This seems bananas to me, personally, but one thing that many media bubble types still don’t seem to understand is that Facebook is primarily built for making bullshit go viral. That’s just what works on the platform. Share all the #nuanced takes you want, but you know what really thrives on the Zucc Machine? This shit.
Seriously, test it out sometime. Log in to Facebook. Share a subtle, reflective article written by a quasi-Twitter famous writer of your choosing. Then, once that’s up, post a typo-ridden image macro about how millennials are weaklings and life was better when we snapped peas with grandma or whatever. Sit back and see which one gets more engagement. Sorry in advance.
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The only silver lining to this nightmare might be “Cropped Boomer Images,” a Twitter account that takes the cursed, baby boomer-targeted memes your aunt loves and crops them to create, well, whatever the hell this is:
The basic idea of the format has been around for a while, but this account is taking it to deeply strange new heights. Sometimes, the crop functions to simply flip the script on whatever point the meme is trying to make, but my favorites create something bizarre with almost no meaningful message at all. Taken together, it’s a Dadaist nightmare of trucks, cowboys, Clint Eastwood, AOC, and Minion content—and I can’t get enough of it.
While the account has only tweeted some 300-plus times so far, I hope it keeps going as long as Facebook is still a thing. I’ve reached out to whoever runs the account, and will update this post if they offer up any gems about their creative process. For now, just enjoy the fever dream:
Check out more from “Cropped Boomer Images” here.
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