12 Year Olds

About

12 Year Olds is a collective term used online to categorize prepubescent children in the age group of 10 to 14, most commonly those of the male gender, and the characterizations that come along with it, whether the individual falls within that age-range or not.

Origin

In North America, the Internet became readily available for prepubescents with America Online and other similar services in the late 1990s, but the population of the age group saw a visible increase in online presence following the launch of early social networking websites, such as MySpace and Facebook, as well as multiplayer gaming platforms in the early 2000s.

Spread

Young Internet users have gained a negative online reputation, commonly characterized by their inexperience, inarticulateness, lacking sense of humor, bad grammar and punctuation, as well as an eagerness to fit in. Due to online anonymity, older users exhibiting behaviors commonly associated with 12 year olds often risk being categorized as one or claimed one as well. Certain image sharing websites and boards, such as 9gag or Reddit’s atheism^[4] and f7u12^[5] (rage comics) sub-Reddits, also have a wide reputation of having a young userbase. As of September 13th, 2012, Urban Dictionary gives over 400 definitions when looking for “12 year olds”.^[1] Most of these definitions satirically describe online communities that have a reputation of being popular with 12 year olds. Uncyclopedia^[2] and Encyclopedia Dramatica^[3] also feature articles for bashing 12 year olds and their presence online, giving quotes commonly associated with them and examples of where they can be found.

In Online Gaming

In online gaming, 12 year olds, or just young children in general, are commonly characterized by a high pitched voice, lack of skill, and being a sore loser. Although another popular opinion is that young players and their style of gameplay tend to ruin the fun for other players or even the game’s online multiplayer function completely. On YouTube, various videos can be found of people trolling or grieving young players to catch their reactions on tape for the entertainment of the viewer.

Related Memes

I’m Twelve Years Old And What Is This?

“I’m Twelve Years Old And What Is This?” is a catchphrase typically used to react to something that is considered vulgar or outlandish, such as x-rated media, or to express general confusion. The phrase parodies the inexperience of young users found on the internet and the content they might find that is still unknown to them, but well known to older, more experienced, users. The phrase also made its way as a popular reaction image, featuring images of people, commonly children, looking at a screen on a different object with a confusing look on their face.

First Day On The Internet Kid

First Day On The Internet Kid is an advice animal image macro series featuring a young kid being depicted as a new and inexperienced Internet user who is unfamiliar with certain aspects of the web; he is often described as a younger version of Lonely Computer Guy / Net Noob.

Summer Fag

Summer Fag is an advice animal image macro series featuring a male teenager on a computer accompanied by captions depicting the boy as an inexperienced newcomer to the 4chan image board community.