The 'slut-shaming' phenomenon sweeping the web: How teenage girls are ridiculing  peers who 'dress too provocatively or wear too much make-up'

• Hey Girl, Did You Know meme going strong after one teenager posted picture last summer shaming other girls for wearing revealing clothes
• Comes on the heels of 'Dear Girls, Don't Be Insecure,' 

A deeply worrying trend, known as ‘slut-shaming,’ has taken flight in recent years, fuelled by microblogging sites such as Tumblr, as well as Facebook.

In these posts, teenage girls – and sometimes boys – criticize certain body types or wardrobe choices, often being ruthless in the process.

In one such post, a blogger writes with accompanying pictures: ‘Hey girls, uhm did you know – open books, NOT legs?’

Slut-shaming: This image, uploaded to a Tumblr account last summer, started a new slut-shaming meme called Hey Girls, Did You Know?

Girl on girl: The Hey Girls, Did You Know Facebook page is full of posts like this, where girls will ridicule other girls for the way they dress or look

Mean girls: In another post, a teenager tells girls that Nutella is for spreading, not legs

The image that started one particular meme of slut-shaming was the ‘Hey Girls, Did You Know’ post, when Tumblr user officialsabrina_xo uploaded a photo of her with captions saying, ‘Girls, did you know, that uhm, your boobs go inside your shirt?’

According to Know Your Meme, the image was removed shortly after it was uploaded, but the damage was done. 

Starting on June 18th, 2012, the image of the brunette was reblogged across the internet, sparking the meme.

A week later, the Hey Girls, Did You Know Facebook page was formed. As of this year, it has nearly 37,000 ‘likes.’

While a majority of the photos are simply innocuous memes like SpongeBob SquarePants or pictures of cats or other harmless memes, others point out what they perceive to be as shortcomings of their peers. 

Advice: One girl garnered thousands of 'likes' on Facebook because of this photo

Retribution: In response to some photos, teenage boys offer their responses

Cruel: This photo, also from Hey Girls, Did You Know's Facebook page plays on the normally-snarky Some Ecards

One girl posted: ‘Hello citizens, did you know? This is deodorant. Use it,’ which was accompanied by various expressions with a stick of Dove, followed by a picture of her frowning.

The image, posted on December 2, 2012, was shared 33 times and liked by 1,335 people. 

In 2011, male model Cole Mohr was pictured with an outer-space background holding a sign that read: ‘Dear Girls, don’t be insecure, you don’t need make-up and nice clothes. You’re all f****** beautiful.’

In response, Tumblr user einsteinonacid posted a photo in response that read: ‘Dear boy in outer space: Don’t tell me what to do.’

Call and response: After model Cole Mohr (top) was pictured with this sign in 2011, there were hundreds of responses, including one from a female user telling him that how she looks is none of his business

As Buzzfeed notes, what is interesting about the former meme is that it was one created by girls, who seek to shame other girls, perhaps because of low self-esteem or because they are bullies with the veil of the internet to protect them.

‘Slut shaming’ has been around in many incarnations in recent years. 

Last December, Swedish high school students staged a riot after a 17-year-old girl posted a photo on Instagram requesting that all ‘sluts’ were identified.

In response, some 200 pictures were posted, mostly of 13-year-old girls. 

Outraged, students in Gothenburg took to the streets in protest.  In total, 27 young people were arrested in the riots, according to Swedish news site The Local.