The Cole Sprouse Tumblr Experiment stems from 2012 when the actor created the 'Coleture' Tumblr account to observe and subvert fan culture. He famously posted photos of fans attempting to photograph him in secret—a project known as 'Camera Duels'—and framed his online presence as an elaborate social experiment on celebrity and privacy. The meme is now used to ironically justify any strange, awkward, or failed behavior as a 'calculated social experiment.' It serves as a nostalgic nod to the high-concept, often pretentious era of early 2010s Tumblr, where everything was analyzed through a meta-lens.