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: thehawkeyeinitiative.com
• 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: ignorehitler.tumblr.com
• 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: heygirlitspaulryan.tumblr.com
• 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: textsfromhillary.tumblr.com
• 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: dogshaming.tumblr.com
• 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: textfromdog.tumblr.com
• 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: whatshouldwecallme.tumblr.com
• 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: mckaylaisnotimpressed.tumblr.com
• 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: richkidsofinstagram.tumblr.com
• 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: bindersfullofwomen.tumblr.com
• Launched: October 16th, 2012
• Active: No
• Total Posts: 564
• Average Posts Per Month: 282

Notable Examples

Search Interest

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!

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

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!

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)

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!

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: Bitch Mob or Task Force 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: Marauder Shields, Mass Effect 3 Endings Reception, 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 Hussie’s interactive 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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About: Hi, I’m Doctor Horse, but you may know me as the silent/insane/omgthat’salottapics image dumper poster on KYM. I live in Brazil, like ponu art (lot’s of it), video games and the internet culture in general. Just want to say that searching pics has become like my job for this site, and I love when people appreciate my posts. 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.

Grumpy Cat

Grumpy Cat is the nickname given to Tard, a snowshoe cat from Arizona who rose to internet fame for her adorably angry looking face. Tard’s viral stardom began in late September when her caretaker’s brother posted a picture on Reddit and steadily grew stronger throughout the last quarter of the year, spawning a slew of grumpy jokes about the holiday seasons and the Mayan doomsday rumor on December 21st, 2012.

IKEA Monkey

IKEA Monkey is the nickname given to Darwin, a Japanese snow macaque that was found wandering around an IKEA store in Toronto, Canada in early December. According to the owner Yasmin Nakhuda, Darwin escaped from the crate in her car while she was shopping in the store and roamed around the area for almost an hour before being taken in by animal control. And it certainly didn’t take long until pictures of the monkey reached the pipelines of Twitter and Reddit, where he was met with instant approval, not to mention a handful of photoshopped images, a parody Twitter account and even some fancy fan artworks.

Actual Advice Mallard

Actual Advice Mallard is an advice animal series featuring a photograph of a male wild duck accompanied by life hacks and other practical tips for our everyday lives. Although a few instances of Actual Advice Mallard have been circulating on Reddit since June 2011, the meme didn’t gain momentum until recently in December, when Redditor Gonten’s tip on microwaving pizza reached the front page with more than 16,600 upvotes and 900 comments. In addition, the surge in its popularity also gave way to its antithetical character Malicious Advice Mallard.

The Hawkeye Initiative

The Hawkeye Initiative is an art movement in which illustrators and fan artists swap out images of seductive looking female super heroes with the male Marvel superhero Hawkeye, one of The Avengers. The character swapping fad began in early December after webcomic artist Noelle Stevenson proposed on her Tumblr blog that all sex-symbolic or seductive depictions of female superheroins should be replaced with Hawkeye posing in the same manner. Throughout the month, many other artists on Tumblr responded to Stevenson’s call with fan art illustrations featuring gender-swapped superheroes as well as a single topic blog to curate them, culminating in what is now known as the Hawkeye Test: “If your female character can be replaced by Hawkeye in the same pose without looking silly or stupid, then it’s acceptable and probably non-sexist.”

Golden Eagle Snatches Kid

Golden Eagle Snatches Kid is a viral video hoax purportedly showing a large golden eagle trying to carry away a toddler. Following its release via YouTube in December, the video gained several millions of views in the first 24 hours and sparked an in-depth, multimedia discussion over its authenticity. After a few debunking attempts later, the video was confirmed as a CGI hoax created by a group of students at the Centre NAD art school in Montreal, Canada.

The Rest of the Best

• Premature Peter is an advice animal series based on a yearbook photograph of a teenage boy wearing a t-shirt that is partially cropped out of frame to read “I came.” Not surprisingly, Redditors began captioning the image with not-so-subtle jokes about premature ejaculation, but the joke itself also came to a premature end after the images were removed from several hubsites in consideration of the subject’s minor status and complaints from his parents.

