Tourist Guy represents one of the earliest and most disturbing internet hoaxes, where a fabricated image circulated as evidence of someone photographed during the September 11 attacks. The image purported to show a tourist smiling and posing with the World Trade Center in the background, allegedly taken moments before the attacks. The image's shocking nature and the circumstances of its circulation made it infamous in early the internet. Most evidence suggests the image was a Photoshopped fabrication, though this didn't stop its widespread distribution. The Tourist Guy meme represents early online culture's tendency to create and spread shocking, fake content. Unlike modern fact-checking and debunking systems, early internet audiences had little means to verify or refute such claims, allowing the image to circulate unchecked.

The Tourist Guy emerged during a chaotic period immediately following 9/11 when internet forums were full of speculation, conspiracy theories, and shocking images. The period before widespread social media created an information environment where unverified content could spread rapidly without central fact-checking. The image's circulation reflected both morbid curiosity and the internet's tendency toward shock value. The hoax likely originated from someone seeking attention or deliberately spreading false information.

Tourist Guy is not actively 'used' as a meme format in traditional senses. It primarily appears in discussions of early internet history or shocking internet events.