This Is Who You're Being Mean To

Submission 32,372

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

About

This Is Who You're Being Mean To, sometimes phrased When You're Mean to Me, This Is Who You're Being Mean To, is a catchphrase primarily popularized on Twitter in the early 2020s. In tweets, people typically post the phrase along with a picture of a cute animal or creature as a way to jokingly make their critics feel bad for criticizing or attacking them.

Origin

The catchphrase was first posted on May 24th, 2021, when Twitter user @pikachusmexy^[1] posted "This is who you're being mean to behind this acc," posting a picture of their cat under the caption. The tweet gained 39 likes in nearly two years (shown below).

Spread

The format didn't begin growing more popular until 2022. On August 15th, 2022, Twitter user @aguaardientes^[2] posted an example featuring Snoopy, gaining over 3,300 retweets and 20,000 likes in six months (shown below, left). On November 12th, user @TheCoolIssue^[3] then posted the template with a bunny, gaining over 37,000 retweets and 237,000 likes (shown below, right).

The format continued seeing popularity at the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023. On December 19th, 2022, Twitter user @zephanijong^[4] posted an example featuring a very small cat, gaining over 2,000 retweets and 14,000 likes (shown below, left). On January 18th, 2023, Twitter user @gothikbat^[5] posted a more humorous example using a zombie from Left 4 Dead 2, gaining over 16,000 retweets and 80,000 likes (shown below, right).

When You Call Me An Alt-right Fascist, This Is Who You're Speaking To

On April 8th, 2023, Twitter user @dumbbitchcap^[6] posted a childhood photo with the caption, "When you call me an alt right fascist this is who you’re speaking to," gaining over 18 retweets and 370 likes in three days (shown below, left). This started a quote-tweet chain in which users copied the text and posted their childhood photos. Some users who have proven controversial on the site in the past did this in earnest. For example, that same day, Anna Khachiyan^[7] of Red Scare posted it, gaining over 45 retweets, 96 quote-tweets and 1,700 likes in a similar timeframe (shown below, right).

The trend hit its widest audience yet on April 9th when Roger Stone^[8] posted a childhood picture with the caption, gaining over 170 retweets and 900 quote tweets in two days (shown below).

The trending template soon inspired parodies. For example, on April 10th, 2023, Twitter user @SocDoneLeft^[9] posted a parody showing a nerdy boy asking his parents if it was okay if he became "alt-right," gaining over 25 retweets and 1,100 likes (shown below, left). On April 9th, user @DaniGGerman^[10] posted the caption with a picture of Jesus (shown below, right).