Monthly Review: April 2012

The month of April was saturated with the charming smile of Zeddie Little, a twenty-something New Yorker who was given the nickname “Ridiculously Photogenic Guy” after a picture of him running at the annual Cooper River Bridge Run was posted online; One of the longest-lasting legends of hip hop surrounding the death of Tupac Shakur came to a meme resurrection earlier this month, when a 3D mirage of the rapper was unveiled at the 2012 Coachella music festival; A news photograph of State of Secretary Hillary Clinton went viral after getting paired with frivolous SMS teen-speak; Lawyer Dog is the latest iteration of “serious business” advice animals, which combines a photo of a formally dressed dog and various puns involving legalese; The teenage vanity anthem “Hot Problems” has been stirring up a debate for its uber-narcissistic lyrics since its release earlier this month, accruing nearly 10 million views in the first two weeks and an epic like-to-dislike ratio (29,846 likes vs. 452,309 dislike).

Ridiculously Photogenic Guy

Ridiculously Photogenic Guy (RPG) is a photoshop meme featuring an image of a smiling man called Zeddie Little running in the 2012 Cooper River Bridge Run. The photo gained notoriety online after being posted to the Flickr and Reddit where users found the man to be exceptionally handsome.

Tupac’s Hologram

Tupac’s Hologram is an 3D projected optical illusion of the deceased rapper Tupac Amaru Shakur that premiered at the 2012 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Although the event was widely reported as a hologram projection, it was actually created using similar technology to that of the Japanese virtual pop star Hatsune Miku.

Texts From Hillary

Texts From Hillary is a single topic blog featuring a series of vertical, multi-pane image macros based on a photograph of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sitting aboard a military aircraft while wearing sunglasses and checking her phone. The picture of Hilary Clinton was taken by Reuters photographer Kevin Lamarque while she was awaiting departure aboard a military C-17 Globemaster III flight from Malta to Tripoli, Libya on October 18th, 2011. The photograph was subsequently featured on the news site on October 20th, 2011.

Lawyer Dog

Lawyer Dog is an advice animal style image macro series featuring a corgi dressed up in office attire, sitting at a desk with his paw on a book. The captions typically juxtapose legalese with canine-related puns.

Hot Problems

Hot Problems is a music video in which the teenage girl duo Double Take sings about the first world problems that come along with being physically attractive. The video inspired several parodies when it was poorly received after being uploaded to YouTube in April of 2012.

The Rest of the Best

• Hungry Kim Jung Un is an advice animal image macro series featuring photos of the supreme leader of North Korea Kim Jong-Un. The captions typically show Jong-Un longing for various food items, or confusing inedible objects with food. The series began as a reaction to the death of Jong-Un’s father and former North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-Il in December of 2011.

• The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protect Act (CISPA) is a U.S. Senate bill designed to allow more sharing of “cyber threat intelligence” between the U.S. government and private sectors. If passed, the bill would allow the government with additional powers and resources to monitor the online activities of U.S. citizens to prevent cybercrimes, namely trafficking in intellectual property and counterfeit goods.

• Sweet Brown is an Oklahoma City woman who was interviewed by local news station KFOR News Channel 4 after evacuating from her apartment building that was set on fire.

• Project Glass is a research and development program by the multinational Internet and software corporation Google, which aims to build an augmented reality head-mounted display unit.

• Chandler Dances on Things is a GIF animation series of Chandler Bing (played by Matthew Perry), one of the main cast members from the popular TV sitcom series Friends, dancing awkwardly atop a variety of objects or in humorous contexts.

Back on the Radar

• Google’s StarCraft Easter Egg: On April 27th, 2012, Google unveiled an easter egg surprise in homage to the infamous fast-attack strategy known as “Zerg Rush” from the popular real-time strategy game StarCraft.

• The “I Can Count to Potato” Girl Speaks Out: This controversial ableist meme caught the attention of the UK news media after the mother of the girl featured in the image macro series came out in public to denounce the acts of trolling against people with learning disabilities.

• Kony 2012 Campaign Flops After Public Meltdown: The public speculations about Kony 2012 taking a down-spiral turn pretty much became true with the disappointing turnout of the “Cover the Night” event on April 20th.

• Google Plus #Whitespace Redesign: The major redesign of Google Plus in April triggered a flood of hashtag jokes and lulzy screenshots poking fun at the large white space on the right side of user profile pages.

• Ryan Gosling Easter Egg: The Hollywood hunk Ryan Gosling’s meme-dom crossed into the realm of real life during the Easter weekend, when a fan launched a day-long scavenger hunt in Manhattan with 200 plastic easter eggs filled with notes and photos supposedly written by Gosling himself (but they weren’t).

Monthly Review: May 2012

The month of May kicked off with an exciting weekend of ROFLCon III at the MIT in Boston, MA, where hundreds of Internet-minded folks, including accidental celebrities, gathered to discuss the current state of Internet culture, talk about their fames and what nots; Two pop hit singles “Somebody That I Used to Know” by Gotye and “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen spearheaded May’s image macro madness with lyrical snowclones “Now You’re Some (X) That I Used to (Y)” and “Hey I Just Met You and This is Crazy, But I’m Your (X), So (Y) Me, Maybe?”; Hollywood actor Shia Labeouf rose to a trending topic on Tumblr as a subject of a viral comedy song titled “Actual Cannibal Shia Labeouf”, which portrays the actor as a psychopathic cannibal for no apparent reason but the lulz. The wildly popular My Face When… posts have taken another level-up with the trend of What Should We Call Me blogs and the erotic Twilight fanfiction Fifty Shades of Grey established itself as the latest literary sensation on the web after a number of celebrities uploaded videos of themselves reading excerpts from the book.

Search Interest

In terms of search volume, this year’s summer hits “Call Me Maybe” and “Somebody That I Used to Know” carried on their momentum and dominated Google search interest, followed by the sensational Twilight fanfiction and the New York Times bestseller Fifty Shades of Grey, as well as upsurges from the chaotic launch of Blizzard’s role-playing game Diablo III and Google’s Doodle tribute to Robert Moog, an American engineer whose invention of Moog synthesizer is credited with pioneering electronica music.

Search Terms: Actual Cannibal Shia Labeouf (blue), What Should We Call Me (red), Fifty Shades of Grey (yellow), Somebody That I Used to Know (green), Error 37 (purple)	Search Terms: Google Moog (blue), What Should We Call Me (red), Somebody That I Used to Know (yellow), Fifty Shades of Grey (red), Error 37 (green), Call Me Maybe (purple)

The Rest of the Best

• As the 2012 presidential election boils down to Mitt Romney vs. Barack Obama, both campaigns have been cranking up the efforts in social media outreach with fancy infographics and mobiel apps, albeit not without FAIL: The Obama campaign’s Life of Julia, which sought to juxtapose an average American’s life under the presidencies of Obama and Romney, suffered a backfire when bloggers and critics began creating parody infographics. Mitt Romney’s campaign also launched an iPhone app that could’ve been a minor feat if it wasn’t for the misspelling of America

• Google Moogle introduced an interactive Doodle object designed after the Moog synthesizer in celebrating the 78th birthday of Robert Moog, who is often credited with pioneering the electronic music. Similar to Google Guitar, visitors could actually play the virtual instrument by clicking on the individual keys or typing on the keyboard. Shortly after its launch on May 23rd, Google’s Moog Doodle quickly made its rounds across various tech blogs and news aggregators as well as mainstream news outlets around the world, with many articles describing it as one of the most detailed and interactive Doodles to date.

• Toothpasting is a prank that involves putting toothpaste on one’s nipples for recreational high. The term was coined in a 4chan thread that urged its readers to make it spread to major news sites.

• Skywalking is a photo fad in which people attempt to take pictures of themselves standing or walking atop very tall structures at dangerous heights. Due to its beginnings on the Russian web, it is sometimes referred to as “Russia’s Planking.”

• Meanwhile in the Advice Animals department: Redneck Randal’s slightly more moderate cousin Almost Politically Correct Redneck, The Internet n00bs’ juvenile sense of humor gets made fun of by Immature High Schoolers, Reddit’s upvoting / downvoting war enters a new stage with Upvoting Obama and fans of the British TV series Sherlock saw a fan tribute macro series called Defensively Heterosexual John Watson.

• Survey of the Brony culture!: Know Your Meme’s very own Verbose and Opspe released an in-depth 33-page report surveying the scale and demographics of the Brony fandom as we know it.

Back on the Radar

• The online grassroots campaign Bring Back Toonami reaped its harvest earlier this month when the popular 90s Cartoon Network programming block made its return by popular demand on May 26th.

• The identity of Engineering Professor has been revealed as Dr. Richard Gitlin at the University of South Florida, an electrical engineering professor and cofounder of digital subscriber line (DSL) technologies.

• Feminist Ryan Gosling, the trailblazer blog behind Tumblr’s ongoing “Gosling Bubble,” will be published into a book, joining an exclusive offline club of single topic blogs like “Look at This F**ing Hipster” and “This is Why You’re Fat.”

• The shooting of Trayvon Martin took a disturbing turn online with an unsavory photo fad known as Trayvoning, which involves people lying on the ground with a bag of Skittles and a can of Arizona Iced Tea. Since being picked up by Clutch Magazine in mid-May, this highly controversial meme has continued to spread on Tumblr, leading to an emotionally-charged debate over its appropriateness.

• The Internet mourned the death of Eduard Khil, the Russian singer behind the viral “Trololo” song that captivated the online audiences across the world two years ago. According to the local news, Khil died at a hospital in St. Petersburg on June 4th, after suffering a heart stroke.

Monthly Review: June 2012

This month kicked off with the annual E3 video game convention, where Nintendo created a lot of buzz about its upcoming Wii U console through mysterious preview trailers of the Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata staring at bananas and an unidentifiable action figure aptly dubbed Non Specific Action Figure; The ripple effect of First World Problems continues with its latest derivative series Over Educated Problems which pokes fun at the grievances of college-educated people in a staggering global economy; The social media witch hunt against cleavage reached a new level on Tumblr with an anti-promiscuity campaign set off by a sarcastic reminder that “boobs go inside the shirt”; The “clingy girlfriend” advice animal Crazy Girlfriend Praying Mantis got reincarnated as Overly Attached Girlfriend, a 20 year old college student starring in a creepily sincere parody song of Justin Bieber’s “Girlfriend”; A public service announcement campaign launched by Australia’s Queensland Rail to educate its commuters about public transportation etiquettes became the target of hilarious parodies on Reddit.

