Things have moved incredibly quickly over the last few weeks, and you’re not alone if you’re feeling a little disoriented. How many of us could honestly say we’d heard of social distancing this time last month? Now it’s a fact of life, and many of us are stuck at home, working from home or only going out behind a face mask with a bag full of hand sanitisers. 

With all this going on, no one would blame you for needing a good laugh. 

We’ve compiled this list of some of our favourite coronavirus memes, tweets and more. A sense of humour is crucial in a crisis, and we’ll run through some of the benefits of laughter - to make sure you don’t feel guilty when you’re cracking up at our list! 

THE BENEFITS OF LAUGHTER DURING DIFFICULT TIMES

We’ve all been there. You’re stressed, completely worn down, just at your wits’ end. You’re maybe even snapping at people you love. It’s no fun, for you or for anyone else. It’s nothing to feel ashamed about, of course, and we’ve all been there… but it’s still pretty unpleasant. 

Luckily, there is a way out, and it’s a pretty simple one. It doesn’t require any medicine or expensive therapy, or even something as simple as meditation - although all of those solutions certainly do have their time and place. No, the way out is often as easy as having a good laugh. This won’t apply to everyone, of course, and we wouldn’t ever want to make light of those who are really suffering. However, a sense of humour is important in times of crisis, and we hope to help you get through with a smile on your face. 

WHY A GOOD LAUGH HELPS IN HARD TIMES 

There are some well understood scientific reasons that laughter increases your overall joy and lifts your mood. While we’re not going to give you a full-on science lecture, we can sum things up. 

First, the simple chemistry. When we laugh, we release dopamine and endorphins - two of the chemicals behind almost all your good feelings. This gives us a good start to feeling better, but it doesn’t end there. We also associate laughter with a good time - for whatever reason, we make this weird involuntary set of noises when we’re enjoying ourselves. So when we’re laughing, we become convinced we must be enjoying ourselves. 

It’s sometimes noted that acting as if you’re confident can increase your actual level of confidence, and the principle here is the same: we act as if we’re having a good time, and eventually we start to believe that we really are. None of this is to say that you should be ecstatic about social distancing, working from home or running out of toilet paper - or, we suppose, for some, wondering what you’ll do with all your newly acquired toilet paper. It’s just to say that having a good laugh can be a powerful tonic during tough times. 

In that spirit, sit back and enjoy some of social media’s best takes on the coronavirus pandemic. 

OUR FAVOURITE CORONAVIRUS MEMES, TWEETS AND MORE 

1) THIS GUIDE TO WASHING YOUR HANDS

Some of the first advice we heard in the earliest days of the coronavirus pandemic was simple: wash your hands. It was and is important, of course, but it’s still a bit odd to hear - especially when so many people suddenly seemed to have forgotten how to do it. 

This raised some questions - what were these people doing before? - as well as answering some others - so that’s what they needed all that toilet paper for! This image from @getbentsaggy plays perfectly into the absurdity of it all.

remember to wash your hands xox pic.twitter.com/YB7GH6zPtW

— Chris (Simpsons artist) (@getbentsaggy) March 4, 2020

2) THE HANDWASHING SONG

By now, we all know that you should be washing your hands for at least 20 seconds - and the NHS suggested we sing ‘Happy Birthday’ twice to make sure we were scrubbing up for long enough. Unsurprisingly, different, far less serious songs to wash your hands to started popping up. The complete and cheery lack of any lyrics in this one makes it especially stand out.

Wash your hands to scatman pic.twitter.com/SH4jHsld2p

— Sarah Hagi (@geekylonglegs) March 10, 2020

3) WHAT INTROVERTS DO FOR FUN 

This one is pretty self-explanatory, and it’s part of a flourishing genre of jokes playing on the idea that, for many of us, this level of isolation and social distancing is, perhaps sadly, completely normal. Anyone who’s ever spent the whole weekend watching Netflix in bed is familiar with this, and this tweet perfectly sums up the sense of finally feeling seen.

oh nowwww everyone wanna know what introverts do for fun

— Aparna Nancherla (@aparnapkin) March 13, 2020

Now that official government advice actually recommends staying home, it’s possible we really did develop a special set of skills from all those hours watching and rewatching Taken (2008).

4) STOCKPILLING SWORDS 

One of the most absurd things about the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has been seeing so many people selfishly strip shop shelves of their essentials. On the upside, it’s led to some great comedy. This one is especially good, acting as an example of social media’s brilliance in putting a unique spin on forgotten and bizarre art from centuries past.

me, partying with all my swords at the swords festival
me, social distancing alone with my swords pic.twitter.com/8nlfVlD5Bf

— katherine morayati (@morayati) March 14, 2020

It also tells its own fun little story, conjuring an intriguing image of some medieval sword collector’s shift from the thrill of the pickup to the dismay of the hangover. We feel you, buddy.

5) HOW WE ALL LOOK ON SKYPE 

For many decades, video calls were portrayed as the peak of futuristic communication. It’s hard to imagine Princess Leia’s message in the original Star Wars (1977) being as iconic as it is if she’d simply left a voicemail. “Hi Obi-Wan Kenobi, ring me back when you get a minute.”

Of course, as so often happens with technological advances, the reality proved to be a little less rosy. While neither Skype nor FaceTime have - yet - led to any sort of robot uprising, they have shown us one sad and unavoidable truth: no one looks good in a video call. With this post, we can at least laugh about that.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Ariana Hilario (@ariana.not.the.grande) on

Mar 12, 2020 at 8:12pm PDT

6) INSIDE JOKES

As with all the best ‘so bad they’re good’ dad jokes, this simple one-liner elicits a reaction somewhere between an involuntary chuckle and an eye roll. Which, of course, is exactly what it should do. We see what they did here, and we like it. 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Dad Jokes by Pubity (@dadsaysjokes) on

Mar 19, 2020 at 1:59pm PDT

7) THE WORST POSSIBLE TIME 

YUP.

Some of you have never gone through a global pandemic during an economic crash with a reality show host president who ignores repeated scientific warnings and can't lead before, and it shows

— Jesse Case (@jessecase) March 18, 2020

We hope this set of our favourite coronavirus memes has brought a smile to your face. If nothing else, the ongoing nature of the coronavirus pandemic means that the internet’s great sense of humour will continue doing what it does best. And if you want some more content to cheer you up in this tough time, why not browse some of our blogs?