• Aristocat is an advice animal series featuring a black-and-white photograph of a cat dressed in a suit and top hat. The captions typically portray the cat as a member of the wealthy elite class who orders his servants to do chores and run errands for him.

• “Your Tears Are Delicious” is a catchphrase often used on message boards or in image macros as a retort to someone complaining about an unpopular opinion or whining about trivial inconveniences like first world problems in excess.

Back on the Radar

• GNAA, the notorious trolling and hacking collective with ties to Goatse Security and Weev, scored a major exploit last month for infiltrating Tumblr with an infective spam post that replicates itself whenever clicked upon.

• The Westboro Baptist Church returned to the spotlight of controversy after attempting to stage a picket protest during the funeral processions of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims in Newtown, Connecticut. While the religious group has been known to pull off similar stunts in the past, some people were so fed up that an official White House petition was launched to press the government to recognize the church as a hate group. The petition quickly went onto gain more than 300,000 signatures in the matter of a few days, becoming the most popular movement ever started on the site.

• PSY’s 2012 mega hit Gangnam Style set an unprecedented milestone on YouTube after reaching one billion views on December 21st, 2012, which also happened to be the day that the world was supposed to come to an end. Aside from the honor of becoming the first YouTube with more than one billion views in a single video, the South Korean singer/entertainer also appeared on several “Best of 2012” reports published by Google, Facebook and others.

• Krispy Kreme, one of the most underground underdog rappers on YouTube, was forced to change his stage name after receiving a formal complaint from the eponymous American doughnut company. After fielding suggestions for his new rap name, the rapper announced that he will go by “Froggy Fresh” from now on.

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!

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

KYMdb Offline Crisis Response Initiative (OCRI)

At approximately 9 a.m. (ET), Know Your Meme’s main tubular network systems were suddenly brought down (reasons of which are still being investigated by the tubular network system cyber-security commission at this time) and as a result, the database is currently only capable of processing memes that were validated in time before the Internet as we know it, in time before the Internet meme was a thing.

The confirmed section of the Know Your Meme database (as of April 1st, 2013)

Given these circumstances, the Know Your Meme tubular network system cyber-security commission is hereby declaring a state of offline crisis, effective as of April 1st, 2013. You are now in a queue. The site will return to its normal operations once the tubular network system has been fully restored to its capacity.

In the meantime, please submit entries relating to memes that are outside the domain of the Internet. This means anything from postal chain letters, century-old pub songs and rock paper scissors to papermaking, Santa Claus and heck, even Marxism. Basically, the history of the human civilization is ours to document. If you’re a “glass-is-half-full” kind of person, that’s even kind of exciting. Now think big!

Firstlook is an annual video game convention in The Netherlands organized by Blammo Media, where the latest video games and hardware are showcased. The event has consistently grown in attendance over the last five years, jumping from 1,500 visitors in 2008 to more than 20,000 this year.

Having attended the last four events, I immediately noticed how big of a convention it has now become, although whether this is entirely good or bad is up for a question. During the earlier years, Firstlook was very casual and friendly, especially for those those who hate waiting in queue, and the number of visitors and participating publishers were limited. In recent years, however, the variety of exhibitions has certainly grown, but with that also the time wasted on waiting in line. I also noticed this last year, when the event was relocated to a bigger location yet not enough publishers had set up shop to meet the demand of a bigger crowd. Still, with the longest lines taking around an hour to 1.5 hour at the most, I didn’t have much to complain about (especially in comparison to stories I’ve heard about queues at Gamescon). One thing did make this year different through:

Nintendo

When you’re covering a gaming convention as an Internet meme researcher, of course, you have to visit *Nintendo*’s exhibition. With their lineup having all the popular titles outside of Smash Bros, including Pokemon, Sonic, Mario and some others, the presentation didn’t leave me disappointed. According to the employees at the stand, the turnout was so high on Saturday that they had to bring in additional fences to prevent any chaos on Sunday.

