The year of our lord 2015 was a cracking year for internets, it did some real good, but lets not forget why we invented the world wide web, to share pictures of cats!
For those of us who’ve been living under a rock for the last decade, an internet meme is basically a funny picture or video that catches on and spreads like wild fire across the web.
Here’s a selection of our favourites from the year.
Kylo Ren’s Lightsabre
It was an exciting year for Star Wars fans with the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and all year we were teased by snippets and trailers. However the makers probably didn’t expect fans to react the way they did to one trailer. You see the rabid Star Wars fan boys had an issue with the design of the bad guy, Kylo Ren’s, lightsabre.
A number of people commented on how stupