The Hex Nut meme gained legendary status as one of the internet's first 'prophecy' memes, having been predicted by Reddit users to be the defining image of January 1, 2019. This absurdist trend saw the simple hardware component flood subreddits like r/me_irl, confusing anyone not in on the pre-planned joke. It represents a peak in surrealist, 'forced' meme culture where the total lack of context is the actual punchline. Today, it is used as a nod to internet history or in various DIY and engineering contexts where a hardware-related pun is needed.