The softblocking meme blends literary references with cancel culture
Oof. Yikes. A new copypasta has everyone softblocking problematic villains from well known stories, all in the name of the meme.
Urban Dictionary defines softblocking as "A phrase often used by Twitter users to describe the blocking of another person, then immediate unblock."
Essentially, it forces the blocked party to unknowingly unfollow the user so they stop interacting with the user's tweets.
It's a passive-aggressive — but drama-skirting — way to get someone out of your social sphere. When Twitter users find out that someone has been problematic — whether it's a terrible take they had on a marginalized group or allegations of sexual harassment — they'll softblock the person to gently remove them from their online social lives.
In a classic case of milkshake ducking, someone will go viral for a clever tweet, other Twitter users will follow them based on that tweet, and then later someone else will uncover some slimy info about that person. Upon learning that information, Twitter users will denounce them or deny ever following them in the first place.
Twitter user @turing_police poked fun at the trend of quickly stanning and then canceling someone in the same breath. Referencing the villainous stepbrother Dio Brando in the anime JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, turing_police joked that they softblocked the vampire after finding out he had been "trying to end your familys bloodline for seven generations so that his malign magickal influence can ravage the world unchecked."
oof. Yikes 😬thanks for letting me know. Im softblocking him right now. Sorry i saw a joke tweet he made a while back and followed. didnt know he’s been trying to end your familys bloodline for seven generations so that his malign magickal influence can ravage the world unchecked
— Turing Police (@turing_police) July 20, 2019
The tweet became a copypasta, and was shared and applied to movies, TV shows, musicals, songs, and books — and doubles as a test of your pop culture knowledge.
oof. Yikes😬thanks for letting me know. Im softblocking right now. Sorry i saw a joke tweet he made a while back and followed. didn’t know he attempted to marry your little sister in efforts to access your family fortune, almost ruining her when she was but fifteen years old
— g (@wholegrainne) July 23, 2019
oof. Yikes 😬thanks for letting me know. Im softblocking right now. Sorry i saw a joke tweet he made a while back and followed. didnt know he used the Old Blood to elevate his church, turn an entire city into mindless beasts, and then by his own hubris become a beast himself
— devon giehl 🔥 vileblood hunter (@devongiehl) July 22, 2019
oof. Yikes 😬thanks for letting me know. Im softblocking right now. Sorry i saw a joke tweet he made a while back and followed. Didnt know he lied about having amontillado in his wine cellar and sealed a man away to slowly starve to death
— tyler ✨🌈🌧 (@ravenbones_) July 22, 2019
oof. Yikes 😬thanks for letting me know. Im softblocking right now. Sorry i saw a joke tweet she made a while back and followed. didn’t know she tied you to a kitchen chair, broke your throne and cut your hair, and from your lips drew a hallelujah
— florence pugh from midsommar stan account (@cocteau_twinks) July 21, 2019
oof. Yikes 😬thanks for letting me know. Im softblocking right now. Sorry i saw a joke tweet he made a while back and followed. didnt know he turned you into a demon at an underground sex party and caused the annihilation of humanity
— lonely thots club (@fightsgod) July 21, 2019
oof. Yikes 😬thanks for letting me know. im softblocking right now. Sorry i saw a food blog post he made a while back and followed. Didnt know he tried to accidentally assist the human subconscious collective into merging reality w mementos by assassinating the leader of the PT
— eiha @ CTcon AC342 ✨ (@LUPATIER) July 21, 2019
oof. Yikes 😬 thanks for letting me know. im softblocking right now. Sorry i saw joke he tweeted a while back and followed. Didnt know he forced his son to fight as a child soldier and brought about the Third Impact.
— god's in his heaven, all's right with the world 🌈 (@MissPavIichenko) July 23, 2019
oof. Yikes 😬thanks for letting me know. Im softblocking right now. Sorry i saw a joke tweet he made a while back and followed. didnt know he slaughtered your entire clan and sold their eyes on the black market
— SASUKE DAY 🍅 (@sabitofan) July 20, 2019
oof. Yikes 😬thanks for letting me know. Im softblocking right now. Sorry i saw a joke tweet he made a while back and followed. Didn’t know he dropped a chandelier into the audience of the opera house, killing a stagehand
— SparkNotes (@SparkNotes) July 23, 2019
Did you spot all of those references? Happy softblocking!
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