I May Not Show It

Submission 45,048

About

I May Not Show It refers to a series of image macros of a selfie of a black man with the caption "I may not show it" followed by an absurd or humorous admission.

Origin

The photograph was originally published on Facebook ^[1] by user SuccesfulToles on November 3rd, 2015.

The photograph was later used in 2018 news reports,^[2] following a viral Facebook^[3] post in which the user posted that a woman attempted to prevent him from entering his apartment.

Almost a year after the Facebook post went viral, on August 13th, 2019, Redditor ^[4] tylermoberly1990 reposted a meme made by an unknown user, marking the earliest known usage of the selfie as a meme. He captioned the photograph in the /r/okbuddyretard subreddit, "I may not show it but that gas leak in my house really be giving me brain damage." The post received more than 14,000 points (99% upvoted) and 80 comments in less than six months (shown below).

Spread

That day, Redditor^[5] EliteFireBox published a deep-fried version of the meme. The post received more than 7,100 points (98% upvoted) in less than six months (shown below, left).

On August 31st, Facebook^[7] user OfficialBardockObama published a variation that removed the second half, taking the line "I may not show it" literally. The post received more than 2,300 reactions, 600 comments and 300 shares in less than six months (shown below, center).

Over the next few months, people continued to post variations of the meme. Redditor^[6] Wildman8 published a Minecraft variation, which received more than 1,000 points (99% upvoted) in less than two months (shown below, right).