Its Always The Low Quality Videos

2020Catchphrase / video caption trendsemi-active

Also known as: Low Quality Videos Meme · It's Always The Low Quality Videos That Be Funny

"It's Always The Low-Quality Videos" is a catchphrase and internet cliché built on the observation that grainy, pixelated, low-resolution videos are inherently funnier than their high-definition counterparts. The phrase first appeared on Twitter in May 2020 and picked up serious traction on TikTok throughout 2021, where creators used it as text overlay and caption shorthand to flag particularly hilarious compressed clips1.

Overview

The premise is dead simple: take any funny video, compress it until every pixel is doing heavy lifting, and slap the phrase "it's always the low quality videos" somewhere on the post. The joke taps into a real pattern online where degraded video quality, whether from repeated re-uploading, screen recording chains, or intentional compression, seems to make comedy land harder. A perfectly shot 4K clip of someone falling might get a chuckle. The same clip run through five rounds of TikTok downloads until it looks like it was filmed on a calculator? Comedy gold.

The catchphrase works both as a caption and a meta-commentary. Creators use it to frame already-funny clips, while the phrase itself acknowledges a shared internet truth that low resolution adds an absurd, almost surreal layer to humor2.

On May 17, 2020, Twitter user @acrixmony posted a reply to a since-deleted video with the words "It's always the low quality videos"1. The tweet earned essentially no engagement at the time, but it stands as the earliest recorded use of the exact phrase. The video it responded to is lost, but the reply captured something that many internet users already felt instinctively: degraded video hits different2.

The phrase sat dormant for nearly a year before TikTok picked it up and ran with it.

Origin & Background

Platform
Twitter (first use), TikTok (viral spread)
Creator
@acrixmony
Date
2020

On May 17, 2020, Twitter user @acrixmony posted a reply to a since-deleted video with the words "It's always the low quality videos"1. The tweet earned essentially no engagement at the time, but it stands as the earliest recorded use of the exact phrase. The video it responded to is lost, but the reply captured something that many internet users already felt instinctively: degraded video hits different2.

The phrase sat dormant for nearly a year before TikTok picked it up and ran with it.

How It Spread

TikTok turned the phrase from a stray tweet into a full-blown content trend starting in spring 2021. On April 4, 2021, TikToker @blushingjim1n used the catchphrase in a video description, pulling in roughly 69,200 plays and 16,600 likes within a year. Weeks later on May 19, 2021, @thxcker posted a video with the phrase as text overlay, which blew up to approximately 969,200 plays and 281,200 likes in under a year.

By fall 2021, the trend was hitting millions. On September 10, @muchiro_can_edit posted a video that racked up around 7.8 million plays and 577,300 likes in seven months. On November 26, @hoangbuiuk followed with a clip earning roughly 7.2 million plays and 295,000 likes in five months.

The phrase crossed back to Twitter in late 2021 with added flair. On December 26, 2021, @a619strike tweeted "It's always the low quality videos that be fucking hilarious," earning over 102,700 likes in four months. That version of the tweet, with the added "that be fucking hilarious," became one of the most shared text formulations of the catchphrase.

How to Use This Meme

The format is flexible and low-effort by design:

1

Find or create a funny video clip, ideally one that's already been compressed through multiple downloads or screen recordings.

2

If the video isn't already degraded, some creators intentionally lower the resolution or add compression artifacts for effect.

3

Add "it's always the low quality videos" as either a text overlay on the video, a caption, or a reply/quote to someone else's post.

4

Common variations include adding phrases like "that be funny" or "that have me crying" after the core catchphrase.

Cultural Impact

The meme taps into a broader internet truth about how content degrades as it spreads. Every time a video gets downloaded, screen-recorded, and re-uploaded across platforms, it loses quality. This "deep-fried" effect became its own aesthetic in meme culture, and "It's Always The Low-Quality Videos" gave that aesthetic a catchphrase.

The trend also speaks to how TikTok's repost culture accelerates content decay. Videos that bounce between TikTok, Instagram Reels, Twitter, and group chats lose pixels at every stop. By 2021, acknowledging this decay wasn't just an observation but a genre of content in itself2.

Fun Facts

The original tweet by @acrixmony earned zero likes, making it one of the least-engaged origin posts for a meme that later hit millions of views on TikTok2.

The phrase sat unused for nearly 11 months between its Twitter debut in May 2020 and its TikTok breakout in April 20212.

The most viral single video using the catchphrase pulled 7.8 million plays on TikTok, posted by @muchiro_can_edit in September 2021.

The concept behind the meme has roots in the "deep-fried memes" aesthetic, where intentional quality degradation is used for comedic effect.

