Does your friend group have a ‘leader’?
We’re more than adept at turning the hyper-specific yet relatable aspects of our lives into memes, and the insight into what a “friend group leader” is and does is no exception.
The meme, which first came up by way of TikTok last year and migrated over to Twitter last week, is a fairly simple one: Many friend groups have at least one person taking the lead—and their personality can sometimes overpower the rest of the group instead of operating as equals.
In some of the earlier videos that played out this dynamic, like from TikTokers @danessyauguste and @jayfilayy, the group leader needs to be the center of attention or has to have things play out their way, and they are even willing to resort to gaslighting to make it happen.
@danessyauguste
Please the way I’ve heard this so many times
♬ original sound – Danessy Auguste
@jayfilayy a leader must lead 🙇🏽♂️(READ PINNED COMMENT) #fypシ #viral ♬ When I See U – Fantasia
By July 2022, imagining what a friend group leader would and wouldn’t do carried over to Twitter, including the idea that if you meet someone new and they’re not the leader, something’s a bit off.
https://www.twitter.com/whoislos__/status/1551602025384878081
When you meet his friend group and he not the leader <<<<<<
— Big Sue Dawg (@Pink_Susie) July 26, 2022
Even leaders in friend groups are suspect.
Nah if your friend group has a leader, that might not be a friend group lmaaaooooo
— ANW The Night Leader🇹🇹 (@TheColtonShow__) July 27, 2022
Others joked that they had to fight to the death to obtain the role of the group leader or went to great lengths to prove that they were the group leader.
Me fighting gang to become leader of the friend group https://t.co/QsTQ5Lf8f1 pic.twitter.com/Y0g6qpwhs8
— Princeof.Chaos (@cc_princechaos) July 29, 2022
making sure my girl knows i’m the leader of the friend group pic.twitter.com/rWzVUyRaz2
— brandon* (@brndxix) July 30, 2022
Gotta make sure my girl know I'm the leader of my friend group pic.twitter.com/ONnmIYsDUe
— jamez (@JamezDead) July 30, 2022
And another person placed doubt on the concept of there being an actual leader in friend groups.
There is no “leader of the friend group” with the homies, we all equally stupid
— 𝘴𝘤𝘳 ✯ (@scr1blez) July 28, 2022
Whether or not your friend groups have self-appointed or widely accepted leaders is irrelevant. Like the recent explosion of the Little Miss meme, it’s an indication of illustrating dynamics that are specific yet vague enough that everybody can relate to it. Your friend who sees themselves as a leader might not be the same as everyone else’s, but many of us know what that looks like.
And now that friend group leader memes are on Twitter, they’re getting another life on TikTok.
@designingcribgaming (I’m the leader btw) #friendgroup #leader #twitter #twitch #twitchgaming #minecraft #minecraftgaming #viral #foryou #fyp ♬ RUNAWAY – KAYDEN
@codenamejesse #stitch with @rebuildingourgenerationx Is there a “leader” in male friend groups? #codenamejesse ♬ Music Instrument – Gerhard Siagian
On the internet, memes are a flat circle.
