We reached out to the creator of IT Humor and Memes, Trevor Paquette, to hear a bit more about how the group got started in the first place. "I created the group when I realized there was a lack of general IT meme groups," Trevor told Bored Panda. "The keyword there is 'general'. There were developer/programmer groups, the odd networking group, a few hacker groups, but no general IT ones I could find. The posts I submitted to an IT support group, tended to get lost in all of the great support questions being asked. So I thought, why not start a general IT humor group?"
"In May of 2019, it was created has been growing ever since," Trevor shared. "I never expected to hit 10,000 members, let alone the 1/2 million we are about to hit. The group has become a place to share things that many find funny using shared experience. (In the words of Sybok, 'Share your pain and gain strength from the sharing'). The group banner of the 'ESC' key leaving the keyboard is on purpose. Many have commented it gives them a needed break, an escape, from the constant stress and pressure they feel at work."
We also asked Trevor if it's necessary to have some sort of IT background to understand the jokes. "For some of the posts, it definitely helps to have a background in some aspect of IT, whether it be programming, networking, cybersecurity, administration, or tech support. The play on words and concepts can be somewhat confusing if you don't understand them," he explained. "That being said, a majority of posts are general enough that anyone should be able to get the humor. What I like to see are posts where 'It's funny because it's true' could be a caption. When humor mirrors real life with experiences the reader has had, it's a connection and makes it all the funnier for them."
We also wanted to know what the best parts about working in IT are for Trevor. "For me, the best thing ... is it's always changing. There's something more or something new to learn. Never a dull moment as the underlying technologies advance and change. There's always a way to look at a problem differently, and for the most part, if you need help, someone else has usually encountered the issue you are having and might be able to help."
Trevor went on to share some words of wisdom, "4 words: Let people enjoy things. This is the #1 reason posts get closed down. There are generally 'two camps' in tech; 'Us' and 'Them'," he noted. "For example, Android and iOS, Linux and Windows, Apple and Microsoft. Techs have their favorite OS, device, tool, app, or method of doing something; we all do. The Dunning-Kruger effect is alive and well within IT as quite a few techs have the 'my way or the highway' mindset. This results in a religious OS war between rivalries with some discussions of 'Us and Them' becomes 'Us vs Them', devolving to 'Me vs You' very quickly with comments becoming insults."
"Both the 'Us' camp and the 'Them' camp may want to remember they are both part of a larger 'We' camp; the 'IT' camp," Trevor explained. "IT is just a means towards an end-goal that we are all trying to achieve. It's fantastic learning opportunity to see how someone might use a different tool to solve the same problem. Aka: Let people enjoy things."
IT Humor and Meme’s ‘About’ page states that it’s for, “Humor and memes related to IT, or associated technology. Just a small corner in the big Facebook world to let loose a little steam and escape.” And clearly, members love it, as they are very active. In the last week, the group has gained nearly 6,000 new members, and as I’m writing this, the page has received over 60 posts today.
But it makes perfect sense for IT people to have a place of solace on Facebook after working a grueling day in the office. Working in IT can come along with immense stress, which we all know can take a toll on the body. According to a study published in the National Library of Medicine, “IT and IT related professionals are under constant pressure to deliver services efficiently and have to be cost effective.” Due to this, they are prone to developing a variety of health problems due to continuous physical and mental stress, including acid peptic disease, alcoholism, asthma, diabetes, fatigue, tension headaches, insomnia, IBS, and more.
According to one survey, 78% of IT workers considered their jobs to be stressful. This could be for a variety of reasons, but one that seems to be a common theme is just having too much work in the day. “Everybody gets a work-life balance except for the poor IT guy," Sergio Galindo, general manager at GFI Software, told Computer World. And even though IT workers are often overworked, they might not even be receiving proper compensation. When over 200 IT professionals were surveyed, almost half of them admitted that they typically work up to eight unpaid hours a week.
Being overworked spills over into all aspects of these professionals' lives though. Almost half of the IT workers surveyed said they had missed out on social functions “due to overrunning issues and tight deadlines”, and about 40% said they were missing time with their children and losing sleep. Nearly one third also reported suffering from a stress-related illness.
Clearly, working in IT is not for the faint of heart. But why do so many people get into the field in the first place? Is it simply out of necessity? To learn more about what it’s really like to work in IT, we consulted this piece, featuring insight from Austin Turecek, Senior Cybersecurity Analyst at Flashpoint. Austin breaks down a few misconceptions often associated with IT and explains what the job actually entails in reality. First, he explains that you don’t have to be a computer genius to work in IT. “It helps if you have a good knack for computers and you understand them,” Austin says. “But there's such a broad and open door to IT.”
Austin explains that even people working in IT have to use Google to help them figure out what their previous knowledge does not account for. Nobody can possibly know everything, so it is a valuable skill to be able to research and figure out what to do from there. You are never going to be expected to know everything from the get-go; critical thinking skills or being able to “think like a computer” can get you a long way. “One of the biggest things is the ability to pay attention to process, to problem-solve, and to identify issues quickly enough that they don't become larger issues,” Austin says.
Another misconception about working in IT that Austin calls out is the idea that it’s mainly just fixing broken hardware. While that may be part of your day or fall under your job description as an IT professional, Austin says that each day is different. He works in deep and dark web intelligence and analysis, which apparently entails coding for 10 hours straight some days and reading through reports and documents for hours other days. He also notes that there is a lot of writing required to work in IT. “For example, you might need to summarize complicated material for people in C-level or upper management who may only skim a document; and then you also may have to provide in-depth technical explanations for colleagues to follow.”
One stereotype that IT professionals often get is that they are introverted, quiet and enjoy sitting at their desks and avoiding human interaction all day. However, like any field, there are a wide variety of people who work in IT. Austin notes that soft skills and interpersonal skills can actually go a long way in IT as well. For example, people who interact with their customers and provide troubleshooting guidance are often very personable and friendly. Plus, it helps to have a lot of patience and sympathy for people who call in experiencing tech issues, because they are often feeling extremely frustrated and upset. Kofi Friar, Senior IT Manager at Codecadamy, even refers to IT as “technical therapy” because “you might find yourself consoling someone who can’t access an essential file or talking to someone who’s angry that their kid spilled a drink on their laptop”.
