Have you ever googled “How long do short people live?” Well, apparently millions of people did that last year when it became a trend on TikTok and a viral meme.
After the meme went viral and everyone was posting it on TikTok, a few other trends started based on this meme.
Some people began posting the How Long Do Tall People Live, How Long Do Idiots Live, and the I’ll Never Forget You trend.
But how did it start? And is any of it true? Should we be worried about our short friends? Let’s take a closer look at this trend and analyze it.
How Did the Trend Start?
The How Long Do Short People Live trend started around March 2022 and kept going until mid-September or early October. It all happened when a TikTok user jokingly googled the question and was surprised by the hilarious results.
They got a variety of sarcastic—some even harsh—search results, such as “12 to 15 years,” “until they’re no longer useful,” and “until they fall and hit their head on something”.
She then shared those results on TikTok, and her video went viral in the blink of an eye. People started sharing this meme over TikTok and other social media platforms. Some people even fabricated results under the same umbrella as part of the joke.
After a while, you’d find dozens of different results on the internet. Some fabricated results included “Until they jump off the edge of a rug” and “Until they drown in a glass of water.”
It quickly became a joke or a harmless prank, and people sent it to their short relatives and friends in good spirits. However, some people considered this trend insensitive and offensive to short people.
Is Any of This Information Real?
Like everything on the internet, the fact that something is trending and everyone’s talking about it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s real.
This trend is no exception to that rule. It’s just a joke that’s meant to be passed around for fun, not a source of reliable information.
Studies That Contradict the Trend
There isn’t any scientific proof to support the idea that shorter people live shorter lives.
In fact, researchers have conducted many studies over the past years and found out that shorter people may actually have the advantage of living a little longer!
The following two studies debunk the claim that short people would have shorter lives.
1- A Study Comparing Height to Longevity
After researching millions of deaths, the results suggest that shorter people have fewer diet-related chronic diseases, which ultimately means lower death rates.
Researchers also suggest that the difference in height between men and women could relate to the difference in their life span.
The numbers suggest that the average man is about 8% taller than the average woman, but they have a 7.9% lower life expectancy at birth.
2- A Study Suggesting That Longer People Are More Susceptible to Cancer.
Another study, published by the National Library of Medicine, claims that longer people have higher chances of dying from cancer.
That’s because longer people have bigger organs to match their bodies. Bigger bodies need more cellular recovery to function properly. Consequently, the body needs to exert more effort to keep up with the cellular turnover rate.
If a person isn’t healthy, their body won’t have enough energy to maintain its functions, resulting in poor health, and in extreme cases, death.
If a long person has cancer, their body will need more energy to fight the cancerous cells. As opposed to a shorter person’s body who would statistically have slightly better chances to overcome their cancer.
So, while the meme may be funny, and you might be intrigued to share it, it’s important not to take this information at heart and believe anything related to it. After all, a meme is just a meme, nothing more and nothing less.
TikTok Trend About How Long Do Short People Live
When the video of the hilarious Google results went viral, people started recreating this video on their profiles or sharing it with their short friends, which made it spread even more.
The idea of the video is that users would record themselves with the green screen filter and add a screenshot of the results behind them reacting to it, or they would just preview it as a segment of their video, then show their reaction in the following segment.
Most of the answers they got from Google were either from 12 to 15 years, 10 to 13 years, or 16 to 19 years. Some people didn’t get a range. Instead, they got sarcastic results like “until they fall and hit their head” and other insensitive jokes.
Although it’s all meant for a good laugh, you must always read the room. Don’t torment your shorter friends and relatives with an insensitive joke if you notice that they’re not happy about this trend.
Memes About How Long Do Short People Live
Just like TikTok videos, people have created memes and spread them all over the internet. You could even find templates online to generate a customized meme in minutes and share it on your socials.
The template shows two or three screenshots of different Google results to the question “How long do short people live?”
People would then take this template and add a caption that relates these screenshots to a certain event, a sarcastic comment, or just their plain reaction.
After creating their customized meme, they’d share it on their socials or send it to their friends for a good laugh.
When this trend became so popular, it inspired other similar trends. Some of these trends include: “How Long Do Tall People Live?”, “How Long Do Emos Live?”, “How Long Do Idiots Live?”…etc. You get the idea.
But the one that got the most attention and became almost as popular as the original trend was the “I’ll Never Forget You” trend.
The “I’ll Never Forget You” Sequel
The “I’ll Never Forget You” trend came along as a follow-up to its original trend; How long do short people live? People would either send it with the original meme, or on its own if they knew the receiver would get the joke.
This trend is about people sending a photoshopped version of the “How long do short people live?” meme to their shorter friends and family members, then following up with the song Never Forget You by Zara Larsson and MNEK to seal the joke.
It means that the friend’s or relative’s time on earth is limited because they’re short and that the sender would never forget them when they die.
Is It Still Going On?
The ”How long do short people live?” trend, along with the other memes relating to it, only lasted for a few months.
By the end of 2022, TikTok users have already moved on to something new and started preparing for the festivities of October, November, and December.
However, whenever someone brings up the trend in a conversation, people will always remember it. You might get different reactions — like a little chuckle or an eye roll — but they know the joke you’re referring to.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do Short People Live the Longest?
Although there’s no way to tell how long a person will live, shorter people have better chances of living healthier lives than taller people. Researchers have found that shorter, smaller bodies have fewer diet-related chronic conditions, which decreases the risk of many diseases.
However, these are all just claims based on a specific group of individuals. A person’s health depends on many factors other than their height and body size.
How Does a TikTok Trend Happen?
TikTok trends happen when influencers, or people with many followers, share a video idea or a specific sound on their account. This allows the video or the sound to reach a huge base of followers, who would then recreate it on their accounts.
If many people recreate a video or use a sound, it goes viral on the platform, and the algorithm pushes it to even more users.
Are All Trends Based on Real Information?
No. In fact, the content of most trends is one of two things. It’s either situational and differs from one person to the other, such as the trends where people record the reaction of their siblings, friends, or spouse to something.
The other option is purely for entertainment, such as makeup and fashion trends, dances and lip-syncs, or even meal recipes and household hacks.
Wrapping Up
If you’re reading this and your height is relatively short, there’s no need to worry. Not everything you find on the internet is true. So, before you take something at heart, dig deeper and do your research to find accurate information.
And if you know someone short, remember to be sensitive and only send them jokes like this when you’re sure they’ll take it well. Otherwise, you’ll get a completely different reaction from them than what you expected.
