The Floor Is...

2016Exploitable image macro / two-panel templatesemi-active

Also known as: The Floor Is Lava Meme · Floor Is Lava Challenge

The Floor Is... is a 2016 exploitable image-macro format where someone avoids a labeled "floor," reimagining the childhood "Floor Is Lava" game with contemporary things people avoid.

"The Floor Is..." is a two-panel exploitable image macro format where someone avoids touching the floor, treating it like the childhood game "The Floor Is Lava." Originally posted on Twitter in April 2016, the format exploded across social media in June 2017 when users began labeling the "floor" as things people desperately avoid, from responsibilities to specific fandoms.

exploitable templatestwo panel memessnowclone memesmid 2010s memeschildhood game memes

Overview

The format works on a dead-simple premise borrowed from a playground game every kid knows. In the first panel, text or an image identifies what "the floor" represents. In the second panel, a person is shown mid-air or contorted to avoid touching the ground. The joke is that whatever the floor represents is something the subject desperately wants to avoid. The two-panel layout makes it instantly readable and easy to customize, which helped "The Floor Is..." spread rapidly once it caught on3.

Later variations flipped the format. Instead of avoiding the floor, the subject crashes through it, implying they enthusiastically embrace whatever the floor represents. This inversion added a second layer to the template and kept the format fresh during its peak popularity3.

Twitter user @princessofwifi posted the original two images on April 24th, 20163. The caption joked about wanting to go to sleep early but staying up way too late. The photos showed a person dramatically avoiding the floor in two poses. While the post got attention at the time, the format didn't immediately take off as a widespread meme template. It would take over a year before the format hit critical mass.

Origin & Background

Platform
Twitter (original post), Reddit / Facebook (viral spread)
Creator
@princessofwifi
Date
2016

Twitter user @princessofwifi posted the original two images on April 24th, 2016. The caption joked about wanting to go to sleep early but staying up way too late. The photos showed a person dramatically avoiding the floor in two poses. While the post got attention at the time, the format didn't immediately take off as a widespread meme template. It would take over a year before the format hit critical mass.

How It Spread

The meme sat relatively dormant until June 2017, when it suddenly caught fire across multiple platforms within days.

On June 7th, 2017, Twitter account @HELL2U posted a version featuring manga artist Hirohiko Araki with the caption "the floor is writing a coherent story without plot holes," pulling in 1,417 retweets and over 1,900 likes. Two days later, a Facebook page called "Lucas – From Out of Nowhere" posted a Nintendo-themed edit where the floor was "Mother 3 localization," collecting 649 reactions and 408 shares.

On June 8th, Twitter user @Zela_Kantal raised the stakes by editing the original photos to include actual lava, earning 14,700 retweets and 30,000 likes. This edit seemed to accelerate the meme's spread. By June 12th, "The Floor Is..." had migrated to Reddit, where a post on r/MemeEconomy using the format to comment on Reddit's free speech reputation pulled over 5,700 upvotes. Dozens of additional edits flooded r/MemeEconomy as the template kept trending.

The format's next evolution came on June 14th, when the Facebook account Zesty Supreme Meme posted an inverted version: instead of jumping away from the floor, a man's head is planted into concrete. The caption read "The floor is Fireflies by Owl City," implying the subject loved the song so much he dove into it. That single post racked up 19,000 reactions, 23,000 shares, and 8,600 comments within a week.

By June 20th, "breaking through the floor" parodies were all over r/DankMemes. These kept the two-panel structure but showed a boy smashing a hole in the ground instead of avoiding it. The inversion gave the format a second life right as the original version was peaking.

Platforms

RedditTwitterTikTokDiscordInstagram

Timeline

2017-06

Meme format emerges

2018-01

Gains traction in internet circles

2019-01

Reaches peak popularity

2020-01-01

Brands and companies started using The Floor Is... in marketing

2022-01-01

The Floor Is... entered the broader pop culture conversation

2024-01

Current status in meme culture

View on Google Trends

How to Use This Meme

The standard format uses two panels. The first panel typically features text stating "The floor is [thing someone avoids]," often with the subject's face or body covered by a logo, image, or label identifying who is avoiding it. The second panel shows the person jumping, floating, or otherwise not touching the ground.