Search Interest

Search Terms: Miami Zombie (yellow), Overly Attached Girlfriend (blue), The Oatmeal vs. FunnyJunk (purple), #YoSoy132 (green), Bus Monitor Bullying Video (red)	Search Terms: Queensland Rail Etiquette Posters (blue), Skeptical Third World Kid (red), Oreo’s Gay Pride Cookie (yellow), BronyCon (green), Error 37 (green), Mario Barotelli’s Goal Ceremony(purple)

The Rest of the Best

• Miami Zombie: A 31-year-old man’s horrific human flesh-eating crime in Miami led to an Internet frenzy over the mysterious design drug known as “bath salts” as well as humorous speculations of an impending zombie apocalypse.

• When the creator of the webcomic TheOatmeal was threatened with a defamation lawsuit by the owners of FunnyJunk earlier this month, he responded by starting a charity fundraiser which brought in more than $100,000 within 24 hours. The public showdown between the two websites escalated even further when the artist sent a picture of the money to FunnyJunk along with a drawing of the owner’s mother seducing a Kodiak bear.

• Skeptical Third World Child: This hybrid advice animal series of Skeptical Baby and Third World Success Kid satirizing the First World humanitarianism in the Third World led to an interesting debate over the impact of online slacktivism on Reddit.

• A video of New York state resident and middle school bus monitor Karen Klein being verbally harassed by several students onboard sparked a week-long outrage on the Internet as well as an immensely successful fundraiser campaign for Klein’s summer vacation which brought in over $677,000 (as of July 3rd).

• A picture of a rainbow-colored Oreo posted in recognition of LGBT pride month on Kraft Nabisco’s Facebook page immediately escalated into a lengthy debate between critics and supporters of same-sex marriage, making things pretty awkward for the American cookie company.

Back on the Radar

• First introduced in late May 2012 as a viral video slogan created by Mexican university students against the country’s longtime ruling party and corrupted media, #YoSoy132 has become a trending Twitter hashtag for mobilizing protests across the country.

• Greenpeace and The Yes Men’s hoax campaign against the global oil and gas company Shell fooled many bloggers with an elaborately staged “PR FAIL” video and a false alarm of Shell’s legal threats, generating a debate around the ethical question of deceptive viral marketing.

• The Finnish social networking site Habbo Hotel was left without a choice but to disable the chat function entirely after UK’s Channel 4 News published an investigative report exposing the alarming presence of pedophiles and cybering on the site.

• NeverSeconds Blog, a single topic photo blog of public school lunches curated by a Scottish nine-year-old, went on an indefinite hiatus this month, after the school district caught wind of the media attention it was receiving.

• The enduring mystery of 301 view counter freeze in up and coming YouTube videos finally got a proper explanation from the company’s analytics staff. Short answer: the number of views on YouTube videos start to matter after it reaches at least 300 views.

Monthly Review: July 2012

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The month of July kicked off with CERN’s groundbreaking announcement of the Higgs Boson discovery, the first milestone in the Large Hardon Collider project that began in 2008. But despite the sensational headlines hailing the discovery of “The God Particle,” many of us following the news outside the scientific community were more baffled than anything else by the complex explanation of the discovery and the choice of MS Comic Sans for the typeface of CERN’s official report. In the U.S., both President Obama and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney began picking up the pace on the campaign trail, and while President Obama has been relatively untouched during this high season of political punditry, his day of judgment finally came with the quotable “You Didn’t Build That” remark during a stump speech in Virginia earlier this month. On Reddit, a New York City resident’s bizarre encounter with a “homeless looking man” in the subway sparked an impromptu cryptology workshop and an unfruitful offline investigation in Midtown Manhattan. In the sports world, London’s Summer Olympics commenced last week with an epic opening ceremony that captivated the world’s attention, well, all except her majesty Queen Elizabeth II who didn’t seem amused at all.

On a much more somber note, the highly anticipated release of the last chapter in the Batman prequel saga was marred by a national tragedy in Aurora, Colorado, when a 24 year old Ph.D program drop-out walked into a midnight premiere screening and killed at least a dozen of innocents and wounded nearly hundred moviegoers. The Internet and citizen journalists reacted in full force to the news with the hashtag #theatershooting on Twitter and survivors’ exchanging witness accounts on Reddit.

The Rest of the Best

• Internet Reacts to Tosh’s Racy Joke Daniel Tosh’s controversial sexual assault joke caused a stir online earlier this month, sparking a debate about the ethics of humor.

• #ExilePitbull Sends Rapper to Kodiak, Alaska: All anti-fan sentiments aside, the Twitter hashtag petition to exile Pitbull took a surprisingly heartwarming turn, when both the rapper and the Something Awful prankster David Thorne showed up in the small town of Kodiak, Alaska.

• Internet Defense League Launches: The latest project from the core organizers behind the anti-SOPA protests finally kicked off this month with projection of mega-sized “Cat Signals” in San Francisco, New York City and Washington D.C.

• Spain’s Olympic Uniform Controversy: Designed and donated free-of-charge by the Russian sports fashion brand Bosco, Spain’s official Olympic uniform kits have been so widely ridiculed since the games started that it is on the verge of becoming a controversy.

• Chick-Fil-A Gay Marriage Controversy: Chick-fil-A’s support of anti-gay marriage organizations has sparked a huge debate online, with many calling for a boycott of the American fast food chain.

Back on the Radar

• Kanye Interrupted at BET Awards 2012: Just as Kanye’s interruption at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards seemed to be fading away, Jay-Z brought it back to life by giving the 35-year-old rapper a taste of his own medicine during the BET Awards ceremony on Sunday.

• ACTA Rejected by European Parliament: The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement was overwhelmingly rejected by the Members of European Parliament, bringing the controversial anti-piracy pact to a state of abandonment.

• Slender Man Indie Game: Parsec Productions released Slender, a free indie horror game in which the player must avoid looking directly at Slender Man to keep from going insane.

• Pedobear Featured on KitKat’s Facebook Page: The parade of PR controversies on Facebook continued this month when American candy brand KitKat’s Facebook announced its expansion into Instagram with a cute picture of …Pedobear.

Monthly Review: August 2012

Gangnam Style is a Korean dance pop single written and performed by K-pop singer Park Jae Sung, better known by his stage name PSY. Since the release of the song and its highly entertaining music video in mid-July 2012, the video has gained more than 8 million views in the span of two weeks and spawned numerous parodies and copycat dance videos on YouTube.

The 2012 Summer Olympics was a major international multi-sport event held in London, United Kingdom from July 27th to August 12th, 2012. Due to the high profile status of the event and as with the previous games, London Olympics received intensive media coverage from all over the world, both through traditional news media outlets as well as in online social media. Some of the major highlights include Spain’s Olympic Uniform Kit, One Is Not Amused, Perfectly Timed Diving Photos, Olympics or Gay Porn?, Dangling Boris, McKayla is Not Impressed, Usain Bolting and Mo Farah Running Away From Things.

NASA Mohawk Guy is the nickname given to Bobak Ferdowsi, a NASA engineer and flight director of the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity mission, who was seen sporting a stylish mohawk at the mission control center during the live coverage of the Mars landing of the Curiosity in August 2012.

Botched Ecce Homo Painting, also known as “Potato Jesus”, refers to the failed restoration of a century-old Spanish devotional fresco, executed by an elderly amateur art restorer. The result of the botched restoration spawned a photoshop meme, in which the ruined painting was edited in to other famous works of art, movie scenes or other memetic images.

“That Escalated Quickly” is a memorable quote said by Ron Burgundy (played by Will Farrell) in a scene from the 2004 comedy film Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. In online discussions and comments, the expression can be used in response to a remark or a situation that has quickly gotten out of hand.

Monthly Review: September 2012

Innocence of Muslims is an anti-Islam film allegedly produced and directed by Nakoula Basseley Nakoula and Alan Roberts, excerpts of which were uploaded onto YouTube in July 2012. The video rose to controversy months later in early September after an Arabic-translated version was aired on the Egyptian TV station Al-Nas.

Priority Peter is an advice animal image macro series featuring a photograph of a teenage boy holding a calculator surrounded by several young women wearing bathing suits. The captions typically consist of puns involving mathematical jargons and suggestive double entendres, some of which are set up so the last word in the top caption rhymes with the last word in the bottom caption.

Stahp, also known as “Becca Stahp”, is a four-pane comic series which typically consists of several illustrations or photographs depicting a disturbed-looking subject accompanied by captions.

iOS 6 Maps is an application packaged with Apple’s iOS 6 publicly released on September 19th, 2012. Due to the amount of errors in the app, many iPhone users began posting screenshots of the faulty application or creating parodies of it, criticizing the way locations are displayed.

Grumpy Cat was a nickname given to an angry looking snowshoe cat that gained online fame after its pictures were posted to Reddit on late September 2012 and went viral. The cat is also known as “Tard” which is short for Tardar (Tartar) Sauce.

Monthly Review: October 2012

U.S. Presidential Debate Memes

The 2012 U.S. Presidential Debates saw several notable “meme” moments latched on to by viewers online. Mitt Romney’s statements about cutting funding to the Public Broadcasting Service during the first debate spawned the Mitt Romney Hates Big Bird meme. Joe Biden’s constant laughter during his vice presidential debate against Paul Ryan inspired Laughing Joe Biden image macros and a Twitter account. An intimidating photograph of Mitt Romney’s son Josh taken during the second presidential debate became the subject of the Menacing Josh Romney image macro series. Finally, Obama’s “Horses and Bayonets” comeback to Mitt Romney’s military criticisms ignited a slew of Tumblr blogs, Twitter feeds and image macros.

PETA’s Pokemon Black & Blue

Pokémon Black and Blue is a Pokémon parody videogame released by the animal rights organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) in order to protest animal cruelty. The playable flash game pitted the pocket monsters against well-known humans found in the game with non-violent offensive moves such as “Group Hug” and “Educate.” Within hours of its release, several Facebook groups and Reddit threads were made in protest, however Tumblr came through with fan art illustrations of the PETA versions of the Pokemon characters.

2012 Hurricane Sandy

After Hurricane Sandy made landfall on the east coast of the United States on October 29th, the internet came together sharing both parodies of the storm and ways to help those harmed by it. Google’s Crisis Response Team composed a map to help track evacuation alerts and government agencies provided real-time updates via specialized Twitter accounts. Several newscasts went viral, as did photoshopped images and tweets with fabricated rumors about the damage around New York City.

Go Home, You’re Drunk

Go Home, You Are Drunk is an expression used to point out someone else’s failure or misplaced objects, similar to other well-known dismissive statements like You’re Doing It Wrong and Buzzkilling. The phrase is typically featured in image macros in which the subject is performing a task incorrectly or found in an out-of-place position.

