Social proof is temporary. GitHub stars are eternal

Four panels of SpongeBob SquarePants showing progression: top panel shows happy SpongeBob with '1000 instagram followers'; second panel shows angry SpongeBob with '100 twitter followers'; third panel shows muscular SpongeBob with '5 reddit followers'; bottom panel shows a large, muscular sponge-like figure in wrestling pose with '1 follower on github'

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Explain the joke

This meme contrasts social media metrics with GitHub followers, using SpongeBob's changing expressions to show how platform-specific numbers (like Instagram or Twitter) are fleeting compared to the perceived permanence of GitHub stars for software projects.

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