A meme I posted in my friend group chat has caused a friendship-ending meltdown.
By @sashayy · Friends
It was just a dumb, terminally-online meme about people who 'main character' their vacation pictures. A friend who just got back from a solo trip to Italy took it super personally, accused me of being jealous, and is now trying to turn the rest of the group against me.
The full story
Our group chat is usually 90% just sending stupid memes and roasting each other. It's our main way of staying in touch since we're all scattered around. So I dropped this 'POV: your friend who just got back from Europe' meme in the chat. It had pics of an Aperol spritz, a blurry statue, a badly-translated caption... you've seen it. It's low-hanging fruit, whatever. My friend, who literally just posted an entire IG story essay about 'finding herself' in Florence, went silent. An hour later she DMs me: 'was that about me?' and I said 'lol no it's a generic meme, it's not that deep.' She did not agree. She sent paragraphs about how she saved for years for this trip, how meaningful it was, and how I was belittling her joy. Then she accused me of being jealous of her experience. It got worse. She started messaging other people in the group, asking them if I'd been 'talking behind her back' about her trip. A few friends sent me the screenshots. She was trying to paint me as this two-faced hater who can't stand to see anyone happy. It's so performative. Now the whole chat is completely awkward. Some are defending her, saying it was a 'targeted attack' and that my 'irony poisoning' has eroded my empathy. Others are saying she's having a ridiculous main-character moment and can't take a joke. The chat's been basically dead for two days. I tried to apologize for hurting her feelings, but she left me on read. Now she's telling people she wants a 'real' apology where I admit I was being malicious. I'm losing my friend group over a jpg.
How people voted
- Totally Cooked — 27% (65 votes)
- It’s Complicated — 42% (104 votes)
- You’re Fine — 31% (76 votes)
Readers say “It’s Complicated” (42%) — 245 votes and 5 comments so far.
What people are saying
@tom — lmao
@quinnsorta — Soft.
@karakinda — Why is she screen-shotting DMs and sending them to other people in the group?
@brynnsorta — This happened in my fantasy baseball league chat when I made a joke about someone's terrible draft picks. Some people just look for a reason to be mad.
@remylately — I feel like maybe the meme was a little more specific than you're letting on.
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