@dasharez0ne (also known as da share z0ne, Da motha fuckin share z0ne, da z0ne, DSZ, and other variations) is a

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

account on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

and

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

, known for posting

image macro An image macro is a piece of digital media featuring a picture, or artwork, with some form of text superimposed. The text frequently appears at the top and bottom of the image. Image macros are one of the most common forms of internet memes, an ...

s pairing

skeleton A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of an animal. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside ...

art and absurdist or

ironic Irony (), in its broadest sense, is the juxtaposition of what on the surface appears to be the case and what is actually the case or to be expected; it is an important rhetorical device and literary technique. Irony can be categorized into ...

captions. Da share z0ne's posts are an elaborate

parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its subj ...

of online hyper-masculinity; specifically, da share z0ne's posts mimic "tough guy"

memes A meme ( ) is an idea, behavior, or style that spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme. A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural i ...

with characteristics like

macho Machismo (; ; ; ) is the sense of being " manly" and self-reliant, a concept associated with "a strong sense of masculine pride: an exaggerated masculinity". Machismo is a term originating in the early 1930s and 1940s best defined as hav ...

posturing, poor

graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art whose activity consists in projecting visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdiscipli ...

, and juvenile fondness for generically "

cool Cool commonly refers to: * Cool, a moderately low temperature * Cool (aesthetic), an aesthetic of attitude, behavior, and style Cool or COOL may also refer to: Economics * Country of origin labelling * mCOOL - US consumer legislation to enforc ...

" imagery like skeletons, leather jackets, grim reapers, tombstones, flames, and guns. The creator or creators of da share z0ne operate

anonymous Anonymous may refer to: * Anonymity, the state of an individual's identity, or personally identifiable information, being publicly unknown ** Anonymous work, a work of art or literature that has an unnamed or unknown creator or author * Anonym ...

ly. The account is supposedly operated by a fictitious skeleton character known as Admin. All the posts, as well responses to press inquiries, are made in-character as Admin. In ironic contrast to the over-the-top macho aesthetic of the imagery, the Admin character himself is neurotic, emotionally sensitive, "

woke ''Woke'' ( ) is an adjective derived from African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) meaning "alert to racial prejudice and Racial discrimination, discrimination". Beginning in the 2010s, it came to encompass a broader awareness of social ineq ...

", and preoccupied with mundane aspects of everyday life. The

juxtaposition Juxtaposition is an act or instance of placing two elements close together or side by side. This is often done in order to compare/contrast the two, to show similarities or differences, etc. Speech Juxtaposition in literary terms is the showing ...

provides much of the

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...

effect. Journalists have praised da share z0ne for its distinct, off-kilter brand of humor and the rich characterization of Admin. In 2018, da share z0ne launched an original

trading card game A collectible card game (CCG), also called a trading card game (TCG) among other names, is a type of card game that mixes strategy game, strategic deck building elements with features of trading cards, introduced with ''Magic: The Gathering'' in ...

called ''The Devil's Level'' with the help of artistic collaborators, including fellow Twitter user

dril @dril is a pseudonymous Twitter user best known for his idiosyncratic style of absurdist humor and non sequiturs. The account, its author, and the character associated with the tweets are all commonly referred to as dril (the account's identif ...

, Drew Fairweather, and numerous comics artists.

Social media posts

Da share z0ne began posting in September 2015. The account is best-known for

s that combine artwork of

skeletons A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of an animal. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside ...

, compiled from various Internet sources, with superimposed captions in assorted

typeface A typeface (or font family) is the design of lettering that can include variations in size, weight (e.g. bold), slope (e.g. italic), width (e.g. condensed), and so on. Each of these variations of the typeface is a font. There are list of type ...

s. The account is loosely affiliated with the "

Weird Twitter Twitterature (a portmanteau of ''Twitter'' and ''literature'') is a literary use of the microblogging service of Twitter. It includes various genres, including aphorisms, poetry, and fiction (or some combination thereof) written by individuals or ...

" subculture. The account is an extended

of a particular style of overtly masculine meme page on social media. In the words of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

''s Gabe Worgaftik, the target of its parody is "the kind of Facebook page that posts tough-guy memes over pictures of skeletons that your fuck-up cousin shares ... this generation's version of a 'Keep honking, I'm reloading'

bumper sticker A bumper sticker is an adhesive label or sticker with a message, intended to be attached to the bumper of an automobile and to be read by the occupants of other vehicles—although they are often stuck onto other objects. Most bumper stickers are ...

