When I heard that kids were currently obsessed with something called Verity, I thought it might have something to do with the psychological romantic thriller (based on the Colleen Hoover novel) which is out in cinemas next month.
But it turns out Verity is also the name given to a sinister smiley face character which has become the internet’s latest obsession.
Teacher and content creator Mr Philip Lindsay noted that the Verity meme has been trending for a while and originates from a Minecraft horror series character – an unnerving yellow smiley sphere called Verity.
Verity is like an AI assistant at first, but then (plot twist) becomes evil.
It’s inspired a whole load of memes and even a song called It’s Me, It’s Verity which has been viewed 31 million times since it was uploaded two months ago.
Olena Vasylieva via Getty Images
What does it all mean?
Mr Lindsay suggested in an explainer video on the meme that the song is what really kicked off Verity’s popularity among the younger generation.
“That started a trend. That’s what kids have been singing, repeating…” he said.
Weirdly, it’s become so popular that a promo clip shared by Anne Hathaway for her new film Verity seems to reference the bizarre smiley-faced creation, with the Oscar winner saying in the short clip: “Hey, it’s me, it’s Verity. Ask me anything.” (Exactly the same as the lyrics from the other Verity YouTube song.)
She also used a smiley face emoji in the caption.
As with anything that goes viral online, children have adopted the Verity meme in a couple of ways.
Mr Lindsay noted that any yellow smiley face is “basically now Verity” – so you might hear reference to that when they see an emoji, for instance, or they might be drawing the face on things, or adding it to images using AI.
Kids are also now apparently putting the suffix “ity” (as in, the end of Verity) on the end of other words. “So, you love something – lovity. You’re mad – you’re madity,” explained the teacher.
In the comments to his explainer video, people (mainly parents) were grateful for the intel. One commenter said: “Thank you for the clarity, my daughter has been singing this song on repeat for the past few weeks.”
Another respondent (presumably a teacher) quipped: “So I can tell my student that he is about to faility?”
Does Verity mean anything? No. But as with other forms of brain rot – remember Ballerina Cappuccina? – we might see this one going for some time.
As Mr Lindsay noted: “I fear this is only the beginningity.”
