Written by: Bikarsha Ojha - 2022005, Grade X
Posted on: 03 August, 2020
We all know the “made you look” gesture or the “Ok” symbol from the internet, which is just a “meme” everywhere. Everyone uses it to make someone look like a fool or just to say Okay. But this wasn't the case every time. The “made you look” is quite unbelievable as it had been a very big issue.
We all know the “made you look” gesture. With a circle formed by your thumb and the index finger and the rest of the three fingers raised up placed on a point such as your kneecap tricking your colleague/friend tricking them to make them look at it, making them look like a fool. But, this wasn't the case before 2017 when the meme was coming quite popular all over the internet naming it the “NOT Ok” gesture. According to an article written by “The Boston Globe” on September 21, 2018, it believes that the symbol had presented as “White Power” and was claimed as “racist” which made no sense. This “hate symbol” origin was given by an anonymous message by a group named 4chan who tried to “trick” the media symbolizing was white power. News channels were flooded by the news that the “okay symbol” had been a hate symbol as a “Christchurch Murderer Suspect” had used it in the New Zealand Court. This was not a new thing at all. In 2016, Pepe who is a renowned “meme” was declared as a hate symbol, even when he was backed by the whole of twitter from common people to “famous people '' before the 2016 elections. Matt Fury, the official creator, had killed it because of why it hated and what it brought its state into. Famous politicians had begun to erupt on twitter and of course, the hate had begun where its future was looking bleak. Countless Navy army men were even sued by people as a white supremacist symbol to even as a Nazi symbol which even represented “communism” by web pages and even news streamed on the internet. Even people were sued such as a gru character who was fired as he used a “hate symbol”. A sports fan banned from a stadium of NBC Chicago Stadium, navy army people suspended, US coast guard fired and even a politician named Zina Bash was sued during a conference when she “intentionally” showed the hate symbol. This was extremely stupid for many reasons. First of all, we use the “ok” gesture every day. From meditation or to even symbolizing “Okay” to their colleagues, the fact that weak responses gained more attention, caused it as a hate symbol. This had no sense because if we go to the message by 4chan, it was meant to manipulate and troll the world media. But after countless debates and investigations, this “hate symbol” has lost some heat nowadays even offensive in many countries such as France, Japan, Brazil, Germany, etc.
This conflict has made no sense how important it has been given. The “okay” symbol had a neutral meaning but of all the political propaganda which had no such outcome had made it a “hate” symbol with the weakest of evidence.
