Complex Structure Supported by a Tiny Part

Submission 880

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About

Complex Structure Supported by a Tiny Part refers to a one-panel comic titled "Dependency" by artist XKCD. The webcomic, shared online in August 2020, depicts a complex structure consisting of multiple levels of elements stacked upon each other being supported by a critical tiny part, which, if removed, would cause the entire structure to collapse. In memes, the comic has been used as an object-labeling template.

Origin

On August 17th, 2020, webcomic artist XKCD^[1] posted a single-panel comic titled "Dependency" depicting a complex, multi-level structure consisting of multiple components stacked upon each other being partially supported by a small part which, if removed, would certainly cause the structure to collapse (shown below).

In the original comic, the structure is labeled "All modern digital infrastructure" and the critical part is labeled "A project some random person in Nebraska has been thanklessly maintaining since 2003." The meme does not reference a particular example, but rather the concept of large digital infrastructures used by millions relying on individual independent projects.^[2]

Spread

On March 10th, 2021, Tumblr^[3] user keepcalmandcarriefischer posted the earliest found edit of the image, which referenced a viral X^[4] / Twitter about a small group of IT workers being critical for the modern telecommunications system functioning, many of whom are supposedly furries. The edit (shown below) received over 39,000 reblogs and 48,000 likes as a part of a larger thread.

The format started gaining more spread online in late 2022 as it achieved initial spread on Reddit, X and Tumblr. For example, on November 1st, 2022, Redditor og-lollercopter posted a Star Wars meme that received over 2,300 upvotes in the /r/PrequelMemes subreddit^[5] in two years (shown below).

Notably, the meme format has frequently been used to reference various global internet issues and outages. For example, on July 24th, 2024, following the 2024 CrowdStrike Microsoft Global Outage, Redditor SirMrDrEvil95 posted a meme based on the format that received over 620 upvotes in the /r/iiiiiiitttttttttttt^[6] subreddit in three months (shown below).

The format maintained popularity online in 2023 and 2024, often being used for memes about critical parts of science and career fields and lore.