Mediaboss Marketing

Concern over a theoretical World War 3 is high, and people are expressing their anxiety through memes.

Following a drone strike carried out by the United States that killed two prominent Iranian officials, many Americans are concerned. People took to Twitter to share their thoughts on the matter and quickly turned to memes to communicate their feelings. Unsurprisingly, the waves of WWIII memes now sweeping the web are not sitting well with everyone.

Me: This decade I'm gonna get married, have kids, buy my first car, travel the worl-#WWIII: pic.twitter.com/rHKC8Bacct

good morning to the west coast pic.twitter.com/NniquMnDTg

Most of the memes poked fun at fear of getting drafted. Many draft-aged users are expressing their fear of the draft through funny, but ominous, posts. Me after I fake my death to avoid getting drafted, one user captioned a video.

Me after I fake my death to avoid getting drafted #WWIII pic.twitter.com/kZK6Skqkq3

Me chilling at home after ignoring my draft notice #WWIII pic.twitter.com/fMRtvRg3ZV

Me dodging bullets on the battlefield after getting drafted for #WWIII pic.twitter.com/a1PtzFKvS9

Other memes centered around millennials and Gen-Z joking about their general lack of preparedness for war.

Me and the boys on missile duty during #WWIII pic.twitter.com/pdfh29eT9n

Me and my boys when we in Iran and run out of ammo and have to make our own redneck shit #WWIII pic.twitter.com/t7Qeb32SKD

Me having no fucking idea what Im doing in #WWIII pic.twitter.com/r1DUCgvLvq

As the WWIII memes picked up speed online, they were met by a swift and fierce backlash. Disapproving users chided memers for their nonchalance, and for using memes as a coping mechanism. Stop saying ur making memes about war as a coping method, one user wrote. Every single one of u will be fine the people of iraq and iran will continue to suffer u people have nothing to be fucking coping for.

stop saying ur making memes about war as a coping method every single one of u will be fine the people of iraq and iran will continue to suffer u people have nothing to be fucking coping for

so funny that americans think they CAN cope over this with jokes ... what the fuck are you coping? youre not going to die and your homeland will not be destabilized. you are not in a position to cope by any means.

also, all world war 3 jokes are inappropriate. this war will not be fought on us soil. you will not be affected. this is not about american lives.

War is not a fucking joke, another user wrote. It is a destructive and selfish act. 4,424 U.S. soldiers and an estimated 600K Iraqi civilians died in the Iraq war over WMDs that did not exist. So please stop with these #WWIII memes and instead call your Congress members and tell them #NoWarWithIran.

War is not a fucking joke. It is a destructive and selfish act. 4,424 U.S. soldiers and an estimated 600K Iraqi civilians died in the Iraq war over WMDs that did not exist. So please stop with these #WWIII memes and instead call your Congress members and tell them #NoWarWithIran.

americans joking about commiting more imperialism and genocide in another country and saying 'it's a coping mechanism' is peak 2020 and we're literally only two days into this year https://t.co/Lf0XgkUtnD

Accusations that Black users, in particular, were at the center of the influx of memes suddenly shifted the focus for critics. Some started going after Twitter users of color, heaping criticism on their tweets for not taking the situation seriously. Honestly, Im not believing a lot of you right now when you say that war is not funny, one user shot back at critics. Twitter is such a performative space, I find it likely that many of you are declaring how unfunny Black Twitter is just for some retweets. All of it is pretty disgusting at this point.

Honestly, Im not believing a lot of you right now when you say that war is not funny. Twitter is such a performative space, I find it likely that many of you are declaring how unfunny Black Twitter is just for some retweets. All of it is pretty disgusting at this point.

I know how this space works. We all do in fact. Literally combing over other folks tweets to see how well you can chastise and educate folk about war, to get more likes and retweets. The jokes are pathetic and so are some of you.

I remember being awake all night and day on Twitter when the Ferguson uprisings were happening, then spilling into other cities.

We were scared then. We were not joking like this.

But coping.

A lot of Black liberals are so used to playing the oppression olympics that they now want to equate Black folks experience here with that of folks in the global south, living under the bullseye of the worlds most lethal military. Pls dont do this.

everything is hahaha until somebody says the united states is george zimmerman to the world, then it's too far. people act like mindless americans and then wanna grow a politic when it's a superficial showing of Black solidarity that takes 0 study, rigor or sacrifice.

Black Twitter, meanwhile, remained entirely unfazed by the criticism. All of black twitter chillin in jail when we refuse to go to war, one user wrote.

we really shouldnt joke about the war-black twitter: pic.twitter.com/3N00VP6AMt

I dont know why people thought black Twitter wasnt about to get these jokes off about #WWIII. Black folk even had jokes when they was IN the last world war lol. They spelled Hitler name on an artillery shell like it was a Starbucks cup pic.twitter.com/ScuxUWc61W

We goin to war soon

All of black twitter: pic.twitter.com/tcPJnGy2Ky

America: If Yall Dont Enlist Yall Not getting Yall Tax Money

Black Twitter: pic.twitter.com/wa1Kajx3a3

All of black twitter chillin in jail when we refuse to go to war pic.twitter.com/wv94VyBJ5s

Everybody Else: Oh my god, WW3 is coming, we gotta fight this.

Black Twitter: pic.twitter.com/tvVX4mYGvH

*World War 3 starting*

*black Twitter not taking it serious*: #WWIII pic.twitter.com/hEWb6q94LW

As of press time, the memes show no sign of slowing down.

READ MORE:

Original post:
The World War 3 memes are hereand they're dark - The Daily Dot