[Priorities above everything though, making this is what I started with]	[A nice gift for the people who brought a DS with Pokemon Black/White or Black 2/White 2: A free shiny Girantina]

• Pokemon X/Y was a standard demo version I have seen available on other cons as well on the internet. The starters are semi-random, and I got Froakie, Sylveon and Helioptile. You come accross the various familiar and new aspects of the game: rollerscates, riding Pokemon, wild Pokemon and trainer battles; finishing off with a nice battle giving you control over a Mewtwo that can evolve into Mega Mewtwo. The 3D feature of the 3DS really shines in the Pokemon battles. While walking around it doesn’t add much, it adds just the right amount of dept in the battles.

• People who played The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past on the SNES, like myself, will get some nice nostalgia from The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds. The field is an exact copy of the first game, while the dungeons are completely new and make good use of the new game feature that allows Link to enter and move alongside walls. The puzzles are fun and the nostalgia is constant. Only downside is that due to the stereoscopic 3D that keeps gameplay in the old 2D overview, the 3D function of the 3DS doesn’t add much.

• Sonic: Lost World offers a combination of old and new gameplay. The tube shape worlds take some getting used to, but they’re a nice idea overall, and in combination with some famililiar features from past Sonic games generate a nice combo. But although the game has a good variety in gameplay, the style of the levels and the lack of boosting made it miss that “gotta go fast” element on occasion.

• And as this year is The Year of Luigi, I of course I did the only correct thing that any right-minded adult male my age with responsibilities would do at a convention while he should be doing his job instead: I took a picture.

Microsoft

Microsoft‘s main focus this year was of course the Xbox One and their console-exclusive titles, namely Forza Motorsport 5, Ryse: Son of Rome, Dead Rising 3, and Killer Instinct on display, although I didn’t get a chance to play them all, which was a bit of a shame. Both Forza and Dead Rising are the latest installations of popular franchises that have lived through its predecessor XBox 360, so they offered a good comparison between gameplay and graphics on the two consoles. There was a funny moment when a friend of mine tried to check out the dashboard while playing, only to make the screen going black, which wasn’t supposed to happen obviously. Gameplay wise though, the controller for the Xbox One is undoubtedly an improvement from the Xbox 360 controller. The triggers and bumpers are more fluid, with the rumble feature being the icing on the cake; the thumb sticks have a much smaller dead zone and they’re just more comfortable for your thumbs; the D-pad finally got upgraded with a four-directional setup instead of an annoying, inaccurate circle.

I also spoke to a Microsoft employee from the Sales department there. Apparently he just got back from his vacation slightly after it was announced the Xbox One wouldn’t be released into Europe until April 2014 due to production issues. According to him the sending out of mails regarding the later release for pre-orders and the replies that followed certainly gave the necessary stress at work. We also exchanged some opinions regarding the Kinect 2.0, the events surrounding it, and the improvement since the first Kinect.

Sony

Likewise to Microsoft, Sony‘s main focus was the Playstation 4. And likewise to the competition, they offered a collection of console exclusives. Being unfamiliar with gaming on the Playstation though, it’s difficult for me to tell in where the controller has gotten better. On the area of graphics Sony certainly didn’t fail to deliver though, with Gran Turismo 5 and Assassin’s Creed IV really shining on the screen.

Other

The PC-related stands mostly focussed on showing off their latest hardware, while keeping it gaming related to a series of special events and contests. Over the rest of the event you had a nice level of people. It felt busy like it should at an event, with people truly showing interest in the games; but it didn’t feel too busy yet, and wasn’t crowded to a point where moving became near-impossible at all. The mainstage itself had some nice variety of events, switching between tournaments, to showing off the PS4, to simple goodie hunts; and the crew surely managed to keep the audience entertained.

In the ancient battle of Sony vs. Microsoft, what Sony did right unlike Microsoft, was that they still showed new games on the Playstation 3 and Playstation Vita, instead of only showing the new console. The entire Microsoft stand consisted of just the Xbox One. The lines for the new consoles were both massive and somewhat equal over the day, but due to Sony’s larger variety they win in the overall amount of visitors to their stand. That is of course if you don’t count Call of Duty: Ghosts as a Microsoft stand regardless of it being a Xbox exclusive, because the line for that game added to the Xbox One made Microsoft dominate.

