When people, especially politicians, expressed their “thoughts and prayers” after these events, they were heavily criticized if they were perceived as taking little action, particularly legislatively. The phrase has gained particular momentum in the wake of mass shootings, such as the 2015 Paris attacks, the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting, the 2017 Las Vegas shooting, and the 2018 Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. Since then, these seemingly harmless, often well-intended words have been used after everything from hurricanes to acts of terrorism. How is the phrase thoughts and prayers used today? Enter a supportive, albeit passive, phrase to express sympathy. Furthermore, politicians felt restricted in what they could say or do, especially since the tragedy was directly related to the contentious gun debate that exists in the United States. In the face of such an incomprehensible tragedy, the general public felt unable to do anything tangible to take away the pain of the victims’ families, as well as the survivors. While theories on the history of the phrase “thoughts and prayers” vary, it is often traced back to the Columbine High School massacre of 1999. And one of the most popular phrases online? “Thoughts and prayers.” With social media amplifying these stories, more and more people are offering their condolences than ever before. On October 1st, YouTuber TacCom uploaded a YouTube Poop edit of the scene, gaining over 156,000 views (shown below, right).From mass shootings to natural disasters, it seems like every day, there’s a new tragedy on the news. On October 8th, 2017, YouTuber ETHMOBOB_2 uploaded an earrape version of the scene, gaining over 473,000 views (shown below, left). That's a Lotta Damage! is another notable quote said by Swift, this time being used in the Flex Seal Bucket Demo. Another by RamtroStudios used the quote and edited it into a scene from Titanic (1997), gaining over 26,000 views (shown below, right). For example, one uploaded to YouTube by Ho Hum Reviews gained over 330,000 views (shown below, left).

Prior to JonTron's video, edits of the scene were posted to YouTube. Due to the outlandish nature of the quote, it has been used frequently in jokes and edits. I Sawed This Boat In Half! is a memorable quote uttered by Swift in the original Flex Tape commercial while he is attempting to prove the power of the tape.

On September 30th, 2017, Reddit user OrginalCanadian submitted the video to /r/JonTron, where it received around 5,000 points (84% upvoted) in three months. On September 30th, 2017, YouTube user Master Roilu uploaded a clip from JonTron's video, which gained over half a million views in 3 months (shown below, right). After JonTron's video, the edit gained over 600,000 views as of January 2018 (shown below, left). On July 1st, 2017, YouTuber cs188 uploaded a YouTube Poop edit on the original commercial titled 'Flextits Makes You Super Wet and Completely Dry'. The episode by Jon gave new popularity to the product. As of January 2018, JonTron's video has over 12.8 million views. On September 30th, 2017, popular YouTuber JonTron uploaded a video, (shown below) in which he watches and discusses the Flex Tape commercial, as well as Flex Seal's Flex Seal Liquid commercial and their extreme bucket demo video (shown below, lower left and right).

Thoughts and prayers flex tape meme