown below) garnered over 53,000 likes and reblogs in four months.

On April 9th, TikTok^[3] user @justindde posted another caption meme based on the phrase, combining it with an image of a Tibetan monk. The post (shown below) received over 2.7 million views and 526,000 likes in two months.

The latter version of the meme achieved particular popularity as a reaction format. For example, on June 19th, 2024, X^[4] user @wydronin used the image to react to the news of League of Legends streamer Dantes breaking up with his girlfriend Laura, with the quoted post gaining over 3,500 reposts and 61,000 likes in two days (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References