Sleep-Deprived SpongeBob

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About

Sleep-Deprived SpongeBob or Exhausted SpongeBob refers to a close-up frame of SpongeBob with blood-shot eyes and sagging face from episode "Night Light" of the SpongeBob SquarePants animated series. Often used as a reaction image, the image is also associated with memes about an unidentified person named Dylan.

Origin

On July 30th, 2007, episode 82b (2b) of season five of SpongeBob SquarePants animated series premiered.^[1] In the episode, SpongeBob reads a horror book and become scared of darkness, being unable to sleep for the rest of the night. Upon entering Krusty Krab the following morning, SpongeBob is looking sleep-deprived, with a realistic close-up shot showing SpongeBob having sagging face, blood-shot eyes and a five o'clock shadow (still image shown below).

Spread

Prior to September 2020, the image saw moderate use online as a reaction image. For example, on December 3rd, 2016, Imgur^[2] user TwhatgifwithaCat posted the image as a part of the collection of close-up frames of the show. The collection received over 438,000 views in four years. On August 21st, 2018, Buzzfeed^[3] featured an image in a collection of humorous posts.

On March 18th, 2020, Instagram^[4] account longtesticlez posted a meme about a person named Dylan who was tasked with staying awake for two weeks straight with no food, with the post using the image (image shown below). On March 18th, Instagram meme accounts computerpwn^[5] and big_chungles^[6] reposted the image, gaining over 900 and over 4,200 likes in six months. The image received further spread through multiple reposts on Instagram^[7] and iFunny.^[8]

In March and April 2020, computerpwn^[9]^[10]^[11] posted more memes using the image and referencing a person named Dylan (examples shown below).

On September 4th, 2020, Facebook^[12] novelty group Every SpongeBob Frame in Order posted the frame. The post received over 6,900 reactions and 1,600 shares in one month.

Starting on October 2020, the original "Dylan" meme featuring the image regained popularity in ironic memes on Instagram, with meme page big_chungles^[13]^[14] being the main driver behind the spread of the memes. For example, a meme posted by big_chungles^[15] on October 23rd, 2020, received over 6,400 likes.