Weird Twitter

Weird Twitter refers to a loosely connected group of Twitter users who are known to experiment with spelling, punctuation and format for humor or poetry. The style of writing can be considered surrealist by participants in the group, with subject matter ranging from creating absurd scenarios to attempting to describe abstract feelings by choosing words for their “verbal aesthetic appeal.” However, many of the accounts are grouped together by the same desire to reinterpret the “realness” of life in ways people do not always get to experience.

Monthly Review: March 2012

March was abuzz with the arrival of Kony 2012, a half-hour documentary film detailing the atrocious crimes of Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony and how to help in tracking down and arresting him; The highly anticipated release of Mass Effect 3 was met by unexpected criticisms from the fans who were disappointed with the lackluster ending sequence; North Dakotan food columnist Marilyn Hagerty’s earnest review of a local Olive Garden restaurant went viral in the news blogosphere and earned her the honorary title of “the cutest food blogger ever"; Badly drawn versions of Disney cartoons from Finland known as Dolan swept across Reddit this month to many readers’ puzzlement; The infamous “orthodontic retainer lisp” from our teenage nostalgia became the butt of the joke this month, with the launch of a phonetically translated image macro series known as “Berks” (Books); more info below!

Kony 2012

Kony 2012 is an online vigilant campaign which aims to arrest the Ugandan guerrilla group leader and head of the Lord’s Resistance Army Joseph Kony before the end of 2012. Upon its release on YouTube, the video accumulated nearly over 86 million views in the first month. Meanwhile, Twitter hashtags #makekonyfamous, #kony2012, and #stopkony became globally trending terms, some of which ranked higher than New iPad that was released on the same day.

Rustle My Jimmies

“*That Really Rustled My Jimmies*”:http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/that-really-rustled-my-jimmies is an expression that is used to convey feelings of discontent or discomfort in response to someone else’s post in imageboards and discussion forums, most notably on 4chan and Reddit. Since its birth through greentext stories on 4chan, the expression has since spawned a series of image macros that are mostly based on cute illustrations or photographs of various animals, along with the caption conveying that either jimmies have been rustled or unrustled.

Mass Effect 3 Ending

Mass Effect 3 Ending Reception refers to a grassroots campaign started by the fans who were disappointed by the game’s less-than-memorable ending sequence. Although the game itself received positive reviews and critical acclaims, endless parodies and commentaries of its ending flooded all over the online gaming communities.

Bad Luck Brian

Bad Luck Brian is the latest advice animal character who just can’t catch a break. Featuring a photo of a blonde teenage boy with a plaid sweater vest and braces, the series explores a wide range of embarrassing and tragic memories that have failed us during our childhood.

Dolan

Dolan is an MS Paint web comic series featuring poorly drawn Disney characters. Inspired by the Disney character Donald Fauntleroy Duck, The main character Dolan is often portrayed as a psychotic killer and sex addict in these comics. According to the website Uncle Dolan, the comics were originally created during the summer of 2010 by artist Sekolut on the Finnish image board Kuvalauta (see also Spurdo Spärde).

Differenze Linguistiche

Differenze Linguistiche (English: Linguistic Differences) is a series of vertical rage comics illustrating various stereotypes or misperceptions associated with Western languages and their phonetic systems. The comics are usually centered around a single word or a phrase that is phonetically translated into multiple languages and they often single out one language in juxtaposition against the rest of relatively similar sounding languages. The meme originated with the Italian Facebook group Differenze Linguistiche created on February 27th, 2012.”

The Rest of the Best

• Chris Hansen Cat is an advice animal image macro series featuring a photo of a cat positioned as if it is seated at a table accompanied by feline-related puns and LOLcat jokes. The macros often begin with the phrase “Why don’t you have a seat” popularized by Chris Hansen, the former host of reality TV series To Catch a Predator.

• Berks (also known as “Gersberms”) is an image macro series featuring a photo of a young woman holding several books from the children’s horror fiction series Goosebumps. The phonetically written captions are meant to sound like a speech impediment caused by the use of an orthodontic retainer.

• Goldman Sachs Resignation Letter refers to a New York Times op-ed post in which Goldman Sachs executive Greg Smith publicly quit in a scathing letter criticizing the multinational investment bank’s culture and business practices.

• Marilyn Hagerty’s Olive Garden Review is an earnest restaurant review written by North Dakotan newspaper columnist Marilyn Hagerty which became the subject of celebration and mockery after being posted online in March of 2012.

Back on the Radar

• Neil DeGrasse Tyson Explains His Meme: The internet famous astrophysicist spoke freely about his GIF reaction meme during his appearance on the tech news show On The Verge.

• Photo Fads Parodied on South Park: In a recent episode of South Park, the ongoing phenomenon of photo fads were parodied with silly acts like “Faith Hilling” and “Taylor Swifting.”

• Meatspin Returns: After many years of its online presence as a classic shock site, Meatspin suddenly went offline for days without notice this month, leading to speculations that the site was no longer sustainable. To many Interneters’ relief, the site was resurrected several days later.

• OWS Protest’s Six Month Anniversary: Hundreds of protesters tried to rekindle the flame of Occupy movement with a six-months special reunion in the Zuccotti Park. Amidst the chaos, a “death threat” tweet against cops hit a nerve with the New York Police Department, leading to a Florida resident’s Twitter account getting subpoenaed by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office.

• Lulzsec Return Rumor: Earlier this month, a group claiming to be associated with Lulzsec released e-mails and passwords of nearly 179,000 users on a dating website for military service members.

Monthly Review: November 2012

• A challenger appeared to dethrone Rebecca Black’s “Friday” as the worst song of all time when Nicole Westbrook released the music video for her “Thanksgiving”, which just happened to be produced by the infamous Ark Music Factory.

• In protest of the United States healthcare reform known as “Obamacare”, Papa John’s Pizza CEO John Schnatter made several statements about how the legislation may negatively effect the company. In response, an online campaign to boycott the pizza delivery restaurant chain was proposed and a “Scumbag John Schnatter” Quickmeme page was created.

• An animated music video featuring cute cartoon characters dying in a variety of unusual ways became an instant viral hit, gaining over 29 million views by the end of the month. Titled “Dumb Ways to Die”, the video created by the McCann Melbourne advertising agency served as a public service announcement promoting safety for passengers riding on the Australian Metro Trains Melbourne railway network.

• A prank photograph by Redditor AlphaF in which she appears to be falling off the edge of the Grand Canyon inspired a slew of imitation pictures and a photoshop meme.

• The “( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)” emoticon, with currently unclear origins, became a bannable offense on 4chan after being spammed repeatedly across the image board site.

Search Interest

Search Terms: Dumb Ways to Die (yellow), Nicole Westbrook (blue), Gak (purple), Drunk Nate Silver (green), Papa John’s Boycott (red)	Search Terms: Secede Petition (blue), Facebook Copyright (red), Milking (yellow), Casey Anthony (green), Susanalbumparty (purple)

Rest of the Best

• Following Barack Obama’s victory in this month’s presidential election, the Internet began buzzing about the super powers of New York Times statistician Nate Silver and petitions were created on the United States Government’s “We the People” website for all fifty states with requests to secede from the Union.

• 4chan’s latest prank dubbed “Operation Kinder” aimed to rig an online contest to have a photograph of a blonde known as “Death Child” be placed on the packaging for Kinder chocolate bars in Kazakhstan.

• Nickelodeon’s Gak putty toy made a comeback when My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic viewers responded to commercials aired during the show and began spamming the product’s name on various sites online.

• Anonymous led a raid dubbed “OpIsrael” to protest Israel’s “Pillar of Defense” operation in the Gaza Strip, which aimed to take down Israeli government websites through distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks.

Back on the Radar

• One of the Internet’s most notorious trolls Andrew “Weev” Auernheimer was found guilty of conspiracy to access a computer without authorization and fraud in connection with personal information in a case involving an AT&T data breach the exposed the emails of over 114,000 iPad users in June of 2010. He has yet to be sentenced but may face up to 10 years in prison.

• Redditor LaTeX_fetish posted a survey of 1,390 Good Girl Gina image macros taken from Quickmeme for an analysis in which he argued that the meme was being used to sexualize and objectify women.

• The unfortunate hashtag #susanalbumparty was used to promote the release of Susan Boyle’s new album Standing Ovation, which resulted in Twitter users joking that the hashtag’s construction appeared to be “Su’s Anal Bum Party.”

• A new video fad arose when United Kingdom resident Tom Morris decided to record himself with friends pouring entire containers of milk over their heads in public places. Named “milking”, the fad was derided by many as being foolish and wasteful.

• An Orlando, Florida news station revealed that detectives in the Casey Anthony murder case had overlooked a Google search on Anthony’s computer for “foolproof suffocation [sic],” which may have aided prosecutors in securing a conviction.

Vote For Your Favorite Memes!

As the year comes to a close, we’re inviting you to vote on your favorite memes of 2012. The list of choices provided below is based on the assessment of our site analytics data from this year. If you would like to add an entry that is not listed in the poll, please enter your own under the choice “Other.”

As expected, 2012 turned out to be yet another prolific year for Tumblr and single topic blogs in particular, which opened up a wide variety of weird and hilarious topics for our enjoyment, from celebrity photoshop makeovers (One Tiny Hand, Cholafied) and Apple’s inability to navigate (iOS 6 Maps) to coping with social media alienation (Screenshots of Despair) and placing celebrity GIF animations where we didn’t know they belonged (Chandler Dancing on Things, Lana Del Rey Dances Everywhere), the list could go on forever. To save you time and energy, we’ve gathered up this top ten list on the best examples of single topic blogs from this year.

#10: The Hawkeye Initiative

On December 1st, 2012, webcomic artist Noelle Stevenson suggested that artists replace female superhero characters with Hawkeye, a Marvel character who is also part of The Avengers, as a way to criticize the way female characters are often drawn. The next day, a single topic blog titled The Hawkeye Initiative launched, gaining more than 10,000 followers in just over 18 hours.

• Site: Tumblr
• Launched: December 2nd, 2012
• Active: Yes
• Total Posts: 293
• Average Posts Per Day: 27

Notable Examples

#9: Ignore Hitler

Ignore Hitler was established in May 2012 by a Scottish artist named Michael who began drawing Adolf Hitler as an irrelevant aspect of the image in every round of the turn-based art game Draw Something he played. On the first day, he posted more than a dozen examples of his artworks, accruing more than 100 posts and mentions on Reddit, Kotaku and Buzzfeed in the first ten days. However, on August 4th, 2012, Michael announced that he would cease updating the Tumblr.