." Writing for ''

Dazed ''Dazed'' (''Dazed & Confused'' until February 2014) is a bi-monthly British style magazine founded in 1991. It covers music, fashion, film, art, and literature. Dazed is published by Dazed Media, an independent media group known for producing ...

'', Luke O'Neil called da share z0ne a "riff on the style of

toxic masculinity Toxic masculinity is a set of certain male behaviors associated with harm to society and men themselves. Traditional stereotypes of men as socially dominant, along with related traits such as misogyny and homophobia, can be considered "toxic" d ...

that can be found on specific corners of the meme-based internet ... where dudes are dudes, motorcycles and guns kick ass, and everything you need to know about a guy can be crammed onto a horribly designed image macro of clashing fonts, unreadable texts, and shoddy looking graphics." In November 2018, ''

The Columbus Dispatch ''The Columbus Dispatch'' is a daily newspaper based in Columbus, Ohio. Its first issue was published on July 1, 1871, and it has been the only mainstream daily newspaper in the city since ''The Columbus Citizen-Journal'' ceased publication in 19 ...

'' reported that webcomic artist Drew Fairweather runs da share z0ne. In February 2020, Admin posted several tweets endorsing

Bernie Sanders Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Vermont since 2007. He was the U.S. representative for the state's at-large congressional district from 1991 to 2007 ...

for the Democratic primary in 2020.

Visual aesthetic

Da share z0ne posts are characterized by purposefully poor

, using multiple tacky fonts in a single image and a different

watermark A watermark is an identifying image or pattern in paper that appears as various shades of lightness/darkness when viewed by transmitted light (or when viewed by reflected light, atop a dark background), caused by thickness or density variations ...

in almost every image. The visual style of da share z0ne was described by ''

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

''s Jacob Brogan as a "borderline comical

gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

aesthetic" with a "mock-fascination with

fatalist Fatalism is a family of related philosophical doctrines that stress the subjugation of all events or actions to fate or destiny, and is commonly associated with the consequent attitude of resignation in the face of future events which are thou ...

," but with "silly" captions that "operate in winkingly awkward contradistinction to the pictures." ''

Motherboard A motherboard (also called mainboard, main circuit board, mb, mboard, backplane board, base board, system board, logic board (only in Apple computers) or mobo) is the main printed circuit board (PCB) in general-purpose computers and other expand ...

''s Rachel Pick called the account's aesthetic a "mash-up of what guys who own Harleys and stoned 14-year-olds think looks cool." According to Zack Boehm of ''Uloop'', a typical da share z0ne meme is a "configuration of the following: The gaunt visage of a demonic skeleton (this is a DSZ staple), fire, guns, motorcycles, leather jackets, Viking garb, laptops, and short missives like 'Why do bad people get to have good pets?' or 'Thinkin about getting really into Japan' spelled out in Windows '95

word art Word art or text art is a form of art that includes text, forming words or phrases, as its main component; it is a combination of language and visual imagery. Overview There are two main types of word art: *One uses words or phrases because of t ...

." Archer Angel at ''

The Daily Dot ''The Daily Dot'' is a digital media company covering the culture of the Internet and the World Wide Web. Founded by Nicholas White in 2011, ''The Daily Dot'' is headquartered in Austin, Texas. The site, conceived as the Internet's "hometown ...

'' compared da share z0ne's format to the approach pioneered by Gangster Popeye, a satirical page likewise "inspired by the 'tough guy' memes from pages like KrazyTrain and Check Dis Shit Out— macros that feature text on themes such as being a badass and not taking shit from anyone, superimposed on pictures of skeletons (often holding weapons)." Roisin Kiberd of ''Motherboard'' connected da share z0ne within a history of repurposing skeleton art in

Internet culture Internet culture is a culture based on the many way people have used computer networks and their use for communication, entertainment, business, and recreation. Some features of Internet culture include online communities, gaming, and social media ...

