Growing up, I observed my peers trying to fit in by taking their humor to extreme lengths, hoping to gain social acceptance. The horrid nature of the things they said disturbed me, and worse still, such humor only continues to become more popular.
Many internet jokes and memes seem to stem from immoral or illegal behavior. People find inexcusable behavior humorous because of the way it tests the limits of social acceptance, but it is a cheap way to draw a laugh.
A recent example of this is the immature jokes that make fun of rapper Sean John Combs, more commonly known by his stage name, P. Diddy. A series of allegations have been made against P. Diddy, involving sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution, leading up to his arrest, according to BBC News.
Instead of showing how extreme and horrid edgy jokes are, these terrible charges encourage their usage throughout daily life. People constantly use the phrase “no Diddy,” a replacement for the previous homophobic “no homo,” used in contexts to laugh at homosexual actions.
While the original phrase was bad enough, adding in another layer of edgy humor by involving Diddy makes the joke even more despicable.
Unfortunately, this is not the first time the internet has belittled a serious issue. In general, a large facet of the internet’s humor stems from pedophilia or sexual assault. Previously, the internet has joked about Drake supposedly contacting minors, people involved in illegal activities at Epstein Island and Michael Jackson allegedly sleeping with kids.
More recently, people online have been making jokes about Luigi Mangione, the man responsible for murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Several users made fun of his Twitter banner alongside jokingly theorizing that books like Harry Potter and The Hunger Games were the reason for his actions, according to the Independent. Despite the severity of the situation, the internet seems to find nothing but humor in his crimes, disregarding the murder completely.
Another common joke I encounter is people saying “I’m gonna touch you” or similar comments in response to insignificant insults or actions. While the sway such jokes have on young people may seem minimal, it trivializes serious and dangerous issues, such as sexual assault or extortion, allowing this insensitivity to continue in the future.
Finding humor in crimes fails to consider the victims’ sides of these stories. Not only do these jokes disregard their hardship and trauma, but they worsen it by making it harder for victims to be taken seriously when they spread their stories over online platforms.
This era of rampant, inconsiderate internet humor has evolved into an issue that disregards serious, and often criminal, situations by turning them into comedic acts. While cracking jokes may be enjoyable in the moment, some topics are best kept serious.