• Site: Tumblr
• Launched: May 6th, 2012
• Active: No
• Total Posts: 286
• Average Posts Per Month: 143

Notable Examples

#8: Hey Girl, It’s Paul Ryan

The Ryan Gosling-inspired blog Hey Girl, It’s Paul Ryan was created in April 2012 after political consultant Emily Zanotti read an article about how Republican congressman and later Vice Presidential nominee Paul Ryan has caught fish with his bare hands. Days after the blog launched, the Office of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi sent a press release email with three rebuttal images, painting Ryan in an unfavorable light. The blog saw a resurgence in October after photos from Paul Ryan’s Time Magazine photoshoot depicting the politician sitting on a workout bench were published.

• Site: Tumblr
• Launched: April 30th, 2012
• Active: No
• Total Posts: 146
• Average Posts Per Month: 29

Notable Examples

#7: Texts From Hillary

Washington D.C. PR employees Adam Smith and Stacy Lambe created Texts from Hillary in April 2012, making comic style images with a photo taken by Reuters photographer Kevin Lamarque in October 2011 showing the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton engaged with a Blackberry aboard a military aircraft. The first instance was paired with a photo of President Obama also looking at a Blackberry (shown below, left) as the captions envisioned what the two were texting one other. Within 24 hours, the blog had been shared on Facebook more than 46,000 times resulting in more than 172,000 likes and comments. Five days after the launch of the blog, a member of Clinton’s staff reached out to Lambe and Smith, resulting in a meeting and Clinton submitting her own image macro to the site. Her submission was deemed the highlight of the blog and the two chose to cease updating.

• Site: Tumblr
• Launched: April 4th, 2012
• Active: No
• Total Posts: 31
• Average Posts Per Day: 5

Notable Examples

#6: Dogshaming

Dogshaming was established in August 2012 showcasing photographs dogs, often with broken or eaten objects, with a sign explaining the nefarious act the animal committed. Five days after the blog launched, the Huffington Post revealed the blog was created by Tumblr’s editorial director Chris Mahoney after he saw the first post (shown below, left) while scrolling through his dashboard. The next day, he passed the reins over to creators of the first photo.

• Site: Tumblr
• Launched: August 16th, 2012
• Active: Yes
• Total Posts: 1713
• Average Posts Per Month: 343

Notable Examples

#5: Texts From Dog

Texts From Dog launched in April 2012, featuring a series of iPhone screenshots depicting text conversations between blogger October Jones and his bulldog. In November, a book based on the blog was published by Mariner Books. The same month, an YouTube series featuring animated depictions of the texts launched on the YouTube channel The Poke.

• Site: Tumblr
• Launched: April 5th, 2012
• Active: Yes
• Total Posts: 149
• Average Posts Per Month: 16

Notable Examples

#4: What Should We Call Me

The reaction GIF-based blog What Should We Call Me was created in February 2012 as a way for two best friends to communicate their separate law school experiences while living across the country from one another. The blog’s title was derived from a typo that occurred in the conversation they had while trying to name the blog. By May, dozens of spin-off blogs were created reusing the original blog’s Tumblr layout and flavoring them with different perspectives including localities, specific colleges, careers, stereotypes and fandoms.

• Site: Tumblr
• Launched: February 6th, 2012
• Active: Yes
• Total Posts: 1640
• Average Posts Per Month: 149

Notable Examples

#3: McKayla is Not Impressed

After United States gymnast McKayla Maroney performed a near-perfect vault during the 2012 Olympic Games, she was believed to be the forerunner for the gold medal. However, an ill-landed vault led her to take the silver on August 5th, 2012. Reuters photographer Bryan Snyder snapped a photograph of the gymnast on the winner’s podium scowling with her arms crossed. Two days later, the blog McKayla is Not Impressed launched, photoshopping her into historical or spectacular scenes giving the impression that she was unfazed by them. On November 17th, the official White House Twitter account tweeted a photo of Maroney and President Obama (shown below, right) both mimicking her infamous scowl.

• Site: Tumblr
• Launched: August 7th, 2012
• Active: No
• Total Posts: 1031
• Average Posts Per Month: 515

Notable Examples

#2: Rich Kids of Instagram

Rich Kids of Instagram launched in July 2012 as a way to showcase and critique the lavish lifestyles of teenagers using the photo sharing mobile app. Collected via the hashtag #rkoi, more than 1200 Instagram photos were tagged during the blog’s first two weeks. Some teenagers depicted have spoken out against the site, claiming they are “more substantial than their father’s credit card” whereas others have been forced to shut down their social media accounts after being featured on the blog. However, not every picture with the tag on Instagram makes it to the blog: as of December 2012, there are nearly 45,000 images tagged #rkoi.

• Site: Tumblr
• Launched: July 13th, 2012
• Active: Yes
• Total Posts: 350
• Average Posts Per Month: 58

Notable Examples

#1: Binders Full of Women

During the second U.S. presidential debate in October, Mitt Romney shared an anecdote about the methods by which he sought to create a gender-balanced cabinet while he was the governor of Massachusetts by noting he went to women’s groups he gave him “whole binders full of women.” Immediately after the statement was uttered, Hofstra graduate Veronica De Souza launched the blog Binders Full of Women hosting image macros attempting to interpret and critique Romney’s strange assertion. Within the first half-hour, the blog gained more than 3000 followers and received more than 5000 submissions in two days. After the election ended, De Souza shut down the blog.

• Site: Tumblr
• Launched: October 16th, 2012
• Active: No
• Total Posts: 564
• Average Posts Per Month: 282

Notable Examples

Search Interest

As 2012 comes to a close, Know Your Meme’s staff have looked back on the notable advice animals of the past year and narrowed down 10 exceptional examples, which were selected based on site analytics and Quickmeme submissions. There were many notable series that didn’t quite make the cut, including Almost Politically Correct Redneck, Inappropriate Timing Bill Clinton, Skeptical Baby, Relatable Romney and I Should Buy a Boat Cat.

#10: Bad Joke Eel

The Bad Joke Eel series features a photograph of a Moray eel taken by scuba diver Jeffrey Jeffords, with captions with unfunny puns and jokes, similar to the Lame Pun Coon and Chemistry Cat advice animals that came before.

• Site: Quickmeme
• Launch Date: 12th, January
• Total Submissions: 11,401
• Average Submissions Per Day: 34

Notable Examples

#9: Annoyed Picard

Annoyed Picard is an advice animal featuring a screen capture of the character Jean-Luc Picard from the science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. The exasperated picture was taken from a scene in which Picard recites lines from sonnets by the English poet and playwright William Shakespeare and is typically accompanied by frustrated or incredulous reactions.

• Site: QuickmemeQuickmeme 2
• Launch Date: 23rd, January
• Total Submissions: 30,192
• Average Submissions Per Day: 93

Notable Examples

#8: Overly Manly Man

An old black-and-white photograph of the 1800s boxer Mike Conley became canvas of the Overly Manly Man advice animal, which features captions portraying the man as an exceptionally masculine alpha male with homophobic and misogynistic attitudes.

• Site: Quickmeme
• Launch Date: 24th, September
• Total Submissions:16,380
• Average Submissions Per Day: 210

Notable Examples

#7: Matrix Morpheus

The Matrix Morpheus advice animals uses a screen capture of the fictional character Morpheus from the science fiction film The Matrix, which is used to patronize a petty behavior or ignorant belief or reveal a little-known fact. The image macros typically start with the caption “What if I told you,” which was never spoken by Morpheus in any of The Matrix movies, but is believed to be a paraphrased sentence of Morpheus’ informing the character Neo that he has been living in a simulation.

• Site: Quickmeme
• Launch Date: 18, March
• Total Submissions: 30,005
• Average Submissions Per Day: 111

Notable Examples

#6: Super Cool Ski Instructor

Super Cool Ski Instructor features a screen capture of the ski instructor Thumper from the animated sitcom South Park with captions advising readers to avoid risky or impulsive behaviors with the warning “you’re gonna have a bad time.”

• Site: Quickmeme
• Launch Date: 14th, February
• Total Submissions: 34,053
• Average Submissions Per Day: 113

Notable Examples

#5: Confession Bear

A photograph of a melancholy-looking Malayan sun bear inspired the Confession Bear image macro series, in which people divulge some of their more humorous and disturbing secrets. The meme has often been used on Reddit to confess an unpopular opinion that does not conform to the site’s hive mind, such as taste in music, religious beliefs and political views.

• Site: Quickmeme
• Launch Date: 21st, June
• Total Submissions: 49,613
• Average Submissions Per Day: 286

Notable Examples

#4: Bad Luck Brian

A school photograph of a blonde teenager wearing a plaid sweater vest and braces became the back drop of the Bad Luck Brian advice animal, featuring captions that described embarrassing or horrific occurrences. While the series initially centered around Brian’s apparent incontinence, it became a popular medium for commenting on current events involving natural disasters and other tragedies.

• Site: Quickmeme
• Launch Date: 23rd, January
• Total Submissions: 266,109
• Average Submissions Per Day: 823

Notable Examples

#3: Overly Attached Girlfriend

Laina Morris’ parody video of the pop song “Boyfriend” by Justin Bieber turned her into the Internet celebrity known as Overly Attached Girlfriend nearly overnight, accumulating 1.35 YouTube views within the first 48 hours. Soon after, Redditors began editing a screen capture from the video with captions portraying Morris as an overprotective and clingy girlfriend. Morris has since gone on to create more videos and is attempting to use her Internet fame to raise money for charity.

• Site: Quickmeme
• Launch Date: 7th, June
• Status: Active / Inactive
• Total Submissions: 37,870
• Average Submissions Per Day: 202

Notable Examples

#2: Ermahgerd

A photograph of a young girl posing with several Goosebumps novels with her mouth agape exposing a row of braces inspired the creation of a phonetically written advice animal known as Ermahgerd, Berks. The captions were written to sound like a lisp caused by an orthodontic retainer, playing off a trope that had been portrayed previously by characters like Stan’s sister Shelly in the animated television series South Park. The series spawned several animal variations featuring photographs of dogs and cats wearing awkward expressions. By the end of the year, the original “Berks” Quickmeme page had accumulated nearly 7,000 submissions.

• Site: Quickmeme
• Launch Date: 14, March
• Total Submissions: 6993
• Average Submissions Per Day: 25

Notable Examples

#1: Ridiculously Photogenic Guy

The Internet fell in love with Zeddie Little’s handsome mug after his photograph was taken while running in the Cooper River Bridge Run in Charleston, South Carolina. In the photo, Little is shown smiling at the camera in mid-run with sun-kissed hair and stubble on his face, which inspired the nickname “Ridiculously Photogenic Guy”. Soon after, people began captioning the photo with hyperbolic jokes about his extreme handsomeness, leading to over 13,000 Quickmeme submissions by the end of the year. The series also inspired the creation of several derivative memes, including Ridiculously Photogenic Surgery Girl, Ridiculously Photogenic Metal Head and Ridiculously Photogenic Syrian Rebel.

