Meaning
What does Crying Behind Mask mean?
The Crying Behind Mask meme is a popular reaction image macro, which depicts a person holding back tears behind a mask, which is meant to show a happy face.
It’s a powerful metaphor for the emotional strain that many people face in their daily lives. The image has become so popular that it’s now used in GIFs, videos, and other forms of digital media.
“Crying Behind Mask” is a version of the original Wojak and Crying Wojak memes, which first appeared online in 2010 and 2014 respectively.
Origin
What's the origin of Crying Behind Mask?
The exact origins of both Crying Wojak and “Crying Behind Mask” is unknown, however the latter is a modified variation of the former.
Crying Wojak started appearing online as early as 2012 and its more popular version in 2014. It was using this image macro, that the “Crying Behind Mask” was created.
The reaction image about concealed grief began appearing on 4chan‘s boards in 2016 and swiftly spread on to Reddit and other forums and meme pages afterwards.
Spread & Usage
How did Crying Behind Mask spread?
Due to the relatability of the meme, “Crying Behind Mask” spread quickly online, being endorsed in various reaction memes, comics and GIFs, both on social media sites, like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, as well as sites like Reddit, Tumblr and 9GAG.
Today, the meme’s versatile use has led it to appear in a variety of media, including image macros, GIFs and YouTube videos.
“Crying Behind Mask” even spawned its own variations, appearing in a number of different ways online.
