Meaning
What does Wojak mean?
Wojak, alternatively referred to as Feels Guy is a reaction image used for conveying feelings of depression, sorrow, melancholy and solitude.
The character is drawn in Microsoft Paint, depicted with a bald head and its most distinctive feature; the lifeless face, devoid of any traces of happiness.
Origin
What's the origin of Wojak?
The illustration of the sad chrome dome dude is said to originate from the image board vichan and in 2010 was spread on the German image board, Krautchan by a user named “Wojak” (hence the name).
Shortly after this, the image rapidly spread onto various other image boards, including the Italian Pastachan and the Russian oriented Dobrochan.
Spread & Usage
How did Wojak spread?
“Wojak” or as they referred to him at the beginning, Feels Guy had served as the base for several established memes, from I know that feel bro to the Bloomer, Zoomer and to even the less widespread Country Feel memes, which depict national stereotypes in relation to a country and its average citizen.
“Wojak” had appeared in all sorts of contents, form YouTube meme videos, to even a Bustle article, concerning the origins of the meme.
The paint-drawn meme guy was equally referred to as “Feels Guy” for a long time, up until 2017, when “Wojak” started massively taking over as the name of the sad online character.
External resources
- NSS Magazin – How Wojak became the meme of the moment
- Memepedia – Wojak