What do Chloe Bailey, Lizzo, Megan Thee Stallion, Dua Lipa, singer Jessie James Decker, Dale Moss from “The Bachelorette,” TikTok star Charli D’Amelio, “Euphoria’s” Sydney Sweeney and countless influencers have in common?
They’ve all shed tears during an Instagram Live — aka “cried on IG live.”
Ever since Instagram introduced ephemeral live broadcasts to the platform (they can be saved but are more often screen-recorded and posted to other social media platforms), celebrities, influencers and everyday people have had one more outlet to share every facet of their day-to-day lives in a way that seems even more real and relatable. But in a world where anything on social media feels curated, spontaneous displays of emotions — efforts to vent, raise awareness and connect with followers — are seen by some as contrived, embarrassing or both.
That’s led to the memeification of crying on live. As in “imagine crying on live,” said by people who predict they’d never be in that situation. It’s the polar opposite of the normalize-talking-about-your-feelings-and-rejecting-toxic-energy therapy speak — basically, live your truth, but log off first.
It’s inspired skits on TikTok, particularly poking fun at influencers who cry during livestreams while apologizing or expressing that, actually, it’s OK to be vulnerable on the internet. In one TikTok, user @acrello, who has 6.4 million followers, posted examples of comments people make about people crying on live — “imagine crying on live” and “you soft for crying on live” — before lip-syncing “we do not care.” In a comment, he added: “if I’m soft for showing basic human emotions then I guess I’m soft.”