Both the @statuewithfun and @lnsanereality Twitter accounts share the same name—’People Doing [Stuff] With Statues.’ They also have a very similar number of followers. For instance, @statuewithfun, which was created just over a year ago in June 2022, has nearly 101k fans on the social network. Meanwhile, the @lnsanereality project joined Twitter barely a couple of months ago, in May 2023, but it’s already grown to 73.6k followers in size.

The popularity of both projects is proof that comedy resonates with a lot of internet users. The photos are very straightforward: the humor in each situation is instantly recognizable. And that means a lot in a world where the average internet user’s attention span continues to rapidly decline. What also helps keep the message in the pics clear is the utter lack of words or comments in the pics. The images speak for themselves.

Not only that, but photography (especially witty internet pics) transcends cultural and language barriers. No matter what corner of the globe you hail from, you’re probably going to smile or chuckle when you spot someone goofing about releasing their inner derp next to fabulous works of art. The contrast between the silliness of the poser and the seriousness of the statues also adds an extra layer of enjoyment.

Statues play a host of different roles in society. For one, they’re a way for artists to make sense of the world—they express how they feel about certain aspects of life, nature, and society by working with marble, metal, wood, plastic, glass, and other materials. It could also be argued that statues are far more ‘present’ because they occupy large amounts of three-dimensional space. That’s not to say that they’re ‘superior’ to other art forms, only that statues have a more tangible, physical presence.

However, statues aren’t just about expressing the artist’s relationship with the world. They’re a medium for encapsulating the virtues and values that society holds highest. Statues are a way of honoring figures from history, ideals, and even myths. They act as a constant reminder of these ideas.

But as time passes, values change, become outdated, or even pose a danger to current social norms. This creates friction. On the one hand, you have people who believe that society should be aware of its history, including all the elating ups and uncomfortable downs. Denying that history would mean repeating it in the future. On the other hand, some members of society believe that as times change, so should the statues, art, symbols, and icons that are present around us. 

The need for clarity and simplicity in internet posts is only bound to increase as time goes on. CNN reports how people’s attention spans have taken a nosedive over the past two decades. “In 2004, we measured the average attention on a screen to be 2½ minutes. Some years later, we found attention spans to be about 75 seconds. Now we find people can only pay attention to one screen for an average of 47 seconds,” Dr. Gloria Mark, from the University of California, Irvine, explains.

Dr. Mark’s research has shown that people these days spend less than a minute concentrating on one screen at a time. That means that many of us are constantly jumping between different appliances. The issue here isn’t just related to our spare time and entertainment, however. When it comes to work, we’re not much better.

According to the researcher, it takes us around 25 minutes to refocus on the task that we were doing if we were distracted. “If we look at work in terms of switching projects, as opposed to the micro view of switching screens, we find people spend about 10½ minutes in any work project before being interrupted—internally or by someone else—and then switch to another work project,” Dr. Mark told CNN. We then spend nearly half an hour jumping between various tasks until we get back to the original one.

Which of these pics amused you the most, dear Pandas? Were there any poses that you spotted that you’d love to copy the next time you run into a random statue? What’s the derpiest pose you’ve struck next to a work of art? We always enjoy hearing from you, so drop by the comments and share your thoughts (and pics!) with us.

For some more amusingly statuesque posing check out Bored Panda's earlier posts here and here!