Me, An Empath

Submission 46,950

Part of a series on Catchphrases. [View Related Entries]

About

Me, An Empath refers to multiple memes and tweets that start with the catchphrase "me, an empath," followed by an ironic example of something the meme creator spiritually senses is off within a given scenario. The trend ultimately makes fun of people who deem themselves as an empath (someone who feels more empathy than the average person). The first use of the catchphrase was on Twitter in 2016, however, it gained more usage in late 2021 on TikTok.

Origin

On December 18th, 2016, Twitter^[1] user TheRealTeagle posted the first tweet to use the phrase "me, an empath" online. The tweet (shown below) only received two likes in roughly five years after being posted.

Spread

After the above tweet, only a few instances of the phrase appeared on Twitter between 2017 and 2020. For instance, on September 5th, 2017, Twitter^[2] user OfficiallyVex_ used the phrase in the first known variant (shown below, left). The tweet received 61 likes in roughly four years. Two years later, on February 4th, 2019, verified Twitter^[3] user caitlynrae also posted a tweet using the catchphrase (shown below, right), gaining 481 likes in roughly three years.

In 2021, the concept of being an empath became more notorious in an ironic context within memes. For instance, on May 20th, 2021, Twitter^[4] user davis_lunch made an empath joke within a tweet that received roughly 111,700 likes over the course of seven months (shown below).

The "Me, An Empath" trend became most prevalent, however, on TikTok in December 2021. The first TikTok that used the phrase or concept was posted on December 14th, 2021, by TikToker^[5] kiara.larkin (shown below). After being posted, the video received roughly 7,600 plays and 1,600 likes over the course of two weeks.

The trend picked up again a week later in December when a TikToker named lillunah created and uploaded a non-ironic TikTok having to do with the struggles of being an empath. She used a sound on the platform within the post called, "The Time is Coming – Aery Yormany,"^[6] which has a cinematic and suspenseful aura. Although she later deleted the TikTok, other users on the platform thought the video was too earnest, finding it cringy and subsequently dueting her, making fun of the "struggles" of being an empath. For instance, TikToker^[7] youknow.julia posted the first known duet with the TikTok on December 23rd, 2021 (shown below). It received roughly 257,800 plays and 40,200 likes over the course of a week and a half.

Inspired by the video above, others on the platform made ironic "empath" videos of their own, using the same, suspenseful sound as lillunah. TikToker^[8] fr1endlyfriend0 was one of the first users to do so, uploading her video (shown below, left) on December 25th, 2021. It was played roughly 719,500 times and received roughly 165,800 likes over the course of one week. On December 27th, 2021, TikToker^[9] fxckbaker posted a video that gained 4.3 million plays and 814,400 likes in one week (shown below, right).

The phrase gained traction again on Twitter going into January 2022 after its virality on TikTok. For instance, on January 2nd, 2022, Twitter^[10] user meowmeowmia posted a tweet using the catchphrase paired with an image of Francis Bourgeois (shown below). It received roughly 67,500 likes in less than 24 hours.