Gmail Perc / Social Media Pills

About

Gmail Perc or Social Media Pills refers to a series of memes based on photoshops of pills branded as various social media logos and web apps, meant to raise awareness of the addictive quality of social media. The photographs are often criticized as giving I'm 14 and this is deep vibes and also for including things like Gmail and Photoshop alongside social media platforms. In December 2022, a post of social media pills went viral on Twitter that inspired viral memes about the effects of taking the "Gmail perc" ("perc" being slang for the opioid medication "Percocet").

Origin

Throughout the 2010s, photoshops of pills with social media logos added to them occasionally went viral on social media as an attempt to portray how addictive social media is. For example, on September 14th, 2017, one of these photos was posted to Reddit's /r/pics,^[1] titled "Daily Drugs," garnering over 740 upvotes in six years (shown below). The majority of the top comments make fun of the post, including an accusation that it's "pretentious," with the top-voted commenter writing, "Aw man I just gotta get home and hop on my Photoshop…," referencing the addition of a Photoshop pill.

Spread

The "daily drugs" post was reposted numerous times over the following years to other social media platforms. For example, on June 19th, 2018, Twitter^[7] user @GarethCliff posted it, writing, "Which addiction is yours?" garnering over 20,000 likes in five years.

Gmail Perc

On December 23rd, 2022, Twitter^[2] user @zuza_real posted a similar Photoshop edit showing pills with social media logos, including one pill showing the Gmail logo, writing, "This picture is so deep. Sadly, I think only a small percent of people will be able to understand it," garnering over 79,000 likes and 15,000 quote-tweets in just over two weeks (shown below, left). That day, Twitter^[3] user @KnoxParkk commented under the post with an edited version of the Shocked Black Guy meme, writing, "my friends in the front of the car: 'hey man you good?' me in the back off the gmail perc," garnering over 34,900 likes and 3,000 retweets in the same span of time (shown below, right).

On December 26th, Twitter^[4] user @upblissed then quote-tweeted the post, writing, "who the fuck is out here addicted to Gmail," garnering over 384,000 likes in two weeks (shown below). The tweet was posted to /r/meirl^[5] on December 28th, garnering over 19,100 upvotes in roughly the same span of time. Twitter user @KnoxParkk's post was also reposted numerous times over the following days, including by Instagram^[6] user cockcarousel on January 8th, 2023, garnering over 14,000 likes in two days.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References