“Tag a mate” memes have gone full circle, with people now tagging themselves in amusing memes… and it’s totally hilarious. When the whole “tag a mate” phenomenon began it was awesome, you could stitch up your mates and shame them in a public forum. But as with most social media trends, people move forward quickly in search of a new rush, and tagging yourself is currently that new rush.
The self tag has gained popularity in recent weeks, and reached its zenith last weekend as people tagged themselves in a variety of memes to achieve the ultimate in self-deprecating humour. Social media trends analyst Grant Tennant said, “it’s always interesting to see how these trends evolve, and this one is possibly the most interesting. Tagging a mate is a good way of ridiculing them but also broadcasting that ridicule to a wide circle of their friends. Whereas tagging yourself takes a bit of a punt but is currently the hottest zeitgeist you can find on Facebook. It gets big laughs from your friends, and is estimated as being in the top 5% of funny things to do on Facebook.”
The burgeoning trend is predicted to gain mainstream popularity within weeks, before it ends like almost all social media trends do – when someone’s Aunty does it. Until then, enjoy the window of opportunity and get tagging.
The Watsonia Bugle 