Why A Simple Drawing Challenge Is Going Viral On Instagram

Over the past four days, one simple prompt — "draw yourself" — has united strangers across Instagram, where the accompanying hashtag, #DrawYourself, has amassed over 7,000 posts. As is the nature of the internet, it has since spread to Facebook and Twitter.

The challenge, if you want to call it that, is not necessarily the kind you expect to go viral. It's all based on a blank template that's only slightly more complex than a stick figure, with the outline of a torso and an oversized head with two dots for eyes and a slight smile. Accompanying the "draw yourself" heading is another simple request that some users are abiding by and others ignoring completely: "Leave a blank behind." (It's hard to determine an origin post, though most users reference seeing the template in an Instagram Story.)

However, when you consider the challenge's predecessor, it's easier to understand its popularity: #DrawYourself has a lot in common with its stick figure equivalent, the sullen looking cartoon series of the same name that originated on 4chan in 2009. As Know Your Meme details, that version of "draw yourself" enjoyed a long lifespan through its adoption to the "Draw Your Life" template, in which users marked up the character to show what they looked like at different ages.

This take on #DrawYourself has not necessarily achieved meme status yet, but it also isn't just the internet's version of a coloring book. That's because, like the 2009 Draw Yourself, users have put their own interpretation on the simple illustration. Some have taken the prompt literally, while many others have put a social media spin on it, choosing to represent themselves as they wish to be seen.

The one adjective that most drawers seem to agree on when describing the template is "cute": The subtle upturn of the lips and gentle raise of the hand, which looks as if it's waving hello — although it could be doing something less innocent — are far sweeter than the previous character, which lacked both arms and a mouth and looked sullen.

The beauty of both the original and current versions of Draw Yourself is that they provide just enough structure for anyone — whether you're an artist or not — to turn it into whatever you want, with the help of Stories' editing tools.