What is the sad hamster meme on TikTok? Viral video explained

One of the latest trends to come from TikTok is the sad hamster meme, which is usually accompanied by violin music. But what does the sad hamster meme mean?

The internet loves a good meme. From the ancient days of the trollface to Vines and more, memes have continued to evolve as social media and technology have grown over the years.

Some of the most popular memes involve adorable animals, such as Cheems the Shiba Inu, who blessed us with her humorous expressions for years before passing away in 2023.

Now another cute animal has taken over the internet. Here’s what the viral sad hamster on TikTok is all about.

What does the sad hamster meme mean on TikTok?

Lately, a tiny hamster with oversized eyes has been taking over users’ timelines on multiple social platforms — mainly TikTok.

However, the video first spawned on Twitter/X on February 9 when a user named ‘Doguindolink’ posted a video of the rodent along with the song ‘Woe Is Me!’ by Richard Myhill. Fans of Spongebob Squarepants might recognize the song, which was famously played by Mr Krabs on the “world’s smallest violin.”

Twitter/X: Doguindolink

Since then, the cute hamster and its accompanying theme song has exploded in popularity online. The clip is often used as a reaction meme to express a feeling of being out of one’s depth, overwhelmed, or sad. In essence, it’s a more involved way of saying, “I’m baby.”

The meme first began in February 2024, and mere weeks later, it’s already taken over social media. For instance, one user used the hamster as a way to show how they feel when they ask for a pen in class:

Or how they feel when a client asks them if they “know what they’re doing:”

There’s an infinite amount of ways to use the sad hamster meme, and it’s a situation we’ve all been in during our lives at some point.

This is just the latest meme to take over TikTok after the term ‘gardening’ started gaining popularity on the app.