Ohio vs. The World: The Viral Meme Trend Taking Over the Internet
If you guys don’t live under a rock, you must have heard of the Ohio memes. With many images and videos showing the buckeye state planning to take over the world, the memes are all over every single social media platform. Spreading quickly and gaining a huge presence online I wondered, how did this trend start and why is it so popular?
According to knowyourmeme.com, the origins of the Ohio vs. The World memes can be traced all the way back to August 6th,2016, when a tumblr user posted a picture of a bus stop saying “Ohio has been eliminated.” The post received a staggering 107,900 likes and reblogs and has been reposted countless of times. The same post have been spread on other platforms like reddit. A sceen shot of comments of two Tumblr users has also been circulated many times.
Nearly five months later, a Redditor humorsly edited a meme showing how away is ohio to “Danger Presented By Ohio.” The image blew up on the internet and was reposted countless of times. Then in November 2018, a edited panel of Garfield showing Garifield thinking “Time to Nuke Ohio” become a hillarous known meme.
Sometime before December 9th, 2019, an unknown user posted a drawing of an astronaut finding out that all land on the Earth is actually Ohio, next to another astronaut with a gun preparing to shoot him to cover up the conspiracy. The image went viral in the next couple of days reaching millions of people on all the platforms including Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram and others. “Wait, It’s all Ohio”, would become one of the best known memes in the Ohio vs. The World series.
Just before the pandemic in late January, a older meme which imagines ohio taking up the entire territory of the United States was reposted in. /r/pyrocynical and /r/memes. Redditor Bereatue posted multiple mes about Ohio invading Canada and other countries around the world. After three memes Bereatue posted he received over 46 thousand upvotes combined, making it a major meme subreddit on Reddit.
Starting Early February that same year, Redditor garnt311 reposted several memes of Ohio vs. The World which titled “help me spread Ohio memes.” His first two posts received over 18,400 and 5,200 up votes.
Why did this trend stick around? A theory is that the Ohio vs. The World memes are absurd and poking fun of the idea of a small Midwestern state trying to take over the world amused many people. The memes also paly on the idea of a conspiracy or cover-up, adding mystery and intrigue to the trend. The memes also relatable as people relate to the idea of feeling underestimated. The Ohio vs. The World memes play on the idea that a small underdog ends up taking over the world.
Many of the memes may tap into a sense of regional pride. Ohioans or even other nearby states might feel that there state is now all over social media and they may enjoy their time in the spotlight. Anyone who identities with the state makes the feel happy to be part of the fictional powerful and dominant force. The Ohio memes are part of a larger trend of memes about states and it could just be that the most creative and amusing memes happened to be with Ohio bringing them all the attention.
These memes about a small random state have grown to become a viral trend that has taken over the internet. From its small origins on Tumblr it has now grown to spread across every single social media platform with captivating the minds of many all over. The trend’s popularity may be connected ot its absurdity, relatable nature and regional pride. Whether your from Ohio or not, these memes are sure to make you laugh and spark a sense of connect with others. As the trend continues to grow, it will be interesting to see what new ideas may come.
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