When you send a meme or TikTok to a friend, is it because you find it so funny that you have to share it with someone? Or do you send it because you think the specific friend will appreciate it? Is it distinct to their humor or yours?
Content creator Sydney Simone believes that men do the former, sending memes simply because they find them funny, while women focus far more on the recipient.
A woman explained the difference between the memes that men and women send.
“Am I the only one to notice that when a guy sends you a TikTok or a meme, it’s something that he finds funny or interesting?” she questioned. “And maybe you might relate a little bit, but it’s something that he finds funny.”
On the other hand, Simone argued that women send memes because they know that the recipient will appreciate them.
“When a girl sends you something, it’s something that she knows that you will enjoy,” she explained. “That you will find funny. Something that relates to you.”
The memes women send are more catered toward the specific person and often are related to something that has already been discussed, whether it’s a TikTok about a TV show you both enjoy or a meme related to an inside joke.
“When my girls send me stuff, it’s really like my childhood trauma, something that we discussed a couple of weeks ago or something that we like mutually,” Simone said.
“When a guy sends me something, most of the time, I just look at it, and I’m like, I didn’t even laugh,” she admitted. “Like, why did you send this to my phone? But thanks for thinking of me. I don’t know.”
Sending memes creates a sense of connection.
Therapist Natalie Rosado told Yahoo Life, “In the digital age, small gestures like sharing a meme or a video can significantly strengthen emotional bonds.”
While swapping memes can strengthen any relationship, it especially impacts romantic bonds.
Stanford University social psychologist Dr. Rosanna Guadagno told Refinery 29, “One of the ways you can tell when a relationship is getting stronger — especially as time passes and you spend more time together — is you start developing all sorts of inside jokes that mean something to the two of you.”
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“A meme is effectively a visual version of this,” she continued. “It’s less intentional, but I think it serves that same psychological function of reinforcing the couple as a unit and having these shared ideas, shared perceptions, shared jokes, and shared experiences.”
So, when someone sends you a meme, it genuinely does mean they’re thinking about you. Men and women might just go about doing that in different ways.
Research shows that women are more empathetic than men.
Empathy is the ability to feel something for others, to put yourself in their position and feel what they are going through. According to a study published in the Journal of Social Psychology, “Much research has shown that women are more empathetic than men.”
If women are truly more empathetic than men, it makes sense that the memes they send exhibit a greater sense of understanding for the other person. They can put themselves in the other’s shoes and know what they will appreciate or find funny.
Simone’s point also relates to what men and women mean when they say they are looking for a partner with a sense of humor. Although this is a common trait that both genders look for in a significant other, they are often looking for completely different things.
“Women define sense of humor in a man as a man who makes them laugh,” comedian Nikki Glaser said, citing an Atlantic article. “Men define sense of humor in a woman as a woman who laughs at their jokes.”
Women in Simone’s comments section wholeheartedly agreed with her and Glaser’s assessments.
“I actually cannot remember the last time I laughed when a man sent me something,” one TikTok user admitted.
“We’re actually thoughtful,” another user wrote, while a third commenter pointed out, “That would require them to listen to us and remember what we find funny.”
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.
