An image that “goes hard”, refers to an image that firstly looks like something you would only usually encounter on
the internet or something that reflects on
internet culture (memes, artistic content, etc.).
Secondly the image has to invoke either a
sense of humour, (often sarcastic) bad-assery and/or coolness, sarcastic relatability, or a mix of the above.
These elements combined will result in the formation of an image that goes hard.