Electronic Arts undoubtly offered the biggest multiplayer experience, linking 32 computers with Battlefield 4 on the highest graphics and then make them play a match. Ubisoft on the other hand easily won the entertainment award, with their constant playing of music, appealing to the audience, dance competitions, and an Edward Kenway cosplayer and dancing booth babes. Warner Bros. mostly focussed on the DC Comics universe, with Injustice: Gods Among Us and Batman: Arkham Origins.

Pictures

Unfortunately, I can’t offer any pictures of cosplay, simply because it was hardly present. It’s unfortunate when you compare it to other cons, but can be explained with the lower amount of visitors to Firstlook. Over the day I spotted groups cosplaying Final Fantasy, Bioshock Infinite, The Legend of Zelda: Windwaker, some costumes I didn’t recognise, and a collection of simple cosplay being mostly just hats and shirts related to popular characters. With my own camera not delivering the best quality pictures with the lighting in the building, and plenty of more professional photographers undoublty taking pictures of the small amount of cosplayers, I will update this gallery once I find pictures elsewhere and properly credit the authors.

Rick Hofsink (a.k.a RandomMan) is a college student currently pursuing a Bachelors degree in chemistry in the Netherlands. He is also an active researcher and senior moderator of Know Your Meme. For more information, check out his profile.

hile attending the New York City Comic Convention on October 11th, 2013, I got to spend some time talking with three members of the Rooster Teeth Productions team about their latest project RWBY, a video series about a group of teenage girls training to become monster hunters. I sat down with Monty Oum, RWBY‘s creator and Rooster Teeth’s Director of Animation, writer and co-director Kerry Shawcross and writer and director of Red Vs. Blue Season 11, Miles Luna for a talk about their favorite creations, writing process and, of course, their feelings on shipping.

Interview

Q: You’ve worked with so many different types of media, what’s your favorite medium to work with?

Kerry: We’ve been in animation for awhile now and that’s really fun to do. It’s definitely very challenging just because so many things are locked in zones, like we decided we were going to do it this way four months ago, I guess we’re doing it this way even if we changed our mind a little bit.

Monty: But the return on that is great, because when you see something and you’re like “oh, that’s exactly how I pictured it would go,” that’s always great.

Miles: I’ve always been a huge fan of animation, I’m not talented enough to do it myself, but those that can are a huge inspiration. I just love the impossible things you can do in animation that you can’t do any other way.

Q: From any of the things you’ve worked on, what episode or series are you the most proud of?

Monty: It varies, lately, it’s RWBY (shown below) and as stressful as it is with the deadlines and the compromises we have to make, it’s still probably my favorite thing to work on because you get so much freedom to do what you want to do to the point where you’re like “the only thing that’s stopping me is time.” That’s obviously a great thing to have.

Miles: Right now, my absolutely favorite thing to work on is RWBY, but the thing that I’m most proud of? I think it would be episode 12 of season 10 of Red vs. Blue (shown below), it was an episode that no one thought could be done because every shot of it was a composite shot of essentially trying to find a map that would work as a green screen in Halo 3 and then rotoscoping and frame-by-frame stuff, it was incredibly…

Monty: It was incredibly challenging.

Miles: Yeah, and it was a dramatic episode of Red vs. Blue, a show that is widely known for its comedy.

Monty: That was me and Miles’ start on working today as animator and writer, essentially, and also a little bit director too -- I just said “hey Miles, wouldn’t it be great if we did this?” and then Miles wrote the scene.

Miles: It turned out really well, and a lot of people say it’s their favorite episode and that is the highest honor I could ever receive

Monty: To fulfill on these characters who, for so long had almost been missing each other and just to finally come to terms with this message… If you don’t know, it’s a scene where one person who is dead leaves a message from beyond the grave for another person who they were good comrades with. It had a lot of resonance, it was like a five or six year payoff for these two characters.

Kerry: Obviously RWBY, because it’s the thing I’ve had the most say in, but also Simple Walk, just because that was a dumb idea that I came up with that ended up into what I think is a really good series

Miles: A Simple Walk into Mordor (shown below) is one of my favorite things that our company has ever made. And I still can’t believe that you two idiots happened to do that without dying. I was so afraid you were going to get stabbed!