Frequently Asked Questions

Its Always The Low Quality Videos

2020Catchphrase / video caption trendsemi-active

Also known as: Low Quality Videos Meme · It's Always The Low Quality Videos That Be Funny

"It's Always The Low-Quality Videos" is a catchphrase and internet cliché built on the observation that grainy, pixelated, low-resolution videos are inherently funnier than their high-definition counterparts. The phrase first appeared on Twitter in May 2020 and picked up serious traction on TikTok throughout 2021, where creators used it as text overlay and caption shorthand to flag particularly hilarious compressed clips1.

Overview

The premise is dead simple: take any funny video, compress it until every pixel is doing heavy lifting, and slap the phrase "it's always the low quality videos" somewhere on the post. The joke taps into a real pattern online where degraded video quality, whether from repeated re-uploading, screen recording chains, or intentional compression, seems to make comedy land harder. A perfectly shot 4K clip of someone falling might get a chuckle. The same clip run through five rounds of TikTok downloads until it looks like it was filmed on a calculator? Comedy gold.

The catchphrase works both as a caption and a meta-commentary. Creators use it to frame already-funny clips, while the phrase itself acknowledges a shared internet truth that low resolution adds an absurd, almost surreal layer to humor2.

On May 17, 2020, Twitter user @acrixmony posted a reply to a since-deleted video with the words "It's always the low quality videos"1. The tweet earned essentially no engagement at the time, but it stands as the earliest recorded use of the exact phrase. The video it responded to is lost, but the reply captured something that many internet users already felt instinctively: degraded video hits different2.

The phrase sat dormant for nearly a year before TikTok picked it up and ran with it.

Origin & Background

Platform
Twitter (first use), TikTok (viral spread)
Creator
@acrixmony
Date
2020

On May 17, 2020, Twitter user @acrixmony posted a reply to a since-deleted video with the words "It's always the low quality videos"1. The tweet earned essentially no engagement at the time, but it stands as the earliest recorded use of the exact phrase. The video it responded to is lost, but the reply captured something that many internet users already felt instinctively: degraded video hits different2.

The phrase sat dormant for nearly a year before TikTok picked it up and ran with it.

How It Spread

TikTok turned the phrase from a stray tweet into a full-blown content trend starting in spring 2021. On April 4, 2021, TikToker @blushingjim1n used the catchphrase in a video description, pulling in roughly 69,200 plays and 16,600 likes within a year. Weeks later on May 19, 2021, @thxcker posted a video with the phrase as text overlay, which blew up to approximately 969,200 plays and 281,200 likes in under a year.

By fall 2021, the trend was hitting millions. On September 10, @muchiro_can_edit posted a video that racked up around 7.8 million plays and 577,300 likes in seven months. On November 26, @hoangbuiuk followed with a clip earning roughly 7.2 million plays and 295,000 likes in five months.

The phrase crossed back to Twitter in late 2021 with added flair. On December 26, 2021, @a619strike tweeted "It's always the low quality videos that be fucking hilarious," earning over 102,700 likes in four months. That version of the tweet, with the added "that be fucking hilarious," became one of the most shared text formulations of the catchphrase.

How to Use This Meme

The format is flexible and low-effort by design:

1

Find or create a funny video clip, ideally one that's already been compressed through multiple downloads or screen recordings.

2

If the video isn't already degraded, some creators intentionally lower the resolution or add compression artifacts for effect.

3

Add "it's always the low quality videos" as either a text overlay on the video, a caption, or a reply/quote to someone else's post.

4

Common variations include adding phrases like "that be funny" or "that have me crying" after the core catchphrase.

Cultural Impact

The meme taps into a broader internet truth about how content degrades as it spreads. Every time a video gets downloaded, screen-recorded, and re-uploaded across platforms, it loses quality. This "deep-fried" effect became its own aesthetic in meme culture, and "It's Always The Low-Quality Videos" gave that aesthetic a catchphrase.

The trend also speaks to how TikTok's repost culture accelerates content decay. Videos that bounce between TikTok, Instagram Reels, Twitter, and group chats lose pixels at every stop. By 2021, acknowledging this decay wasn't just an observation but a genre of content in itself2.

Fun Facts

The original tweet by @acrixmony earned zero likes, making it one of the least-engaged origin posts for a meme that later hit millions of views on TikTok2.

The phrase sat unused for nearly 11 months between its Twitter debut in May 2020 and its TikTok breakout in April 20212.

The most viral single video using the catchphrase pulled 7.8 million plays on TikTok, posted by @muchiro_can_edit in September 2021.

The concept behind the meme has roots in the "deep-fried memes" aesthetic, where intentional quality degradation is used for comedic effect.

Frequently Asked Questions