‘This is me if you even care’: The ‘Sad Hamster Meme’ is TikTok’s adorable new way of expressing their inner feelings

You know how, every once in a while, you feel like a truly small little baby girl? Well, do I have a new meme template for you. If you’re even just casually on TikTok, you may have recently noticed that the app has been infiltrated by the likes of a tiny gray hamster (not a mouse or a squirrel, as I'd originally thought), whose giant eyes and tragic soundtrack feel both familiar and relatable: that, my friends, is the viral “Sad Hamster Meme.”

The newly popular meme consists of a small gray hamster with impossibly large eyes staring up into the camera while Richard Myhill’s “Woe Is Me!” blares in the background (and, if that song sounds familiar to you, I implore you to imagine Mr. Krabs of SpongeBob Squarepants fame playing it on the world’s smallest violin). In some versions of the meme, a small bow is added to the hamster to achieve maximum “baby girl” vibes.

How did the 'Sad Hamster Meme' start? 

Well, according to various sources, the meme is believed to have begun on X when user Doguindolink tweeted out the video with zero context. From there, it then found its way to TikTok after user @schmetterling47 uploaded the sound bite so it was shareable to others—christening it with the name “Sad Hamster Meme”—where it quickly found popularity on the app:

As hinted at earlier, the meme is mostly used in the “baby girl” or “I’m just a girl” context, wherein the meme aims to showcase how very small, innocent, and sad a user might feel after being asked to do a specific task or experiencing a specific event. 

For example, if you’ve volunteered too much in class, and now the teacher won’t call on you? Sad Hamster:

Or perhaps you want to stop and get a sweet little treat, but the person driving you says no? Sad Hamster has got you covered:

Did you enjoy a movie other people hated? Sad, sad little hamster:

Someone won’t let you, a precious little baby, get a new Lego set? Well, it’s the Sad Hamster for you:

The police pull you over? You’re just a baby girl Sad Hamster:

And it's not just for online reaction memeing—some people have started using it in real-life in the most meta ways possible:

Heck, the sad little mammal has gotten so ridiculously popular, even some brands are using it—including the New England Patriots:

People have embraced the meme so much they're even making them IRL:

So, there you have it! What are we all if not a Sad Hamster Meme?

How I feel after I finish explaining a meme to all of you, but now have no more information left to share: