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What's With All The 'Trauma Dump Comics' Getting Trolled On Twitter? Memes About 'Your Favorite Student' And Other Formats Explained
The website formerly known as Twitter has been inundated with a genre of webcomics many people are calling "trauma dump comics," named after the slang expression "trauma dumping," which is used to describe how some people unload a harrowing and unsolicited tale upon an unsuspecting listener.
The viral nature of these "trauma dump comics," which sometimes center on frivolous-sounding issues, have made them the subject of widespread trolling online.
But these snarky jokes went from ribbing about a comic artist describing vague "casually misogynistic remarks" to an unnecessary hate campaign against a woman opening up about being groomed by a former teacher in the span of a quick few weeks.
Here's a look at the trauma dump comic trend, and why it has people on both ends of the artist-reader spectrum all riled up.
Where Did The 'Trauma Dump Comic' Trend Originate?
Confessional comics have long been a webcomic staple, with Loss perhaps being one of the first confessional webcomics to become a subject of widespread ridicule. But the "trauma dump comics" era of 2023-24 arguably began with the mockery of a December 2023 comic by X user @Donut_tweetz called, "I might go homeless..?"
The comic discussed the tensions that arose in the artist's home life following an ideological rift between her and her family over the Hamas-Israel Conflict, with the artist posting an update that simply read, "Update: I am homeless."
The quippy nature of the posts juxtaposed with the serious subject matter of the comics led to people making parodies of @Donut_tweetz's posts as it became an exploitable.
Why Did 'Trauma Dump Comics' Become The Focus Of Memes In 2024?
The trend of mocking confessional comics that appear on the TL this year was largely exacerbated by a comic posted by Ashmatics in June where they speak in pretty vague terms about their friend dropping a "casually misogynistic remark."
Online, the panel gained popularity as an exploitable meme format with users editing various remarks into the speech bubble the male friends could have possibly said.
What's With All The Troll Posts About 'Your Favorite Student'?
Another example of the larger trend mocking "trauma dump comics" was a post by user @rubodubo in which she discusses a personal story about being groomed by a college professor and eventually breaking free of his influence. Unfortunately, @rubodubo's story also became the subject of memes that took the subject matter all too lightly, in addition to some making crude jokes involving her story.
For the full history of Trauma Dump Comics, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.