Scumbag Steve

Before social media taught us to curate our digital presence, a mother's casual photograph of her teenage son would become the internet's definitive portrait of opportunistic behavior. The "Scumbag Steve" meme exemplifies how pre-social media content could be repurposed years later into powerful cultural symbols, creating unexpected consequences for ordinary people thrust into viral fame.

The photograph at the heart of the meme was taken in 2006 by Susan Boston of her then-16-year-old son Blake Boston in their Millis, Massachusetts home. It originated with a 2006 picture taken by Boston's mother, Susan, of then-16-year-old Blake Boston of Millis, Massachusetts, wearing a backwards fitted cap and winter coat with a fake fur collar (Wikipedia, 2025). The image was posted to Blake's MySpace page, where it remained dormant for years.

The transformation from family photo to internet meme occurred in January 2011, five years after the original photograph was taken. Susan posted the photo on MySpace in 2006. But it didn't take off as a meme until January 2011, when it popped off among Reddit users (WBUR, 2021). The first known image macros were posted in a compilation to Reddit in a thread that reached the front page on January 21st, 2011 and received 8,607 up votes prior to being archived (Know Your Meme, 2011).

The meme format followed the classic advice animal structure, featuring Blake's photograph as the central image with white text overlay describing various scenarios of opportunistic or antisocial behavior. The meme generally superimposes text on top of the image of Boston consisting of an introductory sentence at the top and a punchline at the bottom (Wikipedia, 2025). These scenarios typically portrayed the character as someone who would exploit friendships, avoid responsibilities, or engage in selfish behavior.

Blake and Susan Boston initially had no understanding of internet meme culture when the image began circulating. Blake and Susan have no idea who started the meme. They barely knew what a meme was at the time (WBUR, 2021). A girl from school called Blake to tell him he was all over Reddit and 4chan — two sites he also wasn't familiar with — which made processing the meme and its prominence a little complicated.

The rapid spread of the meme created immediate practical consequences for Blake Boston. Within days of the meme's emergence, someone had created a website: scumbagsteve.com, though Blake and Susan had no connection to its creation (WBUR, 2021). Blake created the Twitter account @blakeboston617 on January 31st, 2011 and created the Tumblr "The Real Scumbag Steve" on February 7th, 2011, attempting to control his online narrative (Know Your Meme, 2011).

Unlike many unwilling meme subjects, Blake Boston chose to embrace and monetize his viral fame. He attempted to launch a music career, releasing a rap single on iTunes in 2012 under the alias "Blake Boston AKA Scumbag Steve" (Wikipedia, 2025). He also made public appearances, gave interviews, and created merchandise related to the meme.

However, the meme's impact extended far beyond typical internet fame. The Scumbag Steve meme became a bargaining chip in a custody battle, a complicating factor in meeting his birth mother, the cause of fights with extended family members, a source of anxiety attacks, and an echo of trauma (WBUR, 2021). The association with antisocial behavior created ongoing personal and professional challenges for Boston.

The cultural significance of Scumbag Steve lies in its representation of early social media's potential for unintended consequences. If there is an OG meme in which a human is the star, Scumbag Steve is it. He spread across the internet like wildfire in 2011 as a universal representation of dudes who are the worst (WBUR, 2021). The meme demonstrates how personal photos could be transformed into cultural symbols without the subject's consent or understanding.