Common approaches include:

1

Classic avoidance: "The floor is [something a person/company/fandom refuses to do]" with the subject leaping away

2

Floor-breaking variant: Same setup, but the subject crashes through the floor, showing they love or embrace the thing instead

3

Photo edit style: Take the original two photos and photoshop relevant imagery over the person and floor

4

Object labeling: Label the jumper as one thing and the floor as another to create the joke through the contrast

Create Your Own

Cultural Impact

"The Floor Is..." rode the wave of exploitable templates that defined meme culture in 2017. Its connection to "The Floor Is Lava," a game with near-universal childhood recognition, gave it an instant accessibility that more niche formats lacked. The meme also coincided with a broader trend of physical challenge memes, though Google Trends data for the period is skewed by the related #TheFloorIsLavaChallenge hashtag that was popular around the same time.

The format's success on both Reddit's r/MemeEconomy and Facebook meme pages showed its cross-platform appeal. It worked equally well as a low-effort text post and as a polished Photoshop edit, making it accessible to casual memers and dedicated creators alike.

Fun Facts

The original April 2016 tweet had nothing to do with avoidance humor. It was just a relatable joke about bad sleep habits.

The meme took over a year to go viral. The original post sat from April 2016 until June 2017 before the format exploded.

The "Fireflies by Owl City" floor-breaking post was one of the biggest individual posts in the meme's history, with 23,000 shares in under a week.

Google Trends data for the meme is unreliable because searches overlap with the unrelated "Floor Is Lava Challenge" trend.

Derivatives & Variations

Community variations and adaptations

A variation of The Floor Is...

(2017)

Platform-specific versions

A variation of The Floor Is...

(2017)

Subculture-specific remixes

A variation of The Floor Is...

(2017)

Frequently Asked Questions

References (3)

  1. 1
    6-7 memeencyclopedia
  2. 2
    The Floor Is... - Urban Dictionarydictionary
  3. 3
    The Floor Is... - Know Your Memeencyclopedia

The Floor Is...

2016Exploitable image macro / two-panel templatesemi-active

Also known as: The Floor Is Lava Meme · Floor Is Lava Challenge

The Floor Is... is a 2016 exploitable image-macro format where someone avoids a labeled "floor," reimagining the childhood "Floor Is Lava" game with contemporary things people avoid.

"The Floor Is..." is a two-panel exploitable image macro format where someone avoids touching the floor, treating it like the childhood game "The Floor Is Lava." Originally posted on Twitter in April 2016, the format exploded across social media in June 2017 when users began labeling the "floor" as things people desperately avoid, from responsibilities to specific fandoms.

exploitable templates two panel memes snowclone memes mid 2010s memes childhood game memes

Overview

The format works on a dead-simple premise borrowed from a playground game every kid knows. In the first panel, text or an image identifies what "the floor" represents. In the second panel, a person is shown mid-air or contorted to avoid touching the ground. The joke is that whatever the floor represents is something the subject desperately wants to avoid. The two-panel layout makes it instantly readable and easy to customize, which helped "The Floor Is..." spread rapidly once it caught on.

Later variations flipped the format. Instead of avoiding the floor, the subject crashes through it, implying they enthusiastically embrace whatever the floor represents. This inversion added a second layer to the template and kept the format fresh during its peak popularity.

Twitter user @princessofwifi posted the original two images on April 24th, 2016. The caption joked about wanting to go to sleep early but staying up way too late. The photos showed a person dramatically avoiding the floor in two poses. While the post got attention at the time, the format didn't immediately take off as a widespread meme template. It would take over a year before the format hit critical mass.

Origin & Background

Platform
Twitter (original post), Reddit / Facebook (viral spread)
Creator
@princessofwifi
Date
2016

Twitter user @princessofwifi posted the original two images on April 24th, 2016. The caption joked about wanting to go to sleep early but staying up way too late. The photos showed a person dramatically avoiding the floor in two poses. While the post got attention at the time, the format didn't immediately take off as a widespread meme template. It would take over a year before the format hit critical mass.

