And like many of them, his content is typically screenshots of text or composite text-and-image posts from Twitter and Tumblr. Anuj, a 30-year-old based in India, started the account two years ago after finding inspiration in other meme accounts on the platform. “Pardon my language, but Twitter is shit when it comes to meme,” says Anuj, creator of an Instagram account focused on memes related to gay culture. Part of the reason is that for meme creators looking to build an audience, Twitter just doesn’t cut it. For some meme creators, Twitter and Tumblr are a canvas, while Instagram is the wall where they display their work. Some of these Instagram meme accounts have followers in the millions, and many aren’t just aggregating content they’re creating their own on Twitter or Tumblr, and then posting screenshots to Instagram.
“Memes lend themselves to be shared as a full image, with the text of the meme actually attached to the image itself,” she says. “Instagram and Twitter are the only social media platforms that matter, especially to millennials.” For Hartwig, Instagram’s image-first identity is suited to meme culture, which she says thrives and connects more easily. Snapchat is irrelevant to the point that I don’t even know why I’m mentioning it,” Cori Amato Hartwig, a New York-based 22-year-old who runs an account called tells The Verge. Tumblr is for people stuck in 2011 and Warped Tour (sorry). Instead, Instagram - still hugely popular as a place to post glossy, aspirational images of your vacation, your coffee, or gratuitous selfies - has grown into a home away from home to consume screenshots of the best content from those services. But that doesn’t mean that younger users are finished with the content from those sites altogether. Pew Research Center recently reported that fewer teenagers than ever are using platforms like Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr. These are characters who are easy to love, in a romance so gentle and relatable you could watch with your grandma or your own true love, and everyone would sigh exactly the same.As social media platforms grow more popular, younger audiences tend to flee in search of newer alternatives. Isaac follows to fling his arms around them both, and demands Tao get up too, and make it a true group hug. And likes being with me." When Elle agrees to do something important for Charlie, he leaps up to hug her. When Charlie outlines what his dream man might look like to his quirky sister Tori (Jenny Walser), his list of qualities is delightfully healthy: "Someone I can have a laugh with. It's simply beautiful, whether or not the viewer has been lucky enough to experience those same emotions at the same tender age.īeautiful, too, are the relationships between the characters of this show, teen pals who tease each other gently and support each other stout-heartedly, and are transparent about their feelings. Nick and Charlie share a palpable chemistry, and look and feel like real teens their slowly realistically building friendship-turned-romance is simply lovely, and the hand-drawn graphics that appear on-screen during the most intense moments feel true to the heart: bubbling hearts and flying leaves twirling around the pixilated boys, golden light and sparks that emanate when their hands get close together. This teen romance is as sweet and lovable as a puppy, drenched in wholesome emotions and stocked with good-hearted characters trying, and usually doing, their best. Characters are supportive of one another and largely kind, friends and family members hug and are honest with their feelings, and themes of integrity and empathy are strong. Language is mild: "ass" appears in a text, and there's some vulgar British slang like "knob" and "piss off." Teens at a party drink from plastic cups, but no one acts drunk. One character tries to forcefully kiss another a third character pulls him off and shoves him away. In one scene, a boy who was a victim of bullying when classmates found out he was gay is depicted as a lonely figure while voices and written messages on the screen taunt him. But sexual content is mild and mainly confined to kisses and hand-holding. There's lots of emphasis on liking others: who has a crush on whom, who's texting whom, etc. Since a romantic relationship is central to the plot, expect flirting, dating, and kissing.
Parents need to know that Heartstopper is a romance between teen boys that's set in England and based on the webcomic and graphic novel series by Alice Oseman.