So, your friend is the type that’s always a little bit late on the pickup. She just finished The Office, she’s just now hearing about Ariana Grande, and she texted you recently urging you to read The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. But how are you supposed to continue being a good friend when she keeps tagging you in the most ancient of memes – the doge? Don’t worry! Here are a few ways to be encouraging when your friend has just discovered doges.
Tag her in increasingly contemporary memes until she catches up.
If your friend has taken to tagging you in doge pictures you originally saw while you were still in college, try some pseudo reverse psychology! Tag her back in only the most recent memes, gradually increasing the level of freshness, until she is on the same meme level as you! You’ll definitely have to answer a lot of her questions, like, “Why is that cartoon man sitting on a chair made of his own brain?” and “why are people putting Tide pods on their pizzas?” but it’ll pay off when she stops DMing you doge pics from 2013 and starts calling herself a “very stable genius.”
Direct her to actual dog accounts.
If your friend can’t seem to shake off her affinity for doge pics, try distracting her with other pictures that might be relevant to that interest: show her some actual dog’s Instagram accounts! From actual frenchies to real life shibas to tiny chihuahuas that exist IRL, your friend will have unlimited pups to choose from when she needs her doge fix. She’ll still be able to send you pictures of dogs, but they’ll be from our current year instead of from the I Can Haz Cheezburger era of 2008. Win-win!
Do only activities that require you to put your phone down.
Try encouraging your friend to not tag you in the oldest doge memes ever by diverting her attention to an activity that requires her to put her phone down. Escape the Room, rock climbing, cooking a meal from scratch – all of these are fun and exciting things to do with your friend that demand her iPhone be tucked away. She’ll have fun and you’ll be free of the burden of acknowledging a worn out meme.
Smile or giggle politely as you slowly die on the inside.
If worst comes to worst, just smile or giggle at whatever stale-ass doge pic your friend shows you. This method is the easiest, but perhaps most infuriating, way to support your friend through her very belated new interest in sharing doge pictures with you. You’ll suppress your urge to ask her, “Are you fucking serious?” because your friendship is older than those meme dogs (if only slightly), so it’s worth it! What a good friend!
Friendships can be difficult, but they’re especially tough when your friend has no concept of what would be considered a new fun meme to tag you in. With these tips, you’ll be able to navigate the minefield that is your friend’s recent discovery of ancient doge pics while maintaining your camaraderie. You deserve an award for this.
