What is You Wake Up as X. What's the First Thing You Do??

It's a Twitter bait prompt that asks readers what they would do if they woke up in a celebrity or fictional character's body, started by a March 2022 post about Taylor Swift.

Where did You Wake Up as X. What's the First Thing You Do? come from?

User @tayspetsch posted it on X on March 18th, 2022 with a photo of Taylor Swift, and Know Your Meme documents it as the earliest viral use.

What does You Wake Up as X. What's the First Thing You Do? mean?

The prompt invites quote-retweet jokes about using a famous person's body, from the mundane like still doing Wordle to transgressive answers about hurting people.

Is You Wake Up as X. What's the First Thing You Do? still popular?

Peak virality came in late September and early October 2023 around a @_mattt4 Taylor Swift repost that drew 23 million views, after which usage tapered.

You Wake Up as X. What's the First Thing You Do?

Q: How do you use You Wake Up as X. What's the First Thing You Do??

Posters pair a photo of a celebrity or character with the line 'you wake up as [name], what's the first thing you do?' and let quote retweets supply the punchlines.

2022catchphrasesemi-active

Published October 28, 2026

You Wake Up as X. What's the First Thing You Do? is a Twitter bait question template that user @tayspetsch posted about Taylor Swift on March 18th, 20221. The prompt sat quietly for over a year before a September 2023 Taylor Swift repost hit 23 million views3. By October 2023, parodies targeted right-wing commentator Ian Miles Cheong after he aimed the format at AOC5.

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Overview

The question works by naming a celebrity, politician or fictional character and daring quote retweets to answer what the responder would do with that person's body, access or fame. Replies lean toward dark comedy or deadpan mundanity, with the humor coming from the gap between the subject's public image and the responder's chosen action. A photo of the named person usually accompanies the question1.

Posts in the format are structured as prompts rather than full jokes, so the quote retweet column does the real comedic work7. Subjects range from pop stars like Taylor Swift and Beyoncé to political figures and anime characters, and the humor often tilts transgressive, with violent answers common enough to count as a running gag2.

Gallery

Origin & Background

Platform

Twitter / X

Creator

@tayspetsch

Date

2022

On March 18th, 2022, X user @tayspetsch posted 'you wake up as taylor swift, what's the first thing you do?' alongside a photo of the singer, gathering about 13,400 likes in the following year1. Know Your Meme lists it as the earliest viral use of the phrasal template7. The post's engagement came almost entirely from quote retweets rather than regular replies, which set the pattern every later version of the format would follow.

How It Spread

The 2022 Taylor Swift post gained traction mostly through quote retweets. @toxnik's 'kiII like 3 people' answer from the same day gathered roughly 181,500 likes in a year2, outpacing the host tweet itself. On March 19th, @jackkirby's 'I mean probably still the Wordle' reply hit about 1,800 likes10.

The template drifted toward other subjects over the following year. @driftyfilm asked what readers would do as the head of DC Studios on October 30th, 2022, with the tweet collecting roughly 6,200 likes9. @DragonBallBLK aimed one of the first documented parodies at Goku on March 16th, 2023, reaching about 10,600 likes over seven months7.

A Taylor Swift repost from @_mattt4 on September 29th, 2023 carried the format into mainstream Twitter attention, with viral quotes stacking up over 23 million views3. One reply by @soggystyrofoam, 'they/them in bio turn off phone,' drew roughly 92,300 likes in three days4. Right-wing commentator Ian Miles Cheong followed on October 1st with a post aimed at AOC5, and @GranTorinoDSA answered a day later with 'You wake up as Ian Miles Cheong. What's the first thing you're doing? Hard mode: You're not allowed to kill yourself,' a tweet that reached about 10,400 likes in a day6. @beyoncegarden's parallel Beyoncé version from September 30th hit 12.9 million views in three days8.

Timeline

2022-03-18

@tayspetsch posts the original Taylor Swift version on X, the earliest documented viral use of the template.

2022-03-18

@toxnik's 'kiII like 3 people' quote retweet goes viral, eventually hitting about 181,500 likes.

2022-10-30

@driftyfilm swaps in 'the head of DC Studios' as the subject, drawing about 6,200 likes.

2023-03-16

@DragonBallBLK posts a Goku parody, one of the earliest documented twists on the format.

2023-09-29

@_mattt4 reposts the Taylor Swift version, which clears 23 million views and revives the format.

2023-09-30

@beyoncegarden posts a Beyoncé version that reaches 12.9 million views in three days.

2023-10-01

Ian Miles Cheong tweets a version aimed at AOC, prompting parody responses targeting him.

2023-10-02

@GranTorinoDSA's 'hard mode: no suicide' Ian Miles Cheong parody reaches about 10,400 likes in a day.

How to Use This Meme

Posters typically pair a photo of a famous person or fictional character with the line 'you wake up as [name], what's the first thing you do?' and let quote retweets supply the punchlines. Common conventions include dark one-liners, deadpan mundane answers like doing the Wordle, and 'hard mode' additions that forbid an obvious response6.