Humor as a Form of Defiance. Also, What if A Loose Hair Gets Me Convicted of Murder?

 “You know the strands of hair that come out when you’re brushing or running your fingers through your hair? What if one of those hairs flies through the wind and lands in a crime scene? Then you’re convicted of a murder you didn’t commit? Do you ever think about that? Because I think about that sometimes.”

And that’s how I accidentally went viral on TikTok, waking up to 6.1 million views the next morning. My regular content is about criminology or hair. It’s about cancer. Cancer humor, actually.

@emilyjungblut_ #stitch with @Andi Marie Tillman #saytheweirdthing #whatdonormalpeoplethinkabout #weirdthoughts ♬ original sound - Andi Marie Tillman

Ordinary people are the creators of most content created on social media platforms, including TikTok videos, Reels, and memes. In 2025, an estimated 1.45 trillion gigabytes of data were generated, with human-generated content making up the majority.

Somehow, it seems like most of this content is of a lighthearted nature. While platforms profit from content that keeps people scrolling for hours, creators are finding ways to communicate about serious subjects with humor. And the algorithms are noticing.

Maybe it’s the fast-paced, dopamine-boosting content. Or maybe it’s something greater. Maybe humor is a form of resistance, pushing back against the powers-that-be. TV shows like Saturday Night Live and The Daily Show have been on air for decades, turning politics and world events into digestible bites using humor. After all, humor travels faster than anger.

User-generated content (UGC) now makes it possible for ordinary people to share their funny, creative content horizontally, from friend to friend, rather than being censored and distributed from above.

Humor has become a coping mechanism in a world that keeps our nervous systems on edge, in a seemingly constant state of fight or flight. Twenty-four-seven news access has trained our brains to be on alert at all times. Cat videos, funny dog antics, poorly Photoshopped political funnies all act as coping mechanisms to deal with it all.

Humor is a community response to the chaos. It helps us push devastation to the side long enough to breathe. It acts as a form of defiance, like light finding its way under a door of oppression.

Humor lets people speak truth without getting crushed by the weight of the world. It allows our nervous systems to process the seriousness and heaviness of devastating events. Responding with humor is not passive. It is a creative response to chaos.

Memes and TikToks are the people’s way of saying, “Yes, the world is on fire, but I still have a voice, and I can still laugh through it.”

What do you think about the algorithm pushing humor-related content on social media? Is social media the new culture industry, distracting us with cat videos? Or are our fellow humans providing us with a dose of emotional antidepressants?