“Today, the most popular IT-related jokes and memes tend to revolve around a few key themes: software updates disrupting work, the perils of programming, cybersecurity, and AI mishaps,” the founder of ‘IT Humor and Memes’, Trevor Paquette, told Bored Panda in a recent interview.

“The popularity of these themes often depends on widespread shared experiences, such as major software releases or well-publicized cybersecurity incidents. Additionally, the rise of meme culture means that humor is now more visual, with formats like reaction GIFs and images dominating platforms like X (formerly Twitter), Reddit, and Instagram. These trends are fueled by the rapid spread of content on social media and the ease with which people can create and modify memes.”

“On the flip side, despite the changing landscape of IT humor, there are classic memes and jokes that resurface time and again,” Trevor continued, discussing the most popular types of jokes. “These evergreen themes tend to have a timeless quality because they touch on the universal truths of working with technology.

“For instance, jokes about disconnecting and then reconnecting devices as the universal tech fix, or the ‘Have you tried turning it off and on again?’ line from IT support have become perennial favorites. These classic memes serve as a common language among IT professionals and enthusiasts alike.”

Trevor told Bored Panda that recurring jokes about programming languages, such as “the off-by-one error or the eternal confusion over the plethora of JavaScript frameworks” remain relatable year after year. “Memes that anthropomorphize hardware or software also maintain their charm, such as a printer being portrayed as a capricious entity that decides when and how it will perform,” he added.

“These classic go-to memes act like inside jokes, reinforcing the cultural identity of the IT world, and they often re-emerge when a new event or development in the tech sphere echoes past experiences, highlighting the cyclical nature of IT challenges and triumphs.”

Despite being an integral part of our lives nowadays, the IT—short for information technology—sector might not be as old as you think. TechTarget reports that the term itself was first used in a Harvard Business Review article in the 1950s.

"Over the last decade a new technology has begun to take hold in American business, one so new that its significance is still difficult to evaluate... The new technology does not yet have a single established name. We shall call it information technology," it read in part.

However, certain things that paved the way for IT as we know it now seemingly go way back. Complete I.T. covered some of the milestones in the history of IT and suggested that its history might stretch as far back as 2400 BC, when the first known calculator—the abacus—was created.

Other important milestones included the invention of the typewriter (in the year 1843) and the microphone (1877), developments related to radio waves and wireless technology (presented in the late 1880s-early 1890s), as well as the development of one of the first programmable computers (1948), among many other significant technological advancements.

Technologies have been advancing in leaps and bounds over the last decades. Take computers, for instance; the first one—the ENIAC (standing for the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer)—was introduced in 1945 and was roughly the size of a room. Nowadays, you can throw your computer into a rather small handbag and carry it around without much effort.

If you’re at all curious, by 1956, the ENIAC reportedly occupied roughly 1,800 square feet and weighed more than 30 tons. The average weight of a laptop computer nowadays is somewhere between two and eight pounds (roughly one and four kilograms), depending on the model.

If computers went back to being the size of a room all of the sudden, quite a few houses would be in need of a makeover. According to Statista, nearly half of the world’s households were estimated to have a computer at home back in 2019; and the number of such households was reportedly on the rise for nearly two decades leading up to it.

When it comes to who uses computers the most—to access the internet, at least—in households around the world, males seem to take the lead. Statista reports that among 16 to 24 year olds, the difference is not that big as 60% of young women use a computer to browse online versus 60.5% of young men. However, as the age increases, so does the difference between the two, as when it comes to people from 55 to 64 years, it’s 64.1% versus 73.8% respectively.

Back then, Trevor also told Bored Panda that the group has become a place to share things that other individuals might find funny, this way providing them with a much-needed break. “The group banner of the 'ESC' key leaving the keyboard is on purpose,” he pointed out. “Many have commented [the group] gives them a needed break, an escape, from the constant stress and pressure they feel at work."

Trevor emphasized now that there are certain constants in IT humor that serve as a reminder that while the industry evolves, many of the core experiences and frustrations remain the same. “They provide a sense of continuity and community, serving as a shared joke that newcomers quickly learn and insiders appreciate,” he told Bored Panda.

Even though one doesn’t necessarily have to be an IT professional to enjoy the memes and humor shared by members of his group, its description suggests that understanding context is paramount after all.

When you’re done with this list of IT-humor gems, continue to our previous editions here and here, or browse these memes created by IT specialists who really needed to vent for some more amusing content.