Monty: I was so glad you didn’t die.

Miles: yeah, honestly a lot of us were worried.

Kerry: We went to New Zealand for six days and we had no communication with anybody whatsoever because none of our phones worked because we were all American. I finally got to a wi-fi zone and I had 15 emails from people in the company that were like “Are you ok, I heard there was volcanoes. Is everything fine”? and we just sent out one email, “Yep we didn’t die, we’re fine.” I think the subject was “We’re alive.”

Q: How do you guys maintain a consistent voice with so many different contributors?

Miles: It’s tricky…reviews.

Monty: We do a lot of pickups and retakes. There have been times when we’re like “that sounds a little too Kara.”

Kerry: It’s a lot of being honest and blunt.

Monty: Believe me, the actors will all welcome that review and criticism, even our seasoned actors are very open to criticism and feedback.

Miles: And quality check -- there’s QC on everything.

Kerry: One of my favorite things about Rooster Teeth in general is that everyone there wants to make the best product they can possibly make so nobody is above criticism or doesn’t want to be told “hey this could look better or maybe we could do this.” We’re all big fans of criticism and trying to make things better.

Q: How do you feel about people shipping your characters?

Kerry: It’s fun!

Miles: It’s funny to read that stuff.

Monty: I mean, I like romance and now we’re giving people the tools for romance.

Miles: It’s been great as we introduce more characters, as we go on, people start to form the pairs that would maybe like, more realistically fit.

Monty: We’re looking forward to some new characters that would instantly make people go “Yup, it’s gonna happen.”

Miles: Ship ship ship! Set sail! Toot toot! It’s funny, one of the early comments I read was "I can literally ship everyone in RWBY with everyone, and it comes up every now and again, every few weeks I see comments like “Seriously, everybody works.”

Q: Do you have an OTP?

Miles: I feel like we can’t say,

Monty: Yeah, we can’t say, that would give too much fuel and ammunition.

Miles: We have an OTT, It’s Kerry, Miles and Monty.

Everyone: Awwwwwwww

Q: What’s next for RWBY?

Miles: Our DVD and Blu-ray (shown left) is going to be shipping out on November 12th -- 11/12/13 because we’re hilarious. You can preorder it now on the site. And we’ve got one hell of a finale to volume one coming up soon, and man, I cannot wait for it.

Monty: Also, it’s not called volume one for no reason! We’re thinking about volume plus.

Miles: We have literally years worth of story in our head. We’re just scratching the surface with Volume One.

Q: Is there a meme that spawned from a Rooster Teeth series that you guys enjoy?

Monty : Benevolent Burnie is pretty cool.

Miles: It’s not a Rooster Teeth meme, but I’m always a fan of Success Kid. He keeps me going at night.

Q: Are there any YouTube channels you can’t live without watching?

Monty: I like all the Let’s Play stuff.

Miles: It’s going to sound very self-promotional, but we honestly have almost nothing to do with the Let’s Plays on Rooster Teeth, and we really enjoy them

Monty: Rooster Teeth has its divisions and Achievement Hunter really has its own corner and I love everything they make. I don’t interact with them much, but I love everything they do.

Miles: It’s really funny because I’m a huge fan of the Let’s Plays, but, like you said, I don’t interact with them so Gavin (shown below) will walk in to the kitchen and I’ll say “Hey! You were really funny in that thing I just watched! K bye!”

Q What your favorite thing about coming to big conventions like this?

Kerry: Pizza.

Miles: Dude! This is our first, well Kerry and I’s first time in New York. Oh my god, there’s pizza everywhere! I’m soooooooo fat.

Kerry: Oh yeah, if I lived in New York, I’d be broke.

Monty: Cons are great just for meeting the fans.

Kerry: We read comments all the time, every single week we’re all on Tumblr, we’re on our site, we’re on YouTube reading all the comments but to actually see the people and talk to them about the show is awesome

Miles: I can’t believe that the stuff that we do has an impact on people. But meeting someone and them telling you how much what we did impacted them is just really surreal and makes you feel really good. Feels good man.

