There’s a new sheriff in internet town. A meme sheriff, if you will. He’s got a cowboy hat, a set of boots, and a body made of emoji. And he means business.
Where did all these sheriffs come from? The first sheriff, who is NSFW if your text is blown up huge on your computer or read aloud, came to town in June, courtesy of “Dicks Out for Harambe” comedian Brandon Wardell.
I would explain the joke, but I’m not sure there’s anything to explain; and as with all slightly incomprehensible jokes on Twitter, it was only a matter of time — roughly a month of slow building until the meme reached its peak last week — before emoji sheriffs were taking over timelines everywhere with emoji guns blazing. (Or squirt guns if you’re a Microsoft user.) Nutrition. Trains. Bees. Ikea. You name it, and there’s probably already a tiny emoji dude in charge of it.
As with all good and easy-to-replicate memes, it seems the emoji sheriff may already have mounted his tiny cartoon horse and headed out of town. Which is probably for the best anyway, since vigilante-emoji justice doesn’t seem like the best way to police people on the internet.
