Meaning
What does Who Is Joe? mean?
Who is Joe? often referenced as Don’t ask who Joe is is a popular meme series, revolving around luring victims into asking the question, 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. And have been going hard ever since, appearing on image macros, GIFs, as well as YouTube videos.
Origin
What's the origin of Who Is Joe??
Joe Mama jokes were rampant in the 90s, with the gag getting featured in various shows, such as The Golden Girls.
A popular predecessor of the “Yo Mama” revival is the Yo Mama YouTube channel, which was launched in 2011, compiling various Yo Mama jokes.
The “Who is Joe?” phenomenon 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. The post was later popularized online, reviving the ancient joke once again.
Spread & Usage
How did Who Is Joe? spread?
Noose.maniac‘s meme was reposted on Reddit on the same day, however this instance didn’t go viral until a few months after.
The trend would see growth in July 2019, when edits would start appearing on Snapchat and Instagram meme profiles, slowly conquering the web.
By late 2019, the “Who is Joe” meme became widely referenced and endorsed once again, appearing on social media sites, as well as Reddit, and YouTube.
“Yo Mama” jokes remain a classic even today, and will likely remain popular, with more and more memes sprawling up in the future.
External resources
- Urban Dictionary – Who Is Joe
- Stayhipp.com – Who Is Joe Mama?