The Origin of Michael McGee, Vein Popping Guy
Since the popularity of sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have risen, the meme has become a world-wide trend on social media. According to the definition on Lifewire a meme is a virally spread symbol or social idea. Most memes are captioned photos that are intended to be funny, frequently as a way to openly ridicule. Memes can also be videos or verbal expressions.
Michael McGee became one of the biggest internet memes, at 16 years old. In the viral photo, he’s red-faced with veins on his forehead and neck bulging out, looking like he’s about to explode while sitting next to a female classmate. The photo from its post was captioned “Trying to Hold a Fart Next to a Cute Girl in Class.”
On January 4th, 2016, The Daily Dot ran an article identifying him, an 18-year-old student at Northwest High School in Justin, Texas. According to an interview with McGee himself, the photo was taken while in class and shared to Twitter by his friend Mathew in late 2013. Although the photo caught little attention at the time of the initial upload, it gained large popularity on Twitter and Instagram later on. McGee even won a place on Know Your Meme. Since then, it has been remixed many times, captioned with funny or uncomfortable frustrations and situations, keeping its grasp on virality.