• Site: Quickmeme
• Launch Date: 3rd, April
• Total Submissions: 13,369
• Average Submissions Per Day: 53

Notable Examples

Competition for our attention online was fierce this year, with a slew of athletes, artists, entertainers, politicians and other personalities attempting to promote themselves across the web. With the end of the year closing in, the Know Your Meme staff took a look back at some of this year’s biggest winners in social media and the mainstream Internet.

#10: Vermin Supreme

Occupation: Performance artist and activist Winning Point: Became a notable figure online, especially in the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fandom, for his appearances in viral videos and a “pony for every household” campaign platform Social Media Stats: 11,530 Facebook subscribers / 3,739 Twitter followers Celebrity Benchmark: Google Trends (Basil Marceaux> Vermin Supreme> Jimmy McMillan> Phil Davison) Related Concepts: 2012 United States Presidential Election, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

#9: Krispy Kreme

Occupation: Rapper and video blogger Winning Point: Accumulated over 227,300 subscribers and 39.6 million video views on YouTube this year from several rap videos made with his sidekick “Money Maker Mike” Social Media Stats: 219,000 Facebook likes and 65,705 Twitter followers Celebrity Benchmark: Google Trends (Based God> Eli Porter> George Watsky> Krispy Kreme) Related Concepts: Rap Battle Parodies, Poe’s Law

#8: Nate Silver

Occupation: New York Times statistician Winning Point: Correctly predicted the electoral college results for all 50 states in the 2012 United States presidential election Social Media Stats: 21,330 Facebook likes and 443,580 Twitter followers Celebrity Benchmark: Google Trends (Anderson Cooper > Rachel Maddow > Karl Rove > Nate Silver) Related Concepts: 2012 United States Presidential Election, Drunk Nate Silver

#7: Karen Klein

Occupation: Retired bus monitor Winning Point: Received over $700,000 in donations after a video went viral in which she is bullied by a student Social Media Stats: 6,791 Facebook likes and 141 Twitter followers Celebrity Benchmark: Google Trends (Karen Klein> Casey Heynes> Jonah Mowry> Thomas Bruso) Related Concepts: Kickstarter, Stop Bullying Comics

#6: Nicolas Cage

Occupation: Actor, Internet god Winning Point: Inspired the creation of several viral videos, a rage comic character and the /r/onetruegod subreddit Social Media Stats: 59,500 Facebook likes and Celebrity Benchmark: Google Trends (Bruce Willis > John Travolta > Nicolas Cage> Samuel Jackson) Related Concepts: Nicolas Cage Wants Cake, How’d It Get Burned?, Nic Cage as Everyone, Your Argument is Invalid, You Don’t Say, Not the Bees

#5: Kim Jong Un

Occupation: Supreme leader of North Korea Winning Point: Became the dictator of North Korea following his father’s death in December of 2011. Inspired the creation of a single topic blog and won Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year” community poll Social Media Stats: 2,826 Facebook likes and 201,306 Twitter followers (parody account). Celebrity Benchmark: Google Trends (Kim Jong Un> Hosni Mubarak> Muammar Gaddafi> Bashar al-Assad) Related Concepts: Hungry Kim Jong Un, Kim Jong Il Looking at Things, Death of Kim Jong-Il, Justin Bieber to North Korea

#4: Gabe Newell

Occupation: CEO of Valve Corporation Winning Point: Has developed a reputation online for treating employees well and customers with respect Social Media Stats: 17,606 Facebook likes Celebrity Benchmark: Google Trends (Gabe Newell> Markus Persson> Reggie Fils-Aime> Satoru Iwata) Related Concepts: Valve, Portal, Team Fortress 2, Half-Life

#3: Andrew Hussie

Occupation: Illustrator, Webcomic artist Winning Point: Had a very sucessful Kickstarter campaign for a Homestuck adventure game that raised over $2.4 million Social Media Stats: 8,605 Facebook likes 41,955 Twitter followers Celebrity Benchmark: Google Trends (Andrew Hussie> Ryan North > Randall Monroe> Jeff Jacks) Related Concepts: I Told You About Stairs, Homestuck, Webcomics,

#2: PSY

Occupation: Singer, Recording artist Winning Point: Released the international hit single “Gangnam Style”, which has surpassed Justin Bieber’s “Baby” as the most viewed YouTube video of all time Social Media Stats: 4 million Facebook likes and 1.6 million Twitter followers Celebrity Benchmark: Google Trends (Gangnam Style> Skrillex> Lana Del Rey> Gotye> Carly Rae Jepsen) Related Concepts: Viral Videos,

#1: Barack Obama

Occupation: President of U.S.A. Winning Point: Won the 2012 United States presidential election Social Media Stats: 34 million Facebook likes and 24 million Twitter followers Celebrity Benchmark: Google Trends (Barack Obama> Bill Clinton> Mitt Romney> Hilary Clinton) Related Concepts: 2012 United States Presidential Election

Though the internet is known for its fierce love of cats, 2012 brought some new furry, slimy and feathery friends into our internet lives. Throughout the year, many of these animals provided a daily dose of cute and a welcome distraction from our hectic everyday lives.

#10: Henri, Le Chat Noir

Real Name: Henry Breakout: YouTube April 6th, 2012 Specialty: Known for suffering from a serious case of jaded ennui. Hates all other cats, especially the white one he lives with. Took home top honors at the first ever Internet Cat Video Film Festival in August. Social Media Stats: Facebook: 74,137 Likes | Twitter: 15,072 Followers Celebrity Benchmark: Google Trends | (Tubcat> I Should Buy a Boat Cat / Sophisticated Cat> Henri Le Chat Noir > HTTP Status Cats)

#9: Snoopy the Cat

Real Name: Snoopy Breakout: Weibo, February 2012 Specialty: Known for his short snout, large eyes and striped tail. Enjoys wearing hats and lounging on sofa beds. Social Media Stats: Weibo: 167,402 Followers | Instagram: 143,995 Followers | Facebook: 27,834 Likes (unofficial) | YouKu: 129 Subscribers | Tumblr Celebrity Benchmark: Google Trends | (Maru the Cat> Shironeko = Oolong the Pancake Bunny> Snoopy the Cat)

#8: Chocolate Bird

Real Name: Poopsie Breakout: Adam Sandler’s 2011 film Jack and Jill, through a photoset on Tumblr, February 2012 Specialty: Launching copypasta memes, drinking Jack Daniels, guzzling sweet treats. Social Media Stats: N/A Celebrity Benchmark: Google Trends | (Chocolate Bird > Birds with Arms> Yelling Bird> Insanity Crow)

#7: Bad Joke Eel

Real Name: Unknown Breakout: Reddit, January 12th, 2012 Specialty: Fish puns. Social Media Stats: Quickmeme: 11,382 Submissions | Facebook: 1423 Likes | Twitter: 807 Followers Celebrity Benchmark: Google Trends | (Trolldad> Bad Joke Eel = Lame Pun Coon> Pokepuns)

#6: Venus the Two Faced Cat

Real Name: Venus Breakout: Facebook, August 14th, 2012 Specialty: Her black patch of fur straight down her face combined with two different colored eyes due to heterochromia makes this cat seem like a much fuzzier version of Batman villian, Two-Face. She enjoys cuddling, watching football and exploring cat condos. Social Media Stats: Facebook: 87,357 Likes | YouTube: 1256 Subscribers Celebrity Benchmark: Google Trends | (Longcat>Venus the Cat > Nora the Cat> Lenin Cat)

#5: Lil Bub

Real Name: Lil Bub Breakout: Facebook, May 27th, 2012 Specialty: This tabby cat is a permakitten with several genetic mutations which have caused dwarfism, polydactylism and disformed lower jaw. She and her dude have used her popularity to help raise money for shelters and animals in need. She also enjoys the band Rush. Social Media Stats: Facebook: 81,640 Likes | Instagram: 25,659 Followers | YouTube: 10,674 Subscribers | Twitter: 5382 Followers Celebrity Benchmark: Google Trends | (Serious Cat> Limecat> OMG Cat> Lil Bub)

#4: “Oh You” Dog

Real Name: Unknown Breakout: Reddit, March 4th, 2012. Specialty: Despite the photo of this chubby dog looking upward at its owner being first uploaded in March 2009, it was not until March of this year when it became associated with two separate memes. After becoming associated with the Oh, You! exploitable image, the dog was used in a YouTube remix fad known as 6O163’s Dog. Social Media Stats: N/A Celebrity Benchmark: Google Trends | (Lawyer Dog> Oh You Dog = Riot Dog> Stoner Dog)

#3: Falling Bear

Real Name: Unknown Breakout: Reddit, April 26th, 2012 Specialty: Being tranquilized, falling from Colorado trees, perfectly timed photographs. Social Media Stats: Facebook: 1436 Likes Celebrity Benchmark: Google Trends | (Sneezing Baby Panda> Falling Bear > Cocaine Bear> Pick Up Line Panda)

#2: IKEA Monkey

Real Name: Darwin Breakout: Twitter, December 9th, 2012 Specialty: Wearing tiny shearling coats, escaping from his owner, successfully making it through IKEA without ordering Swedish Meatballs. Social Media Stats: Twitter: 6613 Followers | Facebook: 2455 Likes Celebrity Benchmark: Google Trends | (Nyan Cat> Keyboard Cat> Surprised Kitty = IKEA Monkey)

#1: Grumpy Cat

Real Name: Tardar Sauce Breakout: Reddit, September 23rd, 2012 Specialty: Eating Starbucks coffee cake, posting photos with her brother Pokey every day, not being as grumpy as she looks. Social Media Stats: Facebook: 173,955 Likes | YouTube – 32,925 Subscribers | Twitter: 16,579 Followers Celebrity Benchmark: Google Trends | (Nyan Cat> Grumpy Cat = Keyboard Cat> Surprised Kitty)

Many slang terms proliferated across the web this year, spreading through forum posts, image macros and even Twitter hash tags. The Know Your Meme staff have gone back and analyzed a plethora of these Internet phrases and abbreviations, narrowing down 10 of the year’s most significant. There were several slang terms that didn’t quite make the cut but still deserve honorable mention, including Curlbro, Rack City, Meh and 5ever.

#10: U WOT M8

#9: You Tried

#8: Swole

#7: My Body is Ready

#6: Cray

#5: That Feel

#4: Swag

#3: Do You Even Lift?

