The Penguin in Us All

At one time or another, everyone has felt like they just don’t fit in. The Socially Awkward Penguin puts these feeling into words in just the right way.

This meme is a part of the Advice Animals that are easily recognized by their colorful background and their animal at the center. This one specifically “features a penguin lacking both social skills and self-esteem” (Know Your Meme). The words usually are centered around uncomfortable situations that end in “an exceptionally clumsy or inelegant response.”

The original image of the penguin comes from the National Geographic’s Wild Animals site on a fact sheet on Adéli penguins. This meme began appearing on 4chan as early as 2009 following the popularity of Advice Dog and Courage Wolf. In May, an anonymous user named the penguin as the Socially Awkward Penguin, and the name stuck. From there, SAP was used liberally in 4chan in various different boards, which means a lot of people were able to connect with it, or simply understood the comedy of That Awkward Moment. It jumped to Reddit on September 25th, 2009, when a poster was seeking assistance for his anxiety. Another user, parttimehuman, used the reference to reassure him that he wasn't the only one that felt it.

After this use, various different websites began to use the SAP, such as Buzzfeed, Smosh, Facebook, and blogs such as this one. As it is inevitable for memes to remain untouched, numerous reversals were created, the most notable ones being the Socially Average Penguin, and the Socially Awesome Penguin.

There have also been hybrids created, turning up with the “Socially Awesome Awkward Penguin” which begin really well, but then things go downhill.

The reason I chose this meme is because I feel that even though it began in 2009, the meme itself and the humor it presents is still relatable and enjoyable. Richard Dawkins’ model of a good meme requires three things; fidelity, fecundity, and longevity. Through some discussion in class, we decided to adjust these terms to replicability, intertextuality, and durability. I find the SAP to follow these three requirements very closely. For one thing, it is very easy to find multiple social situations in real life that can translate to the SAP which makes it easy to replicate it in various forms. Next, everyone has had that situation where they hope that no one has seen.

Finally, the awkwardness of life is still around after 4 years, and as long as humans have social rules, people will inevitably stumble their way through all of them. I just love the SAP because he allows us to laugh at what might have regretted. When a meme can turn something uncomfortable into laughter that many people can share, it means it has succeeded. The Socially Awkward Penguin has succeeded.