The Weekly Meme Roundup: DOGE Doubt, Gary Barlow's Big Boy, I Understand It Now and More

As Americans prep for their new reality, which looks like it will be very similar to their old reality from 2016-2020, content is spraying out in all sorts of directions. There wasn't much of an internet monoculture this week, due in part to recent current events and also a reconfiguring of social media.

X (formerly Twitter) is reportedly hemorrhaging users while Bluesky gains literally a million sign-ups a day. Social media niches are becoming more fragmented and divided to the point that what's popular on places like TikTok barely registers elsewhere.

Thus, we have five wildly different memes to cover this week, each pretty popular in their own niche, but many struggling to gain cross-app appeal. Let's get into it.

Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)

One memey thing most people are aware of is so-called "First Buddy" Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which isn't actually a government department and instead is more of an outside auditing consultancy run by Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy that will give recommendations on what fat can be trimmed from the operations of the United States government.

It is perhaps fortunate for the U.S. government that Musk does not have any real power over the operation of "government efficiency," as his track record of making things "more efficient" has resulted in some controversial outcomes (see: his acquisition of X, the Cybertruck). Still, his fanboys and some think this will be a wonderful thing for the government, even while many express doubt.

Examples

Gary Barlow's Large Adult Son

Meanwhile, social media had a field day upon learning that British pop star Gary Barlow has a large adult son. This freakin' huge kid was first posted to the internet by Barlow in August 2023.

It turned out to be the distraction many needed amid political turmoil, as the giant boy went viral right in the middle of last week. Since then, the internet, and particularly those across the pond, have had a field day cracking jokes about how much taller Barlow's son is in comparison to his father.

Examples

Some Guy, The Guy

From the fan art corner of the internet comes "Some Guy, The Guy," a meme about how one small design choice can make a character go from generic to instantly recognizable.

Though it technically started over the summer, the meme saw a huge resurgence last week as artists created both sincere and humorous examples showcasing how minor design choices are key in character design.

Examples

I Love Video Games / Me Too

One unexpected meme that saw a resurgence this week was an old template from the movie 500 Days of Summer, reimagined as "I Love Video Games / Me Too."

As is clear from the original example, the meme is intended to illustrate how even surface-level agreements can lead to vast misunderstandings. Of course, it also turned into a "things boys like are dumb / things girls like are cool" and vice versa, as the meme became a vehicle for expressing personal taste.

Examples

Templates

I Understand It Now

Lastly, we have I Understand It Now, the latest TikTok sound for when you gotta lock in. The sound comes from trick shot specialist and content creator "Lethal Shooter."

The sound became the latest way for Gen Z to show that they're ready to focus and be really cool overall. It also appeared in humor videos where "I understand it now" garners a much bigger reaction than it deserves.

Examples

We'll be back next Friday with another edition of our Weekly Meme Roundup series, so stay tuned!