From cats to cartoons, memes play a huge role on the internet. Recently possible World War III sits in the online spotlight, showcased as a joke.

Within the first week of the new year, WWIII was trending on Twitter along with millions of memes. The memes seem to be a way for the younger generation to cope with the serious situation that is occurring.

“The memes are funny, and I don’t think anyone’s mad about the memes as they are about the reality of it,” freshman Darren Guy said.

The incident that put all of this in motion was the U.S. sending an air strike to Iraq, knowing the Iranian militia would there. The air strike was a way the U.S. could prevent Iran from attacking U.S. embassies. The strike ended up killing an Iranian general leader, Qasem Soleiamni,

“While Iran will never be able to properly admit it, Soleimani was both hated and feared within his country. They are not nearly as saddened as the leaders will let the outside world believe. He should have been taken out sooner,” Donald Trump said on Twitter.

Threats from both the U.S. and Iran have taken a toll on what’s happening and could further influence social media.

“I think the internet is a new dynamic,” Government teacher Laura Olson said. “I’m not really sure that anybody has a full understanding of everything the internet is changing about information sharing and how it’s going to affect politics and policies.”

In general, teenagers have expressed that the whole experience doesn’t frighten them.

“We have 80% more military spending each year than any other country and enough nukes to turn Iran into a radioactive divot,” Guy said. “But leaders these days are all bark and no bite.”

The internet can be both a push for something positive and a place to fuel the fire, as seen with Trump on Twitter.

Whether it be through phone screens or face to face, there has been much discussion about if an actual world war is possible from the feud between countries.

“We’re probably a little bit closer,” Olson said. “I think since World War II, there have probably been many, many instances the world doesn’t know about that could have gone that direction. Hopefully cooler minds will prevail.”