Born Too Late to Own Property, Born Too Soon to Be a Teen TikTok Star, Born Just In Time To X

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Part of a series on Born Too Late / Early / Just In Time To Explore X. [View Related Entries]

About

Born Too Late to Own Property, Born Too Soon to Be a Teen TikTok Star, Born Just In Time To X is a variation of the Born Too Late / Early / Just In Time To Explore X phrasal template meme format using an image of Neo (Keanu Reeves) from The Matrix where "X" is replaced with something that the poster was born just in time to do. The meme was first posted to Instagram in March 2022 and inspired numerous variations over the following months.

Origin

On March 31st, 2022, Instagram^[1] user electronicbodymemes posted an image macro showing an image of Neo from The Matrix looking upward, captioned, "Born too late to own property, born too soon to be a teen TikTok star, born just in time to be an industrial goth DJ," gaining over 2,300 likes in five months (shown below). This is the earliest known version of the meme.

Spread

The format spread over the following months, primarily on Instagram and Facebook. On April 11th, 2022, Facebook^[2] page Songs from Under the Floorboard reposted the original meme, gaining over 7,600 shares and 13,000 reactions in four months. On April 12th, Instagram^[3] user inkmaster_verified posted an edit of the meme, changing the caption to read, "just in time to be freelance artist," gaining over 19,300 likes in four months (shown below). It was reposted by Instagram^[4] page doyoueverjustfuckingascend on April 13th and Twitter^[5] user @clammyheart on April 14th, gaining over 21,000 likes on the former and 38,000 likes and 5,500 retweets on the latter.

On April 14th, Instagram^[6] user thisisafleshprison posted a version of the meme, gaining over 7,300 likes in four months (shown below, left). On April 17th, Instagram^[7] user pipesbuffet posted a version of the meme, gaining an undisclosed number of likes in four months (shown below, right).

On May 17th, Instagram^[8] user spinal.memeingitis posted a version of the meme captioned, "born just in time to have paid $0.99 for a ringtone," gaining roughly 500 likes in three months (shown below). This version became notably popular. It was reposted by Facebook^[9] page Memes to satisfy the sophisticated gentleman on June 10th, gaining over 6,900 shares and 9,800 reactions in two months. On July 1st, Instagram^[10] page grapejuiceboys reposted it, gaining over 159,000 likes in a month. On August 1st it was posted to /r/me_irl,^[11] gaining over 63,600 upvotes in three days.

On August 2nd, Instagram^[12] user fourtwenty posted a marijuana-themed version of the meme, gaining over 136,000 views in two days. It was reposted by Instagram^[13] user trashcanpaul that day, gaining over 98,000 views in two days.