—"memetic ''

memento mori ''Memento mori'' (Latin for 'remember that you ave todie'

"Admin" character

Da share z0ne is run by an

person or group of people. The fictional

character Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...

who purportedly runs da share z0ne is a skeleton named Admin. The creator or creators of da share z0ne respond in-character as Admin to press inquiries, and Admin has given interviews with Herb.co, ''Dazed'',

Vice Media Vice Media Group LLC is an American-Canadian digital media and broadcasting company. , the Vice Media Group included five main business areas: VICE.com (digital content); VICE STUDIOS (film and TV production) VICE TV (also known as VICELAND); V ...

's ''Motherboard'', ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

'', and ''

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

'' magazine. In his posts and other messages, Admin usually types in

all caps In typography, all caps (short for "all capitals") refers to text or a font in which all letters are capital letters, for example: "THIS TEXT IS IN ALL CAPS". All caps may be used for emphasis (for a word or phrase). They are commonly seen in ...

with numerous misspellings. Admin has been described as an

everyman The everyman is a stock character of fiction. An ordinary and humble character, the everyman is generally a protagonist whose benign conduct fosters the audience's identification with them. Origin The term ''everyman'' was used as early as ...

(or "every-skeleton") character whose "relatable" struggles mirror everyday struggles and the impact of Internet culture on his generation. Admin hates his job, enjoys

marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...

, and has lowbrow taste. In da share z0ne posts, Admin has complained of irritable bowel syndrome, experiences of social anxiety, and depression. Admin frequently breaks the fourth wall in posts; for example, they describe running da share z0ne itself, boast about their inflated sense of the account's popularity, reference their own computer problems, and accidentally type out and submit web searches as tweets. Miles Klee wrote that the Admin's defining trait is their " nerdy white-collar warriorhood." An important aspect of Admin's persona is their social consciousness; Kiberd described Admin as an "unlikely—but lovable— social justice hero." The character's usage and love of hyper-masculine imagery ironically contrasts with their actual personality, which is neurotic, unintelligent, awkward, and lonely, yet also deeply sensitive, essentially decent, and even socially conscious. Diverging from the latent racism, misogyny,

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitude (psychology), attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, h ...

and transphobia commonly found on the pages that da share z0ne parodies, Admin "explicitly performs '

ness'" with

consciousness-raising Consciousness raising (also called awareness raising) is a form of activism popularized by United States feminists in the late 1960s. It often takes the form of a group of people attempting to focus the attention of a wider group on some cause or ...

, albeit "deeply

campy Camp is an aesthetic style and sensibility that regards something as appealing because of its bad taste and ironic value. Camp aesthetics disrupt many of modernism's notions of what art is and what can be classified as high art by inverting aes ...

," slogans in its posts on topics such as gender, immigration,

refugee A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

s, consent, and

safe spaces The term safe space refers to places "intended to be free of bias, conflict, criticism, or potentially threatening actions, ideas, or conversations". The term originated in LGBT culture, but has since expanded to include any place where a margi ...

. Admin's socially conscious posts are, according to Emily Gaudette at ''Newsweek'', "like reading the private thoughts of a liberal goth kid whose taste in art hasn't yet caught up to their advanced understanding of mental health and politics." The detailed characterization of Admin—particularly the stark contrast between their character and the "cool" imagery—supplies much of da share z0ne's ironic humor and

content. Boehm notes that the "jarring dissonance" between Admin's "vulnerable, pitiable" text and the "gothic, biker-horror imagery" is crucial to the page's satirical effect, applying the creators' knowledge of "the kind of strange

, anonymously aggressive internet culture that a share z0ne istrying to spoof" to "deftly needle at the hypocritical constructs of

masculinity Masculinity (also called manhood or manliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles associated with men and boys. Masculinity can be theoretically understood as socially constructed, and there is also evidence that some behaviors con ...

with a gnarled, bony skeleton finger." O'Neil writes that the contrast reveals the subtext of

loneliness Loneliness is an unpleasant emotional response to perceived isolation. Loneliness is also described as social paina psychological mechanism which motivates individuals to seek social connections. It is often associated with a perceived lack ...

behind the online "tough guy" archetype that Admin

caricature A caricature is a rendered image showing the features of its subject in a simplified or exaggerated way through sketching, pencil strokes, or other artistic drawings (compare to: cartoon). Caricatures can be either insulting or complimentary, a ...

s. Jay Hathaway at ''The Daily Dot'' wrote that a "character-driven Twitter account hasn't blended macho attitude and complete personal dysfunction this perfectly" since Karl Welzein (@dadboner), a Twitter character written by comedian Mike Burns who is "a divorced, middle-aged Detroit dude who loves to rock hard and scope babes, but mainly hangs around the parking lot at Applebee's."

