Woke Mind Virus

Submission 9,480

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About

Woke Mind Virus is a slang term and catchphrase popularized by conservative thinkers who often use the expression on X (Twitter), primarily around the early 2020s. The term is typically used by right-wing commentators to convey the idea that "wokeness" or progressive thought is an infectious "virus" that needs to be curbed. Popularization of the term "Woke Mind Virus" is often attributed to X owner Elon Musk. In progressive circles, the phrase "woke mind virus" is often used ironically, with jokes and memes about the concept typically playing on the notion that wokeness is a disease.

Origin

The use of the phrase "woke mind virus" on the internet can be traced as far back as 2018 and 2019.^[1]^[2]^[3] On September 5th, 2021, Brett Sinclair wrote a listicle titled, "Seven Signs Of The Woke Mind Virus," published on Algora.com.^[4]

The earliest known viral post about the "woke mind virus" was one made by Elon Musk on X on December 19th, 2021. The post read, "traceroute woke_mind_virus," and gathered over 108,000 likes in two years (seen below).

Spread

Elon Musk and other conservative internet commentators went on to reference the phrase "woke mind virus" in subsequent months, with Musk going on the Babylon Bee podcast to say that the woke mind virus is "arguably one of the biggest threats to modern civilization." X^[5] user @drmistercody quoted a clip of Musk with the caption, "Hmm sounds like a dumb thing a dumb guy might say," gathering over 29,000 likes in two years (seen below).

On April 20th, 2022, Musk posted to X^[6] saying that the "woke mind virus" is making Netflix "unwatchable," gathering over 270,000 likes in a year (seen below).

On December 12th, X^[8] user @ditzkoff posted a Pagliacci The Clown joke about Musk and the "woke mind virus," gathering over 25,000 likes in eight months (seen below).

Various internet users posted I'm Joining The War memes about the "woke mind virus," as seen in a December 12th, 2022, post by X user @JUNlPER,^[9] gathering over 35,000 likes in a year (seen below, left). The joke was also seen in an April 30th, 2023, post by user @JoshuaPHilll,^[10] where it gathered over 20,000 likes in four months (seen below, right).

On April 29th, 2023, Musk went on Bill Maher's show to speak about the "woke mind virus" again.^[7] On August 31st, the Wall Street Journal reported that a biography of Musk written by Walter Isaacson asserted that one of Musk's motivations for buying Twitter was his concern about how the "woke mind virus" had affected his transgender daughter.^[12]

On September 3rd, Musk asserted that the Anti-Defamation League was infected by the "woke mind virus," gathering over 13,000 likes in four days.^[11]