A cat meme “4 dabloons” was developed into an immersive roleplay game and users were dedicated to the “Dabloons Economy”. Is the “Dabloon revolution” taking over TikTok? Let’s find out now!
What are “Dabloons”?
“Dabloons” are an unreal currency arose from a cat meme showing the outstretched paw of a cat holding up four toes with caption “4 dabloons.” It was posted onto the Instagram page @catz.jpeg in April 2021 according to the “KnowYourMeme” website. The meme soon went viral and were widespread all over different social media platforms, especially on TikTok.
How and when did the “Dabloons” Economy start?
Since the publish of the meme “4 dabloons” in April 2021, the meme has been shared and reposted continuously on TikTok over the next few months. In October 2022, “But it will cost you 4 dabloons” became a famous punchline on TikTok and people started making videos and contents with hashtag “#dabloons”. They pretended to have a trade with the cat for goods by paying the said amount of “dabloons”. By late November, the trend has become a craze that gained nearly 500m views, which marked the opening of the “Dabloon” Economy.
Development of the “Dabloons” Economy
Users began to have a roleplay game on TikTok which gave rise to the “Dabloons” Economy . The rule is simple, to collect the imaginary currency “Dabloons” in exchange for fictional items, such as soup, weapons or costumes. The game began when you came across a “Dabloons” video from your “For You” page. Most of the contents featured a cat that greeted you with “Hello Traveller” and showing you the items that you can buy with “dabloons”.
As the game was entirely created and developed by users, there was no regulation or monitoring system in the game. Anyone can create a “Dabloons” video, no matter it is gifting or selling. Even though, people enjoyed the roleplay a lot and some even started to keep track of their cash as if it was a real game. As the game continued to expand, some realistic elements were added into the games such as robberies, dabloon lotteries and even a dabloon IRS.
Speaking of why they were so immersed into the game, Beth Woodward, a avid UK dabloon collector says “I think the reason we all love this is that we all secretly miss being 5 and playing with our friends,”.
Evolution of “Dabloons” Economy
The expansion of the roleplay game is starting to reflect on what is happening in the real world. “Dabloons” thieves appeared to steal people’s money, people were put into “Dabloons” debt, inflation problem existed, etc. All these examples mirrored the real-world events, like the financial crisis and the crashing stock market.
“This is a very cruel lesson that we’re all learning about our nation’s economic state,” a 21-year-old dabloons collectors Allexis Dorsey says. “I mean, we see some of the same issues that we’re literally facing right now in our actual economic climate.” She continued.
The “Dabloons” roleplay game did bring a lot of fun to people in reminding them of their childhood. But to some extent, it simulates what the real economic world is working like. Therefore, people should enjoy the game at the same time be aware of what lessons should be learned from the game concerning about the economy.
Reference: Know Your Meme, The Verge, The Guardian
