By Steven Witkin ‘16

It may seem normal, even relatable, when the Internet states that your zodiac sign means that you are hardworking, or stubborn, or emotionally prepared, but what about when it says that your zodiac sign indicates that you are, in fact, Steve Harvey, Kylo Ren, or F. Scott Fitzgerald’s egg yolks? The latter are all actual examples from zodiac posts on Tumblr meant to parody more serious astronomy posts. Scattered among more reasonable zodiac lists and horoscopes, these posts’ obvious absurdity makes readers question the validity of attaching their sign to specific characteristics.

This style of assigning random characteristics, pictures, or items to the 12 Zodiac signs, known as “The Signs As…” meme, has become popular recently. Drawing its name from the common style shared by posts such as “The Signs as Puns,” “The Signs as My Professor’s Quotes,” “The Signs as Pastel John Cena Photos,” and many others, the inane practice caught on throughout the first half of 2015 and continues to this day, according to knowyourmeme.com.

What makes this meme unique is that it actively mocks the practice of astrology. It shows that the characteristics are attributed to the signs without any clear explanation, sometimes by deliberately assigning the same attribute to all signs. While it does not make sense that a person’s birth month determines defining characteristics about them, it certainly is ludicrous that their birth month determines the type of breakfast pastry they represent. It is satire through imitation, and although the posts seem serious, they ridicule people’s belief in astrology by manipulating people’s tendency to accept vague yet personalized information as true.

This tendency, known as the Barnum Effect, has its basis in people’s search for personal validation. Because people are looking for characteristics to identify with, they will accept unfounded generalizations, such as those found in both serious and parodied zodiac posts, as true and relatable. The Barnum Effect operates on positive attributes that are highly applicable to everybody. “The Signs As…” meme uses this ironically by instead only listing attributes that are applicable to nobody, yet presenting them in a way that is still acceptable.

Some might see this meme as insincere and annoying. Some might seriously try to find their personal connection with the irrational comparison. Some might enjoy the humor in reading that in the zodiac family, Libras are the gay cousin. However these popular strains of Tumblr posts are intended, in effect they make a caricature that reveals the deception of splitting the entire population into 12 signs.