#2: YOLO

#1: That Really Rustled My Jimmies

Editor’s Note: This article is part of Know Your Meme’s Top 10 Review looking back at some of the most memorable and popular memes, events and people that defined the Internet culture in 2012 as we know it. And brace yourselves, the grand finale list Best Memes of 2012 is coming soon!

Though fandoms have been around since the days of Star Trek, many fandoms surrounding a variety of media including bands, video games, television shows, movies and webcomics flourished on the web. Though we cannot cover them all, we must give an honorable mention to the following:

• Sherlockians, who found out Martin Freeman knows about the fandom inside joke about Watson wearing red underpants
• Katawa Shoujo players, who were unexpectedly inundated with feels for the disabled girls in the visual novel
• Lady Gaga’s Little Monsters, who got their own social network this year.
• Community fans who fought for #sixseasonsandamovie and are awaiting season four
• and finally, Star Wars fans, for coping with the Disney buyout.

Now, on to the list!

#10: One Direction

About:Despite coming in third in the 2010 season of The X Factor, this British-Irish boy band found global fame this year, thanks to its viral online marketing campaign starring an obsessive superfan known 1DCyberpunk. As of November 2012, they have sold more than 15 million albums and have won 3 MTV Video Music Awards. Online Presence: These handsome young lads are known for interacting with their fans on Twitter, where they receive more than a quarter of a million tweets per day, as well as on Tumblr, where there are more than 500,000 blogs dedicated to them as of July 2012. In just under 2 months, the microblogging site saw six million posts about the band after the announcement of their tour in the United States. The fandom is not impervious to controversy, though: fans who ship“Larry Stylinson” (the bromance between members Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson) are often the subject of Anonymous hate messages. Fandom Nickname: Directioners Social Media Stats: Facebook: 11.8M Likes | Twitter: 8.4M Followers | YouTube: 2.6M Subscribers | deviantArt: 24.5K Submissions Related Memes: N/A Pop Culture Benchmark: Google Trends | (One Direction > Jonas Brothers > Hanson = Backstreet Boys)

#9: Lil B

About: Lil B is the stage name of Brandon McCartney, a California-based rapper who has released six albums and 37 mixtapes since rising to viral fame in 2009. He is also known as the Based God, a term allegedly associated with crack abuse but now it means something like maximum swagger. To Lil B, “based” means being yourself, living positively and not being afraid to do the things you want to do. Online Presence: Online, Lil B used social networking to share his positive vibes as well as his music and videos. In April, he gave a sold-out eighty-minute lecture at New York University where he spoke about loving each other and being careful about the power people give to otherwise meaningless words. Fandom Nickname: Unknown Social Media Stats: Twitter: 589K Followers | Facebook: 280K Likes | YouTube: 101K Subscribers | MySpace: 2669 Friends | deviantArt: 303 Submissions Related Memes: Based God Pop Culture Benchmark: Google Trends | (Kreayshawn > Lil B > Mac Lethal = Watsky)

#8: Breaking Bad

About: Breaking Bad is an AMC television drama that follows the life of crime that high school chemistry teacher Walter White turns to after he is diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. Using his chemistry skills, White collaborates with former student Jesse Pinkman launching a meth empire as a way to ensure his family will have money after his death. Since its premiere in January 2008, the drama has won seven primetime Emmy Awards. Online Presence: This year, Breaking Bad launched an official GIF blog as a way to hype the first half of final season, which premiered in July. After the satellite company Dish dropped AMC right before the premiere, execs chose to livestream the first episode for those customers. On Reddit, ten cast and crew members related to the show have taken part in AMA (Ask Me Anything) threads. Fandom Nickname: Unknown Social Media Stats: Facebook: 3.9M Likes | Twitter: 203K Followers | Reddit: 100K Subscribers | Wikia: 285 Pages | FanFiction.net: 77 Submissions | deviantArt: 3061 Submissions Related Memes: Breaking Bad Comics Pop Culture Benchmark: Google Trends | (True Blood> Weeds> The Wire> Breaking Bad)

#7: Game of Thrones

About: This HBO medieval fantasy series revolves around the violent struggle that surrounds the control of the Iron Throne. Based on the _ A Song of Ice and Fire_ series of novels by George R. R. Martin, the show is known for the compelling characters and high production value, as well as its extremely violent scenes. Online Presence: The second season, which premiered in April, had approximately 1000 more viewers per episode than the first thanks in part to a thorough social media campaign. Online, fans have used the characters in image macros and poorly drawn MS Paint renditions while many YouTubers have covered the theme song on different instruments. The series also has several active forums discussing both the show and the books and fans have been known to partake in the foods and language of the Dothraki race. Fandom Nickname: Brotherhood Without Banners, the Bookwalkers (for those who have read the books) or the Unsullied (for those who only watch the show) Social Media Stats: Facebook: 4.5M Likes | Twitter: 495K Followers | Reddit: 117K Subscribers | Wikia: 1400 Pages | FanFiction.net: 593 Submissions | deviantArt: 17K Submissions Related Memes: Imminent Ned / Brace Yourselves, X is Coming Pop Culture Benchmark: Google Trends | (Supernatural> Game of Thrones> The Vampire Diaries> Boardwalk Empire)

#6: The Hunger Games

About: The Hunger Games is the film adaptation of a sci-fi trilogy written by Suzanne Collins that weave the tale of a post-apocalyptic universe where teens between the age of 12 and 18 are chosen to fight to the death in a televised event. Released in March, the film broke both opening day and opening weekend records for any standalone feature, becoming the thirteenth largest-grossing domestic movie in history. Online Presence: Prior to the movie’s release, the book series already had an established fan base with Tumblr fan blogs galore. Following the release of the movie, fans took to social networks to complain after seeing the actress chosen to play Rue, Amandla Stenberg, had dark skin, despite her being described that way in the novels. Fandom Nickname: Tributes Social Media Stats: Facebook: 1.1M Likes | Twitter: 683K Followers | Reddit: 11K Subscribers | Wikia: 380 Pages | FanFiction.net: 25K Submissions | deviantArt: 58K Submissions Related Memes: That Is Mahogany, Advice Peeta Pop Culture Benchmark: Google Trends | (Survivor> The Hunger Games> Lord of the Flies> Battle Royale)

#5: Mass Effect

About: Mass Effect is a science fiction role playing game trilogy featuring fully voiced acted cinematic cut scenes and 3D action sequences. Developed by BioWare, the series follows Commander Shepard, who can be played as a male or female, as he or she fights a race of artificially intelligent machines from deep space determined to destroy organic life. Online Presence: In March 2012, the much-anticipated third and final game in the series was released. However, the cinematic ending was the same no matter what choices the players made throughout the game, leading to much disappointment within the fandom. BioWare was flooded with complaints as the web saw a deluge of image macros and reaction videos critiquing the three endings, only differing by the color of the final explosion. This outcry from fans led to BioWare releasing an extended cut of the game in June. Fandom Nickname: Unknown Social Media Stats: Facebook: 1.3M Likes | Twitter: 151K Followers | Reddit: 37.6K Subscribers | FanFiction.net: 7K Submissions | deviantArt: 65.9K Submissions Related Memes: Maruader Shields, <a href=“http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/events/mass-effect-3-endings-reception%20’>Mass Effect 3 Endings Reception, ”http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/talis-face">Tali’s Face, I’m Commander Shepard, Assuming Direct Control, Ah Yes, Reapers, I’m in the Middle of Some Calibrations Pop Culture Benchmark: Google Trends | (Halo> Skyrim> Mass Effect > Dragon Age)

#4: The Avengers

About: The Avengers film was released in April with five character-specific films preceding it. It follows the super heroes Iron Man, Thor, Hawkeye, the Black Widow and Captain America as they battle Thor’s brother, Loki, for control over the earth. The film currently holds the top spot on the list of largest opening weekends in the U.S. and Canada since 2002, taking in more than $207 million. Online Presence: Fans of the Avengers were able to grow attached to the characters through the five films relating to Iron Man, Thor and Captain America. Online, fans have made a myriad of parodies and tributes via image macros, art and video. On Tumblr specifically, fans grew attached to Loki (played by Tom Hiddleston) who can often be found in reaction GIFs and fan art throughout the site. Fandom Nickname: Unknown Social Media Stats: Facebook: 981.7K Likes | Twitter: 168.7K Followers | Reddit: 6645 Subscribers | FanFiction.net: 959 Submissions | deviantArt: 131.9K Submissions Related Memes: The Hawkeye Initiative Pop Culture Benchmark: Google Trends | (X-Men > The Avengers > Fantastic Four = The Incredibles)

#3: Homestuck

About: Andrew Hussieinteractive webcomic, launched in April 2009, incorporates chatlogs, GIFs, 8-bit games, and elaborate flash movies to further its story about four internet friends playing a one-of-a-kind video game called Sburb. As the story progresses, the reader meets a variety of different groups and species who are playing similar versions of the game as each realizes the fate of their world is at stake. And that’s just scraping the surface. Online Presence: Despite the comic’s complex layers of story lines and characters, the series has gained a cult status on Tumblr and other webcomic communities, leading to a large amount of fan works following long hiatuses or immediately following updates to the comic. In February 2012, Homestuck gained its most famous fan: actor Dante Basco, best known as Rufio from the 1991 movie Hook, who chronicled his reactions on Tumblr and Twitter. In April, several Tumblr-based fans launched project to create an anime-style cartoon based on the show. The fandom’s most famous achievement, however, was raising more than $2.4M in a Kickstarter campaign that was launched in September to fund a video game based on the comic’s universe. Fandom Nickname: Homestucks Social Media Stats: Facebook: 30.5K Likes | FanFiction.net: 4563 Submissions | deviantArt: 473K Submissions Related Memes: Homestuck Alternate Universe / X-Stuck, Pantskat, I Told You About Stairs Pop Culture Benchmark: Google Trends | (xkcd> Cyanide and Happiness> Homestuck > Dinosaur Comics)

#2: Doctor Who

About: Doctor Who, the longest-running science fiction television show in the world, follows the adventures of the titular Time Lord as his travels through space and time with a variety of human companions to help save the world from various alien races trying to destroy it. Online Presence: Though the show has been a cult favorite for decades, this year, the fandom grew exponentially thanks to an active presence on social networking sites, allowing fans to interact directly with the show and its stars, including a live Q&A session with the actors who play The Doctor (Matt Smith) and his new companion, Clara (Jenna-Louise Coleman) conducted via a Tumblr tag. Fandom Nickname: Whovians Social Media Stats: Facebook: 2.86M Likes | Twitter: 289K Followers | Tumblr: More than 100K Followers | Reddit: 111K Subscribers | FanFiction.net: 40.6K Submissions | deviantArt: 244K Submissions Related Memes: Don’t Blink, Bow Ties Are Cool, TennantFace, Doctor Whooves Pop Culture Benchmark: Google Trends | (Star Trek> Doctor Who = Sherlock> Battlestar Galactica)