Q: On that note, you guys have your own convention for your fans, RTX. How is that different?

Miles: To go along with your last question about cons, we’ll get to show off something that a lot of people have worked really hard on and we get to show it to a live audience and see that reaction in person and it’s great. RTX is like that to the Nth degree, because at a panel we can only afford to send so many people, so at NYCC this year, we’re really going to be focusing on RWBY, but Achievement Hunter has a million things and and Red vs Blue has things. At RTX, it’s everyone’s time to shine. Every person in the company gets to step out and say “This is what I made you, it’s fucking cool.”

Q: Any final thoughts?

Monty: We love the fans, everything you make and all the cosplay and the fan art is great. We see it all. Every time there’s a progress bar or render bar, we’re just like alright, go to Twitter, go to Tumblr, go to Reddit.

Kerry: It’s inspiring. it’s definitely one of those things where we’re working there late and night and we’re tired and we’ll take a break and we’ll go and look for comments and look for fan art and it keeps us going.

Dear Know Your Meme readers,

Another year has almost come to an end and it is now time for us to cast a vote for the most beloved meme of the year. The following list of top fifteen entries was compiled based on our assessment of each entry’s average pageviews per day since its creation date. For the complete listing of related Know Your Meme entries, check out the section below. Not seeing your choice meme of the year on the list? Scroll down to the bottom of the list and click “Suggest Another Entry” to enter your own recommendation! The voting begins now and will stay open until 11:59 p.m. (EST), December 9th, 2013.

Editor’s Note: This article is part of Know Your Meme’s annual Top Ten Review series looking back at some of the most memorable and popular memes, events and people that defined the Internet culture in 2013 as we know it. And brace yourselves, the grand finale list Best Memes of 2013 is coming soon!

hile cats continued to reign supreme over the animal meme-dom in 2013, spearheaded by two celebrity cats Grumpy Cat and Lil Bub making their breakthroughs in mainstream America, the Year of Snake has been just as good of a year for other species as well: we saw an increasingly visible presence from our canine friends across-the-board and a slow but steady rise of the Sloths on Tumblr, not to mention a resurgence of the Yelling Goat with hilarious remixes of Taylor Swift’s “I Knew You Were Trouble” on YouTube. Meanwhile, the Internet community’s zero-tolerance policy on animal abuse was put to test on numerous occasions; in a rare moment of collaboration, 4chan and Reddit teamed up their efforts to track down South Carolinian teenager Walter Easley, who posted a self-recorded Vine video of him kicking a kitten off his porch, and a similar tension arose between Anonymous and California’s Hawthorne Police Department after a video of police officers shooting a two-year-old Rottweiler dog surfaced and took off on YouTube. All in all, here’s to yet another prolific year of animal memes and without any further adieu, Know Your Meme presents the top ten most memorable animals of 2013!

#10. Chris P. Bacon

Species: Pig (Sus domesticus) Breakout: “Pig in Wheelchair” | YouTube Debut: February 2013 Profile: Born without the use of his hind legs due to a congenital defect. Equipped with a K’nex wheelchair for mobile support. Oinks a lot and sleeps a lot, just like any other piglets. Primary Habitat: Facebook | Twitter | YouTube Highlights: Chris P. Bacon Children’s Book | Chris P. Bacon Watching Himself on iPad

#9. Sir Stuffington

Species: Cat (Felis catus) Breed: Snowshoe cat Debut: September 2013 Breakout: Today I Became a Pirate | Facebook Profile: Rescue-adopted from the Multnomah County Animal Shelter in Troutdale, Oregon. Has one eye and the face of an old timey pirate who’s seen it all. Broke into internet fame as the poster child of Pirate Day 2013. Primary Habitat: Facebook: 49,454 Likes Highlights: Meet Sir Stuffington | Fan Art

