About

We Live In a Society Social Media Reactions refers to a series of images that compare two similar things, one popular and the other under acknowledged but complex, using photoshopped social media reactions. The image is also captioned by the phrase "We live in a society," implying that the cultural conception and opinion is wrong. The format, however, is not to be confused with the phrase "We Live In a Society" commonly found in Gamer Joker memes.

Origin

The earliest known iteration of the format was posted on May 12th, 2018 by Twitter ^[1] user @660th. That day, they posted an image of Mickey Mouse underneath positive social media reactions next to an image of a detailed illustration of a mouse, which has received no reactions. They captioned the image "We live in a society." The post (shown below) received more than 23,000 retweets and 67,000 likes in four days.

Precursor

In early 2014, street artist iHeart unveiled "Nobody Likes Me," an art piece featuring a child crying underneath a series of social media reaction indicators all showing zero reactions (shown below).^[6] The social media indicators are essentially the same as the ones found in the meme.

Seinfeld

On May 23rd, 1991, NBC aired the episode of Seinfeld "The Chinese Restaraunt." In the episode, the character George Costanza (portrayed by Jason Alexander) grows frustrated after losing his place in line to use a payphone (clip below). Expressing his anger, he yells, "You know, we're living in a society! We're supposed to act in a civilized way!"

Spread

Over the next few days, Twitter users appropriated the format to express their own opinions on pop culture. On May 14th, Twitter^[2] user @jkooksana tweeted a version of the meme using their opinion on the band BTS. The post (shown below, left) received more than 20 retweets and 65 likes in two days.

On May 15th, Twitter^[3] user @bonerman_inc posted a version comparing God of War with the indie game "Shower With Your Dad Simulator." The post (shown below, center) received more that 390 retweets and 2,800 likes in 24 hours.

That day, Twitter^[4] user @prasejeebus tweeted a variation comparing Emma Stone to Natalie Portman. The post (shown below, right) received more than 75 retweets and 660 likes in 24 hours.

On May 16th, The Daily Dot ^[5] published an article about the meme.

Various Examples

Related Memes

Gamer Joker / Gamers Rise Up

Gamer Joker, also known as Gamers Rise Up and We Live in a Society, is an image macro series featuring depictions of the DC Comics supervillain Joker accompanied by intentionally edgy or cringeworthy captions. The memes typically praise video game enthusiasts and criticize women named Veronica who friendzone them in favor of dating "jocks". Examples of the meme are frequently submitted to the Gang Weed Facebook page.

Search Interest

External References