What Is 'Skibidi Toilet Syndrome' And Is It Real? The Viral Meme Explained

This year, the SFM series Skibidi Toilet has taken over YouTube, becoming massively popular with children. However, the lore-heavy series, which features man-toilet hybrids singing the "Skibidi Dop Dop" song, has now come under fire from some parents, who believe their children will catch Skibidi Toilet syndrome if they watch the series too much. Here's what you need to know.

What Is 'Skibidi Toilet Syndrome?'

The term "Skibidi Toilet Syndrome" was coined by Indonesian web users sometime in July 2023. Around that time, videos of kids acting like the titular characters from Skibidi Toilet by popping out of baskets or other containers and singing "Dom Dom Yes Yes" by Biser King started going viral on sites like TikTok.

Indonesian YouTuber Vale XD Official compiled some of these videos for a YouTube meme, where he attached various reaction clips to the footage. A commenter suggested the kids have "Skibidi Toilet syndrome," a syndrome caused by watching too much Skibidi Toilet to the point where they act like the characters from the series. It's unclear if this comment coined the term, but it only spread from that moment forward as other Indonesian meme pages began playing with the idea.

Is 'Skibidi Toilet Syndrome' Real?

Rest assured, Skibidi Toilet syndrome is completely fictional. While the videos of children acting like Skibidi Toilet is real, there is no clinically diagnosable syndrome called "Skibidi Toilet syndrome." The term is used in Indonesian memes because of the absurdity behind the idea.

That hasn't stopped some concerned parents from posting videos warning other parents about the syndrome. Since the term went viral, several videos and articles have been posted online that seemingly offer legitimate warnings to parents, urging them not to let their kids watch Skibidi Toilet. Many of these use videos of kids acting like Skibidi Toilets to support their worried pleas.

How Is 'Skibidi Toilet Syndrome' Used In Memes?

The most popular memes about Skibidi Toilet Syndrome come out of Indonesia. Many of them are YouTube video edits, where reaction clips are edited over footage of kids supposedly exhibiting the syndrome. Now that parents are putting out warnings about the syndrome, those have also been added to the meme mix.

The memes only recently started gaining popularity among English-speaking web users, who are ironically sharing the warnings about Skibidi Toilet Syndrome. Throughout August, memes about the syndrome have appeared on Reddit a TikTok, where they're becoming more and more popular.

For the full history of Skibidi Toilet syndrome, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.