What is Gangstalking?

Gang Stalking, also known as Gangstalkers, is a conspiracy belief that a secret group of coordinated harassers is surveilling and tormenting one specific person, a claim clinicians typically treat as a persecutory delusion. The 2020 Sheridan and James content analysis was the first academic look at it.

Where did Gangstalking come from?

The 'gang stalking' label was in online use by 2000, documented in Lorraine Sheridan and David V. James' April 2020 content-analysis study of 50 victim accounts gathered from online communities. Ironic memes about it appeared on Reddit in April 2019, when vibes2892 posted a Post Malone image to /r/Gangstalking.

What does Gangstalking mean?

In the sincere sense, gang stalking is the belief that a coordinated group is surveilling a specific target, usually without clinical evidence of the stalkers' existence. In meme usage, 'gangstalkers' names an ironic schizoposting punchline about imagined surveillance.

How do you use Gangstalking?

In the sincere sense, 'gang stalking' describes a believed campaign of coordinated harassment and surveillance. In meme form, pair an ordinary scene with a panicked first-person caption claiming the moment is proof of a coordinated group effort.

Is Gangstalking still popular?

Gang Stalking memes peaked between 2020 and 2021, and are still part of the schizoposting canon that references persecutory-delusion material.

Gangstalking

2019catchphrase / schizoposting memeclassic

Published October 16, 2026

Gang Stalking, also known as Gangstalkers, is the belief that a secret group of coordinated harassers is targeting one specific individual, a claim often tied to persecutory delusions and schizophrenia2. The term appeared online by 20001, but ironic memes mocking the belief did not surface until April 2019 on /r/Gangstalking. By November 2021, TikTok creators were pairing the format with the Masculine Urge template.

conspiracy memes mental health memes surveillance memes ironic memes subreddit origin memes

Overview

Posts in this format feature a paranoid first-person voice warning that a hidden group is following the poster, taping their phone, or recruiting their neighbors, mimicking persecutory-delusion vocabulary2. Captions cast harmless events, such as a car driving by twice or a stranger making eye contact, as proof of coordinated surveillance. iFunny users layered this voice over blown-out, cursed images, while Instagram schizoposting accounts favored screenshotted 4chan threads over fresh art.

The humor runs on the gap between apocalyptic captions and ordinary scenes. By late 2020, Gang Stalking posts were mixing with other schizoposting content like Skinwalkers and Schizowave.

Gallery

Origin & Background

Platform

Reddit / iFunny (viral spread)

Date

2019

The 'gang stalking' label was in online use by 2000, documented in Lorraine Sheridan and David V. James' April 2020 content-analysis study 'The Phenomenology of Group Stalking,' which coded 50 self-identified victim accounts collected from online communities1. Clinicians typically treat the belief as a persecutory delusion linked to schizophrenia2.

The subreddit /r/Gangstalking launched on December 21, 2011, pointing new members to the now-defunct community forum gangstalkingworld.com. The first known Gang Stalking meme followed in 2019: on April 23, Redditor vibes2892 posted an object-labeled image of Post Malone squatting on a car to /r/Gangstalking, which reached 87 upvotes over six months3.

How It Spread

After vibes2892's isolated Reddit post, the ironic version spread to Instagram in December 2019, when @schizo_posting shared a December 17 4chan screenshot that drew about 493 likes. iFunny followed in 2020, as @Sightless_2016 posted the site's first ironic gang stalking meme on July 29, which drew only two smiles, and @TheDawnIsYourEnemy's October 24 post reached 304 smiles. On November 10, 2020, Instagram user @limpbizkitfan1999 posted a widely shared riff that reached roughly 1,700 likes within a year3.

By 2021, Gang Stalking posts were mixing with Skinwalkers and Schizowave content and moved onto TikTok. On November 12, 2021, @1ryguy8972 combined the format with the Masculine Urge template in a video that drew about 38,600 likes.

Timeline

2000

The 'gang stalking' label is already in online circulation, later documented by Sheridan and James.

2011-12-21

The /r/Gangstalking subreddit launches as a hub for self-identified victims.

2021-11-12

TikToker @1ryguy8972 pairs gang stalking with the Masculine Urge template in a video reaching about 38,600 likes.

How to Use This Meme

The common pattern is to pair an ordinary scene, such as a car passing twice or a stranger making eye contact, with a panicked first-person caption claiming the moment is proof of coordinated group surveillance. Posts often use the single-word spelling 'gangstalkers' and borrow the paranoid vocabulary that appears in sincere online victim diaries. Many examples combine the format with Skinwalkers, Schizowave, and other schizoposting tropes.