#8. Unpopular Opinion Puffin

Species: Puffin (Fratercula arctica) Debut: July 2013 Breakout: With all the misuse of confession bear memes, I propose a new meme. Unpopular opinion puffin | Reddit’s /r/AdviceAnimals Profile: Conceived by a Redditor as a cousin of Confession Bear for a better distinction between unpopular opinions and anonymous confessions. Admired for his unapologetic demeanor and boldness to say what no one wants to hear. Primary Habitat: /r/adviceanimals Highlights: On Friendzone | On Religion | On Commenting | On Pornography | On Bacon Consumption

#7. Sophisticated Cat

Also known as: “I Should Buy a Boat” Cat Species: Cat (Felis catus) Debut: February 2012 Breakout: “…I Should Buy a Boat” Profile: Hella sophisticated (duh). Upper middle-class. Suffers from a mild case of mid-life ennui. Compulsively purchases luxury goods in a vain attempt to fill his inner void. Primary Habitat: Reddit | Tumblr Highlights: IKEA Monkey | On Second Thought | Finally… | Jealous Neighbor | Meanwhile at the Desktop

#6. Call of Duty Dog

Also known as: Riley the K-9 Species: Dog (Canis lupus familiaris) Breed: German Shepherd Debut: May 2013 Breakout: XBox One Conference at E3 2013 Profile: A member of the squad in Call of Duty: Ghosts. Capable of sniffing out explosives, attacking on command and scouting enemy-occupied territories via helmet-mounted camera. Primary Habitat: Facebook | Twitter Highlights: How XBox On Conference Went | Yes, This is Dog | Cosplay | Anti-Dog Device | Corgi Version

#5. Shark Cat

Also known as: Max-Arthur, Roomba Cat Species: Cat (Felis catus) Debut: November 2012 Breakout: Cat in A Shark Costume Chases A Duck While Riding a Roomba | YouTube Profile: Uses a robotic vacuum cleaner as a means of transportation. Gifted with the coolness of a cat and the terror of a shark. Known to be the most fearsome iteration of the Doomba yet. Primary Habitat: YouTube | Twitter | Facebook Highlights: Shark and Duckling! | Shark-Cat, Shark-Duck and Duck-Dog

#4: Moon Moon

Species: Wolf (Canis lupus) Debut: April 2013 Breakout: What is Your Werewolf Name? Profile: First name Moon, last name Moon. Known for being clueless and slow to catch on. Always left out of the clique by his peers in the pack, but Moon Moon doesn’t mind. Primary Habitat: TumblrFacebook | Twitter Highlights: Moon Moon Has No Filter | Moon Moon the Predator | Leeroy Moon Moon | Dancing on Water | Moon Moon Just Wants to Play

#3. Actual Advice Mallard

Species: Wild Duck (Anas platyrhynchos) Debut: June 2011 Breakout: Actual Advice Mallard | Reddit Profile: Known to offer straightforward and useful advice in all aspects of everyday life. Widely regarded as a fine specimen of anti-comedy and a meta-meme commentary on the over-saturation of advice animals on the Internet. Primary Habitat: Reddit | Facebook | Twitter Highlights: On Getting Upvotes | On Being Nice | On Life | On Seasoning | On Buying a Boat

#2. Astronaut Sloth

Also known as: Space Sloth, Sloth Astronaut Species: Brown-throated sloth (B. variegatus) Debut: October 2012 Breakout: My Dad is Really Pissed Off With Me Because I Keep Changing Everything on His Computer and iPad To This | Tumblr Profile: The most glorious photograph of a sloth the mankind has ever seen. The glorious photograph may be used to induce rage or laughter, depending on its usage and context. Primary Habitat: Tumblr | Reddit Highlights: What Gandhi Said | Neil Armstrong Said | Don’t Give a F**k | Same Pictures of Astronaut Sloth Daily

#1: Doge

Also known as: Shibe Species: Dog (Canis lupus familiaris) Breed: Shiba Inu Debut: June 2013 Breakout: Wow What R U Doin | Tumblr Profile: Known for being easily impressed, as encapsulated in his catchphrase “wow, impressive.” Despite having a fair knowledge of the English vocabulary, Doge is incapable of constructing a sentence in the proper tense. Primary Habitat: Tumblr | Facebook | Twitter Highlights: Bongo Doge | Rustle Intensifies | Inter-Species Love | So Scare | Doge in Space