Florida Man is an Internet meme that became popular in 2013. The meme typically consists of linking to news stories and articles about unusual or strange crime or events occurring in Florida, particularly those where the headline refers to the subject as "Florida Man" calling attention to Florida's apparent notoriety for strange and unusual activity. Miami New Times noted that freedom of information laws in Florida make it easier for journalists to obtain information about arrests from the police than in other states and that this is responsible for the large number of news articles.
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Origin
The meme was originally popularized by the Twitter feed @_FloridaMan in February 2013, which quoted news headlines which began with "Florida man" such as "Florida man run over by van after dog pushes accelerator" or "Police arrest Florida man for drunken joy ride on motorized scooter at Wal-Mart." The feed refers to Florida Man as the "World's Worst Superhero."
Spread
Before its popularization through Twitter, Florida already had a colorful reputation on the Internet, as evidenced by social aggregation site Fark having had a Florida tag for years before the Twitter feed appeared. However, after the creation of the Twitter feed in January 2013, and its simultaneous popularization on social media sites Reddit and Tumblr (initially through the subreddit r/FloridaMan and the Tumblr blog StuckInABucket), the meme rapidly gained the attention of news media and the population of the internet at large, being featured in numerous news articles and stories throughout February 2013.
There are equivalents of Florida Man in other countries as well, like Essex girl in Britain or Mann aus Sachsen in Germany.
Reception
The meme has widely been seen as a confirmation of the association between Florida and bizarre or humorous activity, and it has been compared on occasion to the Darwin Awards.