#1: Twilight

About: This series of fantasy romance novels focuses on a love triangle between an awkward young girl named Bella Swan, vampire Edward Cullen, and werewolf Jacob Black. The four novels, written by Stephenie Meyer, were given a series of film adaptations which, along with merchandise sales, have made more than $5.7B globally since 2005. Online Presence: Teens and moms alike have always loved these characters, but the fandom was pushed into a new direction after the popularity of the novel Fifty Shades of Grey. Originally posted online as a Twilight fanfiction titled “Master of the Universe”, E. L. James re-edited the story to make it a new work of fiction. Additionally, to the dismay of fans everywhere, 2012 marked the release of the final film in the series. Following its release, actor Robert Pattinson, who played Edward Cullen throughout the films, made another splash in November after openly expressing his distaste for the series in media interviews. Fandom Nickname: Twihards Social Media Stats: Facebook: 36.8M Likes | Twitter: 1.23M Followers | FanFiction.net: 142K Submissions | deviantArt: 684.5K Submissions Related Memes: Still A Better Love Story than Twilight, Twilight Comics Pop Culture Benchmark: Google Trends | (Harry Potter> Twilight > Dracula > Fifty Shades of Grey)

Editor’s Note: This article is part of Know Your Meme’s Top 10 Review. looking back at some of the most memorable and popular memes, events and people that defined the Internet culture in 2012 as we know it. And brace yourselves, the grand finale list Best Memes of 2012 is coming soon!

This year, it seemed like every big internet happening came with its own novelty Twitter account. Although many were abandoned after a handful of tweets in a few days, these ten accounts stuck most of the year out, with some even tweeting long past the event they were created for. Throughout the year, parody accounts were also created outside of the realm of newsworthy events. These personalities manifested on the microblogging site as defined through hobbies, mixing philosophy with celebrity and nostalgia for Web 1.0.

#10: @realsandycane

Following the east coast landfall of Hurricane Sandy on October 28th, several parody Twitter accounts were established to give humorous voices to the so-called superstorm. Despite the removal of the short-lived parody account @AHurricaneSandy, @realsandycane quickly took over its place with a tweet about canceling Halloween. The account was also known for tossing in name puns and altered song lyrics to its stories of desctruction.

• Site: @realsandycane
• Launched: June 18th, 2012, first post October 28th
• Active: No, last post November 21st
• Total Followers: 23,870
• Total Posts: 82
• GoldenTweet: A screenshot from a parody page for Hurricane Katrina, which caused massive destruction in 2005, that personifies the storms as arguing middle school girls has gained more than 7000 retweets and 4200 favorites.

THISBITCHtwitter.com/realsandycane/…

— HURRICANESANDY (@realsandycane) October 30, 2012

#9: @JadedPunkHulk

Though Jaded Punk Hulk is not the first The Incredible Hulk novelty account, it was the fastest growing instance to be created in 2012. Run by a New York-based punk rock fan, the account oftentimes criticizes the crowds at local shows, talks about his favorite bands (especially Black Flag) and comments on the musically oblivious and hipster culture while maintaining the superhero’s atypical grammar. The creator also maintains a Facebook page and OkCupid profile under the persona for fans who want more than just 140 characters.

• Site: @JADEDPUNKHULK
• Launched: March 15th, 2012
• Active: Yes
• Total Followers: 28,738
• Total Posts: 2183
• Golden Tweet: In this October 23rd tweet, Jaded Punk Hulk evokes Hipster Barista in his commentary on the evolving meaning of neck tattoos.

20 YEARSAGO, IF YOUHADNECKTATTOO, IT SIGNNOT TO MESSWITHYOU. IF YOUHAVEONENOW, IT SIGNTHATYOURIDEBIKE TO JOB AT STARBUCKS.

— JADEDPUNKHULK (@JADEDPUNKHULK) October 23, 2012

#8: @ZooeySiri

Inspired by an Apple commercial starring actress Zooey Deschanel and the iPhone personal assistant program Siri, this parody account began tweeting both silly and serious questions that Deschanel would ask Siri, all disguised in a playful or cutesy manner. The account has touched on various stereotypes of the quirky hipster girl that Deschanel has come to embody, such as what restaurants allow guests to draw on the tablecloth, what the real fabric of our lives is and how to grow a moustachemoustache. Creator Curtis Dickerson averaged seven tweets per day between May and June.

• Site: @ZooeySiri
• Launched: May 2nd, 2012
• Active: Yes
• Total Followers: 33,304
• Total Posts: 790
• Golden Tweet: This jab at hipster-associated filmmaker Wes Anderson, suggesting he uses Instagram for his work saw 585 retweets and 182 favorites.

Siri, are Wes Anderson films shot in Instagram?

— Zooey Asks Siri (@ZooeySiri) June 28, 2012

#7: @AngiesRightLeg

Almost immediately after Angelina Jolie appeared on the red carpet at the 84th Academy Awards ceremony in a revealing dress, this Twitter handle was established to celebrate the Hollywood actress’ enviable leg line. Within hours, it gathered more than 12,000 followers through a series of tweets asking people to pay attention to it. After the ceremony, the account continued updating with opinions on music, the latest iPad and Barack Obama. It is unclear who runs the account, but a October 9th tweet claims they were hired by viral content site Buzzfeed.

• Site: @AngiesRightLeg
• Launched: February 26th, 2012
• Active: No, last post November 28th
• Total Followers: 41,862
• Total Posts: 147
• Golden Tweet: On February 27th, a tweet about being a fantastic body part was retweeted more than 3500 times with more than 300 favorites.

You have to admit I’m one hell of a leg.

— Angelina Jolie’s Leg (@AngiesRightLeg) February 27, 2012

#6: @NotAPoliceman

This tongue-in-cheek undercover account operates under the guise of trolling teenagers from Prescott, Arizona with hilariously awkward-sounding tweets soliciting random people to do something illegal (and thus incriminate themselves). Among the best of his tweets are attempts at scoring drugs, purchasing stolen goods and finding Hot Topic shoplifters. Two weeks after this account was created, @NotPolice began tweeting in a similar fashion with the same avatar, gaining nearly 46,000 followers between October and December. It is unknown if they are the same person, however @NotAPoliceman has threatened to call the cops on @NotPolice

• Site: @NotAPoliceman
• Launched: September 21st, 2012
• Active: No, last post November 11th
• Total Followers: 64,278
• Total Posts: 55
• Golden Tweet: Unfortunately, when this average dude who is clearly not a cop asked his followers to tweet a photo of their favorite meth lab, Walter White missed the call. However, it gained more than 4100 retweets and 1000 favorites.

Send Me A Pic Of Your Favorite Meth Lab

— Not A Cop (@NotAPoliceman) October 5, 2012

#5: @InvisibleObama

While giving his endorsement speech for Mitt Romney at the Republican National Convention in August, iconic American actor Clint Eastwood raised some curious eyebrows when he started addressing an empty chair as if President Barack Obama were on stage with him. Approximately five minutes into the speech, an anonymous Twitter user registered the handle @InvisibleObama to counter Eastwood’s rhetorics as the invisible President. The account attracted more than 50,000 followers in 24 hours as it tweeted about transparency, global warming and its thoughts on the Eastwooding photo fad. Though the election is over, the account continues to tweet about television shows and the holiday season.

• Site: @InvisibleObama
• Launched: August 30st, 2012
• Active: Yes
• Total Followers: 64,304
• Total Posts: 516
• Golden Tweet: This tweet was made the day after Obama’s reelection, November 7th, and gained 1516 retweers and 378 favorites.

FOURMORELEGS.

— Invisible Obama (@InvisibleObama) November 7, 2012

#4: @KimKierkegaard

Following in the footsteps of 2011’s @Justin_Buber, this account combines the happy-go-lucky attitude of reality star Kim Kardashian with the existential thoughts of 19th century philosopher Søren Kierkegaard. The topics range from twerking and the distraction that is her own show to the “summery” nature of Shakespeare. Gaining more than 10,000 followers in just a few weeks, it paved the way for more celebrity/philosopher mashup accounts like @Kantye_West and @NietzschiMinaj.

• Site: @KimKierkegaard
• Launched: June 27th, 2012
• Active: Yes
• Total Followers: 73,291
• Total Posts: 178
• Golden Tweet: This tweet from October 12th, earning 975 retweets and 286 favorites, blendsmakeup techniques with a quote from Kierkegaard’s journals on the importance of despair in finding onesself.

Contouring is an amazing way to shape your nose & define your cheeks, but only terror to the point of despair develops a man to his utmost.

— KimKierkegaardashian (@KimKierkegaard) October 12, 2012

#3: @50ShedsofGrey

British comedian Colin Trevor Grey launched this parody of Fifty Shades of Grey in June, tweeting pictures of sexy-looking grey sheds. After several photos, the account began tweeting strange erotica lines, explaining an obsession with S&M (sheds and mowers). This later progressed into how his female partner liked to torture him with a Sex and the City box set. A book inspired by the tweets with the tagline “Erotica for the not-too-modern male” was published in September.

• Site: @50ShedsofGrey
• Launched: June 21st, 2012
• Active: Yes
• Total Followers: 100,000
• Total Posts: 142
• Golden Tweet: This excerpt comparing a young woman’s seduction technique to a piranha, tweeted on July 15th, has more than 5800 retweets and nearly 1150 favorites.

She gazed up at me wide-eyed from the shed floor and bit her lip seductively. Unfortunately it was her top lip so she looked like a piranha.

— Fifty Sheds of Grey (@50ShedsofGrey) July 15, 2012

#2: @SarcasticRover

The same day Curiosity landed on Mars, this Twitter account sprang up to give a sarcastic point of view to the rover. Among other things, the parody account has asked to come home, commented on the beer preference of Martian hipsters and claimed to have discovered inner strength and aliens. In an October interview with ScienceNews, creator Jason Filiatrault said he imagines this rover as “a tired government worker” whose bitter inner thoughts are sugarcoated for the public.

• Site: @SarcasticRover
• Launched: August 6th, 2012
• Active: Yes
• Total Followers: 105,438
• Total Posts: 2122
• Golden Tweet: The Sarcastic Rover responded to the Hostess Bankruptcy on November 16th by comparing the response to the lack of care for a manned space program. It gathered 968 retweets and 175 favorites.

