No-context images are pretty self-explanatory, but just based on the title, they don’t necessarily sound very intriguing. They’re taken out of context, so what’s the point? Well, apparently, these unassuming images have taken the internet by storm and have become somewhat of a sensation in recent years. Kathryn VanArendonk, a Vulture critic who covers TV and comedy, even wrote a piece about “The Rise of the No-Context Screenshot” a few years ago to try to get to the bottom of this phenomenon.

Kathryn writes primarily about screenshots taken from a film, TV series or video, with subtitles of the text being spoken, that have become extremely popular memes and responses to conversations online. She explains that the concept of using a quote or a GIF from a show is nothing new, but these no-context screenshots are no longer only enjoyed by fans of the shows they reference. “Now, the no-context screenshot has become a deliberate act of yanking a particular moment out from its original framework,” Kathryn writes.

Kathryn went on to note that there are now countless pages on social media dedicated to sharing solely no-context screenshots from various films and TV shows. There are Twitter accounts dedicated to no-context The Great British Bake-Off, The Good Place, Schitt’s Creek, Nathan For You, Frasier, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, New Girl, and even The New York Times. They all share perfectly meme-able screenshots from these beloved sources, and the images can be twisted into any context imaginable.

But Kathryn explains that the sharing of these images may be about more than simply the photos themselves. “Although some are just pure silliness set loose in the world, bouncing around the internet all on their own, the greatest no-context screenshots can feel like using a quote for your AIM status message,” she writes. “It works on its own, but it’s also meant to reflect the person who shared it (how clever they are for selecting it, and how it reflects on them) and speak to the people who receive it (how they understand the person who’s shared it, and how resonant it is to them). Removing something from its context, after all, is really just a way to create a vacuum where more contexts can flood in.”             

And while the no-context screenshots shared on Screenshots With or Without Context on Facebook are mostly from social media or texting conversations, they can be used in the same way that many of the popular no-context screenshots from films and shows are used: to provide unexpected commentary. The images need no explanation to be entertaining, but they can be placed in new contexts to bring them to life. “The no-context screenshot is a found object in a huge pop-cultural sea, a testament to the collector’s taste and the audience’s savvy in appreciating it,” Kathryn writes for Vulture. “Perhaps it makes sense that the no-context screenshot would become such a cultural touchstone. It’s a way to point to the pain without having to say it.”

Shephali Bhatt also wrote a piece for Mint breaking down the sensation of no-context images online, and she pointed out that many of these accounts, that have seemed to pop up all over the internet in recent years, are quite wholesome. “Most ‘no context’ accounts are made by fans of globally popular shows past and present, with the express intent of finding and engaging with other fans of the show in order to relish the good parts and keep them alive in everyone’s memory,” Shephali writes. “The majority do not monetize the content on these accounts despite their large follower count. A lot of the entries end up being crowd-sourced as fans flood their messages tab with suggestions. Twitter is where they get the most engagement through retweets and quote tweets as compared to other popular habitats for such accounts, like Reddit, Tumblr and Instagram.”

Shephali also explores how these no-context accounts can bring fans from all over the world together. “While ‘no context’ pages originated in the US back in 2010, the current trend has people from all around the world spearheading it,” she writes. “Golez, who runs No Context Succession since July 2019, is based in the Philippines. In February [2021], an East African user rebranded their Twitter account to Out Of Context Somali and has gained close to 24,000 followers since.” Even an account dedicated to out of context Derry Girls, a show set in Northern Ireland in the 1990s, was created by a teenager in Spain. “I watched the show on a friend’s recommendation that summer and set up the account so that it doesn’t fade into oblivion,” Isabel, the creator, says.

“Besides being funny, the subtly contextual posts on these accounts are also ‘a nice reminder of the fact that there are actual people running these accounts, not just algorithms posting a screenshot at a particular time … There are real people who put some thought into what’s being posted,” says Golez, creator of No Context Succession. We might not have context for the images or the people behind the accounts, most of the time, but it’s nice to know that there’s someone out there with a similar sense of humor spreading joy to strangers online through their silly posts.

While out of context photos are meant to be taken lightly, within the context of pages like Screenshots With or Without Context, they’re actually viewed as quite insidious by some. According to cognitive psychologist Lisa Fazio, out of context photos can be a powerful, low-tech form of misinformation. “In the day after the January Iranian attack on U.S. military bases in Iraq, reporter Jane Lytvynenko at Buzzfeed documented numerous instances of old photos or videos being presented as evidence of the attack on social media,” Fazio explains. “These included photos from a 2017 military strike by Iran in Syria, video of Russian training exercises from 2014 and even footage from a video game. In fact, out of the 22 false rumors documented in the article, 12 involve this kind of out-of-context photos or video.”