The little girl who became famous for her sinister grin in the viral internet meme known as "Disaster Girl" has now reached adulthood and is almost $430,000 wealthier as a result of the power of the internet.
The Start of the Viral Meme
When Zoe Roth was just four years old, her father Dave took a picture of her in front of a controlled fire close to their house in Mebane, North Carolina, in 2005. Zoe is now 22 years old.
Since then, the picture has evolved into a meme that may be used by anybody who wants to portray a chaotic scene or sneaky deed.
The photograph became popular due to the knowing smirk on her face, and after it won a photo contest held by JPG magazine in 2008, it began to take on a life of its own as an early example of an internet meme.
Zoe Roth Sells "Disaster girl" Meme as an NFT
After Roth put the photograph up for auction as a Non-Fungible Token, also known as an NFT, it was purchased earlier this month for 180 Ether, a type of cryptocurrency, which, even though its value frequently changes, is equivalent to approximately $430,000.
"People who are in memes didn't really have a choice in it. The internet is big," Roth said in an interview with The New York Times. "Whether you're having a good experience or a bad experience, you kind of just have to make the most of it."
According to statements she made to The New York Times, Roth plans to use the money to both pay off her college loans and make charitable contributions. In addition, as is the case with the majority of purchases of NFTs, the Roths will keep the rights to the image and will be entitled to a ten percent commission on all further sales of NFTs.
Since it was initially published online, the meme known as "Disaster Girl" has developed a mind of its own. Meme creators have used it to create visuals of natural catastrophes and catastrophic events, such as the sinking of the Titanic.
She is not the first meme star, by any stretch of the imagination, to capitalize on the growth in cryptocurrency-based artwork and turn it into a little fortune. Chris Torres, who is known as the person behind the internet meme known as "Nyan Cat," sold an NFT of the cat with the body of a Pop-Tart for close to $600,000, and he has since collaborated with other internet meme owners, such as Kyle Craven, who is known as the person behind the "Bad Luck Brian" meme, to assist them in capitalizing on their prior internet fame (or infamy).
The original image used in the meme that was created by Craven was sold for $36,000, while the meme that was created by Laina Morris ("Overly Attached Girlfriend") sold earlier in April for $411,000.
Ms. Roth has expressed how much she has appreciated being able to view the dozens of different interpretations of her photo.
