Seemingly overnight, Facebook has been taken over. Not by anything political, as much as rags on either side want you to believe, but by a distressed little purple bird, who is either getting down to Slayer or questioning his life choices.
It’s only become apparent over the past few days, and like most new things online, people don’t want to really question it at the risk of looking uncool. It’s a GIF that’s part of a sticker set and is used for seemingly no reason, other than to annoy people. Well, it goes by the name of Trash Dove, and it’s going to make an appearance in the comments section on Facebook, no matter how irrelevant the post or how small the page is.
Originating in popularity in Thailand, Trash Dove is the creation of Florida artist Syd Weiler, who let loose the new Big Internet Thing at the end of January. According to the meme queens over at Know Your Meme, the craze all started on a Facebook video featuring Trash Dove and a cat:
https://www.facebook.com/sudlokomteen/videos/677131882470874/
From there, it exploded. While it’s probably going to be the subject of hundreds of thinkpieces as time goes on, questioning if the Trash Dove has racist connotations or if it’s corrupting our youth, there’s one thing you should keep in mind.
It’s a fucking headbanging bird.
To thank the people of Thailand for helping her art make it big, Syd Weiler made special Trash Doves with the first edition not going down too well as it was perceived as offensive by some. She got it right with the second try:
The sticker set actually has impressive depth and is quite adorable. Trash Dove seems to be a reflection of modern anxieties, showcasing the struggles of juggling modern life, hope, dreams, and love.
Either that or he’s just a fucking headbanging bird wearing rain boots.
If the existence of Trash Doves brings you severe trauma, remember that this is the internet: a place where thirteen year old girls reach fame by not speaking English properly. It will be replaced by something else before too long.
Or Trash Dove will be eternal. Judging by him now having his own Chrome extension and even being referenced by Overwatch, that’s quite possible.
@SydWeiler We hope you'll have a blast, just like your bird seems to 😜 pic.twitter.com/bjYLE2En2P
— Overwatch (@OverwatchEU) 14 February 2017
What do you think of Trash Dove? Be sure to type up 1500 word opinion pieces at your own leisure.
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