Recently, I came upon a meme that exemplified perhaps the darker part of group friendships: exclusion. The meme, which I'll detail below, highlights that while friendships and group bonds can offer us a sense of belonging through shared values and interests, they can also devolve into something deeper, fostering instead feelings of loneliness and neglect.
For readers who rarely peruse social media, a meme is defined by SaintHoax, a leading Instagrammer, as "a piece of media that is repurposed to deliver a cultural, social or political expression, mainly through humor."
The main text of the meme reads, "When I send a text to the group chat, and everyone suddenly lost the ability to reply." This gives context to a video of a satirical Mickey Mouse saying, "Well, I'm waiting for your response. Are you just not going to say anything?" with a few aggressive expletives thrown in for true effect.
The meme showcases the inner aggression—despite an outward friendly appearance—that comes from feeling the pain of having no one in a friendship group chat respond. The video showcases the conflicting internal........