About

Cry About It refers to a series of reaction GIF captions and videos captioned with the phrase that are used to mock users unhappy with certain posted media or news, primarily on Discord. The reactions often feature cursed or blursed imagery associated with 21st Century Humor.

Origin

On November 11th, 2020, Tenor^[1] user Darkmenge uploaded the first Cry About It reaction GIF caption created by an unknown user. The meme (shown below) combined a cursed GIF of Newton's cradle with the caption "cry about it" and was used by users on Discord to mock people unhappy about certain posted media or news.

Spread

On January 7th, 2021, Tenor^[2] user ebifuraiFBI uploaded the first derivative meme within the format, a GIF caption based on a cursed domino GIF (shown below, left). In the following weeks, more Cry About It GIF captions were uploaded to Tenor,^[3][4] including Grubhub 'Delivery Dance' Ad and Sephiroth versions (shown below, center and right).

The format did not achieve popularity outside of Discord until on April 8th, 2021, Instagram^[5] account grandmas.butt reposted a GIF caption uploaded by Tenor^[6] user JakSmi, with the Instagram post gaining over 153,200 views in two months (shown below, left). An April 9th, 2021, repost by Instagram^[7] user honeynut.woomy gained an additional 105,000 views in the same period.

On April 13th, 2021, Instagram^[8] user repostrandy reposted a reaction video based on a bowling alley animation,^[9] with the post gaining over 181,900 views in two months (shown below, right). On April 16th, 2021, Instagram^[10] account spicydeepfriedmemesv3 reposted the video, with the post accumulating over 210,000 views in the same period.

The format experienced a surge in popularity in June 2021 as several versions of the format, particularly a Foot Fetishism Friday Night Funkin' version,^[11] went viral on social media.

Related Memes

Cope

Cope is a word used to describe the act of dealing with something difficult. Online it has become an insult implying that someone is upset, particularly on Twitter, often in tandem with similar words like "seethe" and rent free.

Gonna Cry? Gonna Piss Your Pants Maybe?

Gonna Cry? Gonna Piss Your Pants Maybe? refers to a copypasta that grew popular in shitposts in early 2019. The phrase, which ends with "Maybe shit and cum?", was most popular on Instagram and Reddit and was paired with nonsensical images.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References