Every time I scroll through Twitter, I see at least one self-deprecating tweet. Maybe it's because I follow so many accounts that happen to post that content on a regular basis, or maybe it's because it's the new punchline.
What I mean by this is that a lot of jokes these days, mostly in our millennial generation, have a sad undertone (or a very blatantly obvious tone in most cases).
Funny enough, most of these jokes have to deal with college, work, socializing, and every day life. I won't lie, my humor is very deadpan and pretty dark (not in the offensive sense, more in the, well, the topic of this article sense). A lot of my friends and people I follow on social media have the same sense of humor-- very sarcastic, pretty dry, and kinda morbid, if you really think about it.
So many jokes these days are based on wanting to die, but not for real. Why is this?
I don't know about the majority of people, but I feel as though it stemmed from a few people using it as a coping mechanism and it took off from there. I definitely use it to help with coping with my internalized problems, but I know I don't actually mean anything from it, and most people don't.
I joke about my insecurities and my mental stability and so on because it helps to deal with the fact that I really am not doing well. People who don't do this and who look at people who are using these as bases for joke probably think something is incredibly wrong.
They're not wrong, but they're not necessarily right.
The word "dying" itself has even been turned into a word that means that something was so funny that they're going to die from laughter, or that there is so much happening that it's overwhelming, but it doesn't even really mean literally dying anymore.
It's kinda weird.
Memes, especially, portray this humor. Just look anywhere on Twitter, Facebook or Tumblr. It's not a relatively new topic, but I feel like it's taking off more than ever now.
Most people using these jokes don't actually want to die. If most people are like me, then they have a background of dealing with these thoughts, and by saying "haha lol I want to die" but knowing I won't die gives me somewhat of a power. Or I can say that and know that, yeah, it's always an option, but life is actually decent enough to live for. It's just how my brain works.
It's such a strange topic, and I feel as though I may be overanalyzing things, or else not saying it as I want to. I think it's just hard to describe unless you partake in the jokes. Especially if you're not a millennial, it would be hard to explain to anybody. I truly feel as though these morbid jokes are the new punchline of 2016, and we'll have to see if they continue into 2017.
