In between viral question prompts and demoralizing news about the messed-up state of the world, Twitter timelines have been flooded with “Where y’all sitting” memes: pictures depicting empty lunch tables, each with corresponding pop culture references. One tweet sets the scene, mortifying anyone born before the ’90s: “let’s *really* take it back to high school. the year is 2010. tumblr’s a huge thing. last fm rules. where are you sitting?” The picture shows a lunch room entirely full of students who somehow all uniformly love alternative music: table three boasts Bloc Party and Architecture in Helsinki sitting together for some reason while Real Estate and Titus Andronicus share table six. The tweet has over 10,000 faves. The template, via VectorToons, is here, but please don’t make your own.
There are countless other examples of the form: film Twitter, several about various k-pop stars, ’90s alt-rockers, ’90s R&B acts (big yikes at table one), astrology, bands from the early 2000s, TV shows, and to one solely about Taylor Swift songs. Because social media is primarily a tool for self-expression and posting into the void for validation, it’s harmless fun to broadcast personal tastes. However, it’s also incredibly annoying. First of all, the things people liked as teenagers are fundamentally not that interesting. Secondly, the meme also ignores the typical dynamic of a lunchroom: most people who spent their fourth period thinking about Belle & Sebastian probably sat alone.
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Some of the pairings are also totally incomprehensible. In what world would fans of the Cure, The Fratellis, and Paramore sit at the same table together?
According to KnowYourMeme, the twitter sensation first blew up on July 30th after user @journalsfire made one about Justin Bieber. While there’s nothing wrong in letting people enjoy things and fandoms to nerd out about their favorite things, it’s been two weeks already. Since it’s impossible to mute images on Twitter, there really needs to be a new thing.
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Photo by NYU Langone Staff
