The meaning of the 'we live in a society' mouse meme is actually very obvious

• The "we live in a society"meme is gaining popularity online.
• One version that shows two mice with different appearances has particularly gotten a lot of traction.
• It seems to be a commentary on society and social media's tendency to favor appearances.
• The creator of the meme told INSIDER that "it was just meant to be a stupid, ironic joke."

If you, like many people, happen to use the social media platform Instagram, you have probably noticed that certain content gets a lot of engagement while other posts are ignored. It is a seemingly universally known truth that a well-lit, perfectly staged picture often performs better than a post that's, um, more candid.

The new "we live in a society" meme pokes fun at that phenomenon.

The joke is perhaps best illustrated by this illustration of two mice. On the left, there is a polished rodent that resembles Mickey Mouse. He gets a lot of attention. On the right, there is a regular mouse. No one seems to care. 

This concept seems pretty straightforward: We live in a society that only appreciates popular, attractive, or aesthetically pleasing people, places, and things. 

Some might argue that we're reading a little too far into things. Twitter user @660th, who created the mouse meme, said there's nothing deep about it. "It was just meant to be a stupid, ironic joke," they said of the meme.

And there are plenty of iterations of the meme that demonstrate how people have grasped the concept, which embraces things that are under-appreciated for a number of reasons.

In conclusion, we live in a society:

Sign up here to get INSIDER's favorite stories straight to your inbox.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: An NYC recycling facility sees more than 800 tons of material every day — here's how they recycle it all