# Learn To Code Learn To Code is a mocking two-word reply weaponized on Twitter in late January 2019 against journalists who had just been laid off from BuzzFeed, HuffPost, and Gannett. The phrase reused years of coverage suggesting out-of-work coal miners should retrain in software, and turned into a coordinated harassment wave that drew Twitter suspensions and even resurfaced during Joe Biden's 2020 campaign. ## Origin The raw material predates the meme by five years. In April 2014, then New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg pushed back on Mark Zuckerberg at the Future of Energy Summit, saying "you're not going to teach a coal miner to code"[3]. Outlets including Wired ran features arguing the opposite, profiling Kentucky miners like Rusty Justice who founded the Bit Source software shop after the mines closed[2]. The Guardian later called the effort to remake Appalachia "Silicon Holler"[1]. The meme itself detonated on January 24th, 2019, the day BuzzFeed cut roughly 15% of its staff and HuffPost shut down its Opinion and Healthcare sections[3]. Jalopnik editor-in-chief Patrick George tweeted that there was "a special, dedicated section of Hell" for anime-avatar accounts replying "learn to code" to newly unemployed reporters, and his complaint became the signal that told everyone else the tactic was working[3]. - **Platform:** Twitter / 4chan (viral spread) - **Creator:** Unknown - **Date:** 2019 ## Overview "Learn to Code" is a three-word taunt aimed at journalists who lost their jobs, throwing back at them the same advice the press had spent years giving to unemployed coal miners in Appalachia[1]. The joke works on two levels: it mocks the target's sudden unemployment, and it flips the condescension of a media class that had confidently told blue-collar workers to retrain for the tech economy[2]. The format is simple. A user quote-tweets or replies to a laid-off reporter with the phrase, sometimes as a bare "learn to code," sometimes with the #LearnToCode hashtag, sometimes attached to screenshots of the outlet's earlier coding-bootcamp coverage[3]. Its punch comes from context rather than wordplay, which is why Twitter's moderation team eventually treated targeted use of it as harassment rather than commentary[4]. ## How It Spread Within hours the phrase jumped platforms. A /r/OutOfTheLoop thread that same day asked what the "learn to code" replies were about, and a 4chan /pol/ thread titled "President Trump General, Learn to Code Edition" turned the reply campaign into a coordinated bit[3]. Freelance writer Talia Lavin posted screenshots of the /pol/ activity, and YouTuber Styxhexenhammer666 uploaded a video framing the layoffs as karmic payback[5]. On January 28th, 2019, The Wrap's John Levine reported that Twitter had told him directing "learn to code" at a recently laid-off journalist would count as targeted abuse under the site's Terms of Service[3]. Commentator Tim Pool then posted a screenshot showing user @paul94mck had received a 12-hour suspension after tweeting the #LearnToCode hashtag at a journalist[4]. The moderation decision became its own story, pulled into wider fights about platform bias. Almost a year later, on December 30th, 2019, presidential candidate Joe Biden revived the debate at a New Hampshire rally by telling attendees "anybody who can go down 3,000 feet in a mine can learn to program"[6]. Political reporter Dave Weigel filmed the moment, and critics on both sides used it to reopen the argument the meme had been mocking all along[6]. ## How to Use Typical use is a reply or quote-tweet of a bare "learn to code" aimed at someone announcing they lost a media job, often paired with the #LearnToCode hashtag or a screenshot of that outlet's earlier coverage recommending coding bootcamps to laid-off workers[3]. Because Twitter treated targeted deployment as harassment in 2019, most surviving uses now show up as ironic commentary about the moderation fight rather than direct replies[4]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Learn To Code? A mocking two-word reply aimed at journalists who lost their jobs in the January 2019 layoff wave at BuzzFeed, HuffPost, and Gannett[1]. ### Where did Learn To Code come from? The reply-guy version took off after Jalopnik editor Patrick George tweeted about it on January 24, 2019, though the phrase itself grew out of 2014 to 2015 coverage of coal miners retraining as coders[5]. ### What does Learn To Code mean? It functions as a linguistic dog whistle: harmless-sounding career advice to outsiders, a targeted insult to the laid-off reporter it is aimed at[2]. ### How do you use Learn To Code? The template is a curt reply, usually "learn to code" or a slight variant, sent to a journalist right after they announce their layoff[1]. ### Is Learn To Code still popular? It is a classic 2019 catchphrase, with its biggest waves tied to the January 2019 media layoffs and Joe Biden's December 2019 coal-miner remark rather than any active current campaign[5]. ### Which outlets' layoffs triggered the meme? The wave hit after BuzzFeed cut 15 percent of staff, HuffPost eliminated its Opinion and Healthcare desks, and Gannett laid off newspaper staff, all in late January 2019[2]. ### Who is Rusty Justice? A Pikeville, Kentucky entrepreneur who launched Bit Source, a coding shop that trained laid-off coal miners as web developers, in response to Bloomberg's remark that it could not be done[4]. ### Why did Twitter suspend accounts for saying it? The Wrap reported on January 28, 2019 that Twitter treated coordinated "learn to code" replies to laid-off journalists as a Terms of Service violation, and user @Paul94Mck was suspended with #LearnToCode cited in the notice[5]. ### What did Joe Biden say about coal miners and coding? At a New Hampshire rally on December 30, 2019, Biden said "anybody who can go down 3,000 feet in a mine can learn to program," which revived the meme[5]. ### What did BuzzFeed publish about coding in 2014? On February 10, 2014, BuzzFeed News ran a satirical quiz called "Should You Learn to Code?" that made fun of the constant think pieces telling everyone to pick up programming[6]. ### Did the meme come with actual threats? Yes. Laid-off HuffPost reporter Laura Bassett described far-right death threats such as "The day of the rope is coming" arriving alongside the "learn to code" replies[2]. ## References 1. [https://newrepublic.com/article/153019/fetid-right-wing-origins-learn-code]() 2. [https://archive.thinkprogress.org/learn-to-code-decoded-the-campaign-against-laid-off-journalists-is-harassments-new-frontier-20725ddd480a/]() 3. [https://www.wired.com/2015/11/can-you-teach-a-coal-miner-to-code/]() 4. [https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/apr/21/tech-industry-coding-kentucky-hillbillies]() 5. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/learn-to-code]() 6. [https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/katienotopoulos/should-you-learn-to-code]() 7. [https://www.dailywire.com/news/heres-where-learn-code-meme-originated-hint-not-ashe-schow]() 8. [https://digitalcultures.net/memes/learn-to-code/]() 9. [https://x.com/i/status/1089319941898207233]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/learn-to-code Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library