How It Spread

The meme sat relatively dormant until June 2017, when it suddenly caught fire across multiple platforms within days.

On June 7th, 2017, Twitter account @HELL2U posted a version featuring manga artist Hirohiko Araki with the caption "the floor is writing a coherent story without plot holes," pulling in 1,417 retweets and over 1,900 likes. Two days later, a Facebook page called "Lucas – From Out of Nowhere" posted a Nintendo-themed edit where the floor was "Mother 3 localization," collecting 649 reactions and 408 shares.

On June 8th, Twitter user @Zela_Kantal raised the stakes by editing the original photos to include actual lava, earning 14,700 retweets and 30,000 likes. This edit seemed to accelerate the meme's spread. By June 12th, "The Floor Is..." had migrated to Reddit, where a post on r/MemeEconomy using the format to comment on Reddit's free speech reputation pulled over 5,700 upvotes. Dozens of additional edits flooded r/MemeEconomy as the template kept trending.

The format's next evolution came on June 14th, when the Facebook account Zesty Supreme Meme posted an inverted version: instead of jumping away from the floor, a man's head is planted into concrete. The caption read "The floor is Fireflies by Owl City," implying the subject loved the song so much he dove into it. That single post racked up 19,000 reactions, 23,000 shares, and 8,600 comments within a week.

By June 20th, "breaking through the floor" parodies were all over r/DankMemes. These kept the two-panel structure but showed a boy smashing a hole in the ground instead of avoiding it. The inversion gave the format a second life right as the original version was peaking.

Platforms

RedditTwitterTikTokDiscordInstagram

Timeline

2017-06

Meme format emerges

2018-01

Gains traction in internet circles

2019-01

Reaches peak popularity

2020-01-01

Brands and companies started using The Floor Is... in marketing

2022-01-01

The Floor Is... entered the broader pop culture conversation

2024-01

Current status in meme culture

View on Google Trends

How to Use This Meme

The standard format uses two panels. The first panel typically features text stating "The floor is [thing someone avoids]," often with the subject's face or body covered by a logo, image, or label identifying who is avoiding it. The second panel shows the person jumping, floating, or otherwise not touching the ground.

Common approaches include:

1

Classic avoidance: "The floor is [something a person/company/fandom refuses to do]" with the subject leaping away

2

Floor-breaking variant: Same setup, but the subject crashes through the floor, showing they love or embrace the thing instead

3

Photo edit style: Take the original two photos and photoshop relevant imagery over the person and floor

4

Object labeling: Label the jumper as one thing and the floor as another to create the joke through the contrast

Create Your Own

Cultural Impact

"The Floor Is..." rode the wave of exploitable templates that defined meme culture in 2017. Its connection to "The Floor Is Lava," a game with near-universal childhood recognition, gave it an instant accessibility that more niche formats lacked. The meme also coincided with a broader trend of physical challenge memes, though Google Trends data for the period is skewed by the related #TheFloorIsLavaChallenge hashtag that was popular around the same time.

The format's success on both Reddit's r/MemeEconomy and Facebook meme pages showed its cross-platform appeal. It worked equally well as a low-effort text post and as a polished Photoshop edit, making it accessible to casual memers and dedicated creators alike.

Fun Facts

The original April 2016 tweet had nothing to do with avoidance humor. It was just a relatable joke about bad sleep habits.

The meme took over a year to go viral. The original post sat from April 2016 until June 2017 before the format exploded.

The "Fireflies by Owl City" floor-breaking post was one of the biggest individual posts in the meme's history, with 23,000 shares in under a week.

Google Trends data for the meme is unreliable because searches overlap with the unrelated "Floor Is Lava Challenge" trend.

Derivatives & Variations

Community variations and adaptations

A variation of The Floor Is...

(2017)

Platform-specific versions

A variation of The Floor Is...

(2017)

Subculture-specific remixes

A variation of The Floor Is...

(2017)

Frequently Asked Questions

References (3)

  1. 1
    6-7 memeencyclopedia
  2. 2
    The Floor Is... - Urban Dictionarydictionary
  3. 3
    The Floor Is... - Know Your Memeencyclopedia