Popularity and reception

reported that da share z0ne had accumulated almost 88,000 followers on

by January 2018. The account hit 100,000 followers in June 2018. According to Hathaway, da share z0ne has a "universal appeal" that "crosses cliquish social boundaries," as its memes are "retweeted by everyone from Weird Twitter chuckleboys to cool, queer, indie gamers to dry and boring media-marketing types." Jacob Brogan of ''Slate'' quoted and agreed with Hathaway's assessment of the account's "universal appeal," praising the persona of the account for "gently making light of the way we all present ourselves on social media—of the way we attempt to show off the best, brightest versions of our lives, only to accidentally reveal just how lame we really are." Luke O'Neil at ''Dazed'' praised the sharpness of da share z0ne's satire, as well as its surprising emotional depth and warmth: Will Menaker, a cohost on the political comedy podcast '' Chapo Trap House'', made a tongue-in-cheek call for da share z0ne to receive the MacArthur "Genius Grant" in June 2016. '' Mic'' named a post from da share z0ne as one of 101 " canonical" tweets. In October 2017, Jerry Saltz, senior art critic for ''

'' magazine, replied to a post by da share z0ne to call the account "Very late Francis Bacon?" In December 2017, Alex Greenberger of '' ARTnews'' included da share z0ne in a round-up of the year's best art on screens—including onscreen art installations at galleries and museums, cinema, television, and art "on my laptop"—saying " 's art if I say it is—and da share z0ne is art." Da share z0ne was nominated in the "weird" category for the 10th

Shorty Awards The Shorty Awards (also known as “The Shortys”) honors the most innovative work globally in digital and social media by brands, agencies, nonprofits and creators. The Shortys’ mission is to celebrate, inspire and push the boundaries of exce ...

, an annual awards show by Sawhorse Media that recognizes exceptional short-form content on the social web, but it did not place as a finalist. Da Share Z0ne was named one of "The 100 best, worst, and weirdest things we saw on the internet in the 2010s" in 2019 by the AV Clu

''The Devil's Level'' card game

''The Devil's Level'' is a

based on da share z0ne. Funded via

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

, ''The Devil's Level'' reached its initial fundraising goal of $28,000 within hours of its launch on January 22, 2018. By the campaign's conclusion a month later, the game had reached $227,250 in funding. It is expected to ship in September 2018. ''The Devil's Level'' features a core deck of 144 cards, plus three 36-card expansion packs, with cards encased in a foil-embossed skull box designed by Oliver Leach. The game's rules have been compared to '' Magic: The Gathering'' and ''

Cards Against Humanity ''Cards Against Humanity'' is an adult party game in which players complete fill-in-the-blank statements, using words or phrases typically deemed offensive, risqué, or politically incorrect, printed on playing cards. It has been compared to th ...

''.

Guest artists

Admin claimed responsibility for "most" of the card artwork and credited the following guest artists (listed with their Twitter handles, as they are on the Kickstarter page) for making contributions: * Natalie Dee (@nataliedee) — known as a co-creator of the webcomic ''

Married to the Sea ''Married to the Sea'' is a webcomic by husband and wife Drew Fairweather and Natalie Dee. Both Drew and Natalie have creative input on ''Married to the Sea'' but the comic is not strictly collaborative. Each has a personal webcomic project: Drew ...

'' * Drew Toothpaste (@drewtoothpaste) — known for the webcomic ''

Toothpaste for Dinner ''Toothpaste for Dinner'' is a webcomic created by Drew Fairweather. The comic was launched on January 1, 2002. A new strip is posted several times a week at 12:01 AM, EST. Each comic features small, simple drawings, paired with short caption ...

'' and as a co-creator of ''Married to the Sea'') *

* KC Green (@kcgreenn) — known for the webcomic '' Gunshow'' * Oliver Leach (@bakkooonn) * Will Laren (@larenwill) * Greg Pollock (@weedguy420boner)