Meaning
What does Don’t Ask Who Joe Is mean?
Don’t ask who Joe is, often referenced as Who is Joe? is a meme series, revolving around luring victims into inquiring about Joe, only to be told “Joe mama”.
While yo mama jokes were popular prior to the internet, they were brought back to life on Instagram in 2019.
“Don’t ask who Joe is” can be often encountered as a caption to creepy Squidward image macros.
Origin
What's the origin of Don’t Ask Who Joe Is?
Joe Mama jokes were rampant in the 90’s, with the gag getting featured in various shows, such as The Golden Girls.
The “who is Joe?” meme first emerged online on February 25th, 2019, posted on Instagram by noose.maniac.
The first image macro depicted a creepy reimagining of a Minecraft villager, made by DeviantArt user kedemel, paired with captions that encourage people to ask who Joe is.
It was after this, in July, 2019 that the creepy Squidward image would be posted on Snapchat and Instagram accounts, with the phrase “Don’t ask who Joe is”.
Spread & Usage
How did Don’t Ask Who Joe Is spread?
The “Don’t ask who Joe is” Squidward meme became one of the most popular versions of the Yo Mama memes of 2019.
Its popularity was increased in September, after YouTube user Dolan Darker uploaded a video with the title “Don’t ask who Joe is.”

External resources
- Know Your Meme – Don’t Ask Who Joe Is / Joe Mama