About
“Hey Guys What’s Going On In This Thread?” is an expression used to insert oneself into a discussion in progress, or alternatively, to preface one’s reaction to the present state of the thread in question. The phrase is most commonly paired with animated GIFs to indicate that a topic of conversation has gone awry, similar to the use of “Abandon Thread” reaction images.
Origin
On December 18th, 2002, a series of mock LiveJournal entries were posted on the Internet humor site SomethingAwful,[1] including one titled “Hey guys, what’s going on in this thread?”
Spread
On December 24th, 2005, Forums of Loathing[3] member poopedEINpants started a new discussion asking “Hey guys, what’s going on in this thread?”, receiving over 90 responses in the first 24 hours. On March 12th, 2006, GenMay Forums[4] member isajeep submitted a new post titled “Hey guys, what’s going on in this thread?” On October 25th, 2008, the personal blog Crow202[8] posted an image macro of a guinea pig with the caption “Hay guys! / What’s going on in this thread” (shown below, left). On February 17th, 2010, BodyBuilding Forums[5] member Malk1th posted a two-pane image macro of a dog peering out of a doorway and saying “aw shit” in replying to the OP’s trivia post about the sum of a roulette wheel’s numbers being 666.
On May 11th, 2011, Fark[6] member GreatGlavinsGhost posted an image of the Muppet character Kermit the Frog with the caption “Hey! What’s going on in this thread!?” (shown below, left). On February 29th, 2012, a Facebook[2] page titled “What’s Going on in This Thread” was launched. On February 26th, 2013, Comic Vine[7] user beautifulrevery posted an image macro of a shark with the caption reading “O hay guyz / what’s goin on in this thread?” (shown below, right) in a discussion about a mud wrestling match between The Avengers superheroes Captain American and Thor.
Notable Examples
Search Interest
External References
[1]Something Awful – AwfullyLiveJournal
[2]Facebook – What’s Going on in this Thread
[3]Kingdom of Loathing Forums – I shit you not
[4]GenMay – Hey guys whats going on in this thread
[5]BodyBuilding Forums – mind blown sum of roulette wheel is 666
[6]Fark – But officer Im the goddamn Batman
[7]Comic Vine – Captain America Vs Thor
[8]Crow202 – Peruvian food