The fact that America is more worried about the loss of Twinkies than a manned space program is cause for concern.

— SarcasticRover (@SarcasticRover) November 16, 2012

#1: @YourAwayMessage

Evoking the nostalgia of twenty-something internet users who grew up with Windows 95, America Online and the sweet sounds of dial-up internet, @YourAwayMessage shares stereotypical inside jokes, inspirational quotes and song lyrics that might as well have been your away messages when you were still using AOL’s instant messaging service. Created by NYC-based photographer @SoCarolineSays, the overly dramatic tweets often overuse tildes, drawn out punctuation and alternating capital letters to mimic the ways teenagers communicated in the 2000s.

• Site: @YourAwayMessage
• Launched: September 9th, 2012
• Active: Yes
• Total Followers: 243,867
• Total Posts: 387
• Golden Tweet: Posted on September 14th, this tweet contains lyrics to the 2002 Taking Back Sunday song “You’re So Last Summer”. It has more than 2800 retweets and 1300 favorites.

The State of Memes in 2012

As the year comes to an end, it is now time to take a moment to look back at some of the most notable memes and happenings in 2012. It was both a tumultuous and exciting year for many of us, as we saw a number of trends continuing down from the previous year as well as some groundbreaking developments that redefined the Internet culture as we know it:

• It was the year of protests and activism, marked by massive online and offline demonstrations against a series of Internet-related bills (SOPA/PIPA, ACTA, CISPA), as well as a number of remarkable petitions relating to a wide range of political and social issues, from presidential elections and war crimes in Africa to cyberbullying and gun-control laws among others.

• It was the year of viral music video parodies on YouTube, where several artists like Carley Rae Jepsen, Gotye and PSY rose to global stardom thanks to the fans and videobloggers that have created hundreds of parody performances and cover tributes.

• It was the year of PR wars in social media, with Facebook pages of well-known companies like Nabisco, Chick-Fil-A and Papa John’s practically turning into town halls for debates on key partisan issues like gay marriage and healthcare.

• It was the year of news memes, with meme-makers latching onto the traditional news cyle and vice-versa, especially during major events like the U.S. presidential election and the Summer Olympics. Somewhat inevitably, the meaning of the word “meme” also evolved into a broader label for news stories and commentaries that are disseminated through the blogs and forums. This trend was also recognized by Merriam-Webster Dictionary in the 2012 Words of the Year list.

Best Memes of 2012

#10: Sh*t People Say

*Sh*t People Say* is a series of parody videos exploring social, ethnic and gender stereotypes using the phrasal template “Sh*t X says.” Inspired by a single topic blog and web series titled “Sh*t Girls Say,” these videos showcase a colorful spectrum of cliches and verbal mannerisms that are often overheard in our daily lives. Original Instance: Sh*t Girls Say KYM Episode: Watch Now Notable Videos: View Gallery Must Sees: Sh*t Black Girls Say | Sh*t White Girls Say to Black Girls | Sh*t Single Girls Say | Sh*t Nobody Says | Sh*t Americans Say

#9: What People Think I Do

“What People Think I Do” is a series of visual charts depicting a range of preconceptions associated with a particular field of occupation or expertise. Unlike image macro series that are based on singular stereotypes like Advice Animals, this series compares varying impressions about one’s profession held by others, self-image and the often mundane reality of the job. Original Instance: Science Student KYM Episode: Watch Now Notable Images: View Gallery Must Sees: Stay-at-Home Mom | Graphic Designer | Tech Support | Photographer | Contemporary Artist

#8: Overly Attached Girlfriend

Overly Attached Girlfriend is an advice animal image macro featuring webcam picture of a girl and various captions portraying her in the stereotype of an overprotective and clingy girlfriend. Since rising to accidental fame, the subject of the meme has revealed her identity as a 20 year old college student named Laina Walker and now runs her own YouTube channel. Original Instance: JB Fanvideo Notable Images: View Gallery Notable Videos: View Gallery Must Sees: Socially Awkward Boyfriend | Overly Attached 10 Girlfriend | Google Maps | Gym Membership | Joint Facebook Account

#7: Ehrmagerd

Ermahgerd (also known as “Gersberms” and “Berks”), a lisped pronunciation of “oh my god,” is an image macro series featuring a photo of a young woman holding several books from the children’s horror fiction series Goosebumps. The phonetically written captions are meant to sound like a speech impediment caused by the use of an orthodontic retainer, often using the snowclone template “Ermahgerd X.” Original Instance: Gersberms KYM Episode: Watch Now Notable Images: View Gallery Must Sees: Liked Your Facebook Status | ArmaGuard Van | Sans Retainer | Favorite Popcorn | Choose Your Own Adventure

#6: Ridiculously Photogenic Guy

Ridiculously Photogenic Guy (RPG) is a photoshop meme and advice animal featuring a photo of a smiling man called Zeddie Little running in the 2012 Cooper River Bridge Run. The photo gained notoriety online after being posted to the social news website Reddit where users found the man to be exceptionally handsome. Original Instance: Mr. Ridiculously Photogenic Guy KYM Episode: Watch Now Notable Images: Ridiculously Photogenic Guy Must Sees: Employee of the Month | Photographer is Pregnant | School Photo Day | You Shall Not… | Facebomb Edition

#5: Somebody That I Used to Know

“Somebody That I Used to Know” is a 2011 indie pop song by the Australian singer-songwriter Gotye, with additional vocals by the New Zealand singer Kimbra. In January 2012, the song and music video received massive online attention with the YouTube release of a multi-hands guitar cover by Walk Off the Earth, inspiring a series of remixes, covers and parodies. Original Instance: Somebody That I Used to Know Viral Instance: Walk the Earth Cover Notable Images: View Gallery Notable Videos: View Gallery Must Sees: Star Wars Parody | Rage Comics Parody | Barack Obama Parody | Some Study That I Used to Know

#4: Kony 2012

Kony 2012 is an online vigilant campaign which aims to arrest the Ugandan guerrilla group leader and head of the Lord’s Resistance Army Joseph Kony before the end of 2012. The operation seeks to create viral media to raise awareness about Kony’s use of children as soldiers and sex slaves in order to urge the American government to assist the Ugandan military in capturing him. Original Instance: KONY 2012 Notable Images: View Gallery Notable Videos: View Gallery Must Sees: The White House Conspiracy | Fresh Kony of Bel Air | Carl Weathers Trolling | Pokemon | Jason Russell FAIL

#3: Call Me Maybe

“Call Me Maybe” is a 2011 dance pop single recorded by Canadian singer-songwriter Carly Rae Jepsen. The song rose to fame online after being endorsed by pop star Justin Bieber in December 2011. Since its release, the song has inspired many lip dub tributes, parodies and covers on the video sharing site YouTube. Original Instance: Call Me Maybe Viral Instance: Justin Bieber’s Cover Notable Images: View Gallery Notable Videos: View Gallery Must Sees: Tay Zonday Cover | Barack Obama Dub | Star Wars Call Me Maybe | Harvard Baseball Team Tribute | 2012 USA Olympic Swimming Team Tribute

#2: Grumpy Cat

Grumpy Cat is a nickname given to an angry looking snowshoe cat that gained online fame after its pictures were posted to Reddit on late September 2012 and went viral. The cat is also known as “Tard” which is short for Tardar (Tartar) Sauce. Notable Images: View Gallery Notable Videos: View Gallery Must Sees: I Had Fun Once… | The Alphabet Song | Cat Owners & Suicide Rate | Just Put Me Down | I Believe in You, Mayans

#1: Gangnam Style

“Gangnam Style” s a 2012 dance pop single written and performed by Korean pop singer Park Jae Sung, better known by his stage name PSY. Since its release in mid-July 2012, the highly entertaining music video has spawned hundreds of parodies and copycat dance videos on YouTube and surpassed Justin Bieber’s single “Baby” as the most watched video on YouTube with over 826 million views, as of November 26th, 2012. Notable Images: View Gallery Notable Videos: View Gallery Must Sees: Without Music | Romney Style | Minecraft Style | Kim Jong Un Style | Hitler Style

As 2012 draws to a close, we would like to take some time to thank our users for their hard work over the year. From editing entries to uploading media, everything you do at Know Your Meme is appreciated and makes our database more and more comprehensive. In addition to Olivia Gulin‘s original badges from last year’s Thanks Awards, we’ve added several new specialist awards to honor those who have made significant research contributions to emerging subcultures and hub sites. Bummed out you didn’t get an award for you research? Shh, there is no need to be upset. You’re just as special and we’re equally thankful for everyone who participated in meme research and discussions. The new badges were designed by Jill Denkmann.

Japanese Specialist

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About: I came here to mostly support Know Your Meme in researching Japanese Internet memes.

Portuguese Specialist

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No profile information is available for this user. Marson, if you’re reading this, feel free to contact the staff and introduce yourself!

Art Historian

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As of December 21st, 2012, Dr. Gregory Horse has uploaded 7.3% of all of the images on KYM.

Historical Meme Historian

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About: I listen to music. A lot of music. I do chemistry. Slightly less frequently than I listen to music. I slack on KYM. When I’m not doing chemistry.

Television Meme Historian

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About: I like Osaka and Trixie. And Vriska. That’s pretty much all there is to me.

Anime Anthropologist

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About: Silver Chariot, reporting for duty. What can I say about me? I’m weird, weird in a good way. My biggest problem could be that I’m a fan of almost unknown or non-mainstream stuff, like JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. But I’m also a gamer!

Rage Comicologist

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About: Hi. I like narwhals.

Pokémon Master

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About: Hey, I’m Verbose (in name and in correspondence.) I’m not really “from the Internet,” but the Internet has been a lot of fun. I like ponus, pokémon, anime, chiptunes, pones, apples, video game music, interesting conversation, poneis, funny image macros, and Twilight Sparkle. I may also be a deer.

Ponyologist

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About: When I first stumbled upon this site, I never expected that I would put so much effort into it later. Look where that thought brought me.

Homestuck Authority

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About: I still love salmon!

YouTube Poop Scatologist

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About: I’m an adolescent italian, who lives in Switzerland and loves Anime, My Little Pony, YouTube Poop (Music Video), MAD, House Music and I have a YouTube channel!

YouTuber Anthropologist

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About: One of those mods that everyone thinks is a furry.

4chanologist

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About: Thank You Based God.

Tumblrologist

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About: I actually hate memes.

Twitter Expert

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About: I am a cartoonist, both online and in print, a writer, and a video artist. I am a Christian who’s passionately in love with my savior. I am an amateur internet culture analyst who would love to be more than an amateur. And I am happy to help you in any way I can; just feel free to ask.