# Dear Parents Dear Parents is a Twitter phrasal template where teens mock the worry that smiling at a phone means romance, when really they're looking at fandom content. The format started with a March 2018 tweet and spread through stan Twitter that June with a viral version about an Ariana Grande gif. ## Origin Twitter user @particuIarmaze published the earliest known Dear Parents post on March 15, 2018, writing that their smile was not about a crush but about finding "a perfect meme for a situation" and begging to "BreaTHe"[1]. The wording set the structure that later writers repeated with their own fandom-specific reveal[4]. - **Platform:** Twitter - **Creator:** Unknown - **Date:** 2018 ## Overview Posts open with "Dear parents, just because your child is smiling at their screen doesn't mean that they're talking to a guy or girl," then swerve into what the kid is actually watching. Reveals land on K-pop fancams, pop star photos, Niall Horan songs, or a specific reaction gif[1]. Writers set up a worried parent voice and undercut it with an absurdly niche fandom moment. Humor comes from naming a real generational tension about screen time, then redirecting it by swapping the imagined romantic partner for an artist, show, or inside joke[4]. Dear Parents variations swap in whatever the writer is currently into, which helped the format stick with stan Twitter accounts through 2018. ## How to Use Writers typically open with the "Dear parents, just because your child is smiling at their screen doesn't mean that they're talking to a guy or girl" line, then reveal what the kid is actually looking at. The common convention is a fandom payoff, such as a K-pop fancam, pop star photo, or a specific reaction gif[3]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Dear Parents? Dear Parents is a Twitter phrasal template where writers reply that their on-screen smile is about fandom content, not a secret crush[2]. ### Where did Dear Parents come from? Twitter user @particuIarmaze published the earliest known version on March 15, 2018, saying they were smiling at a "perfect meme," not a romantic partner[1]. ### What does Dear Parents mean? It parodies parental worry about screen time by swapping the assumed boyfriend or girlfriend with a K-pop fancam, pop star photo, or fandom gif[4]. ### How do you use Dear Parents? Open with the "Dear parents, just because your child is smiling..." line, then reveal the specific fandom, artist, or meme the writer is actually looking at[3]. ### Is Dear Parents still popular? Usage peaked in June 2018 when @greenIight's Ariana Grande tweet reached 149,000 likes and Insider published a Twitter Moments page about the format[2]. ## References 1. [https://twitter.com/particuIarmaze/status/974372388342325250]() 2. [https://twitter.com/greenIight/status/1004801845796261890]() 3. [https://twitter.com/bangtan/status/987652994069024770]() 4. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/dear-parents]() 5. [https://twitter.com/loveisasecrett/status/1003641332101976064]() 6. [https://twitter.com/zouislegendsx/status/975440413988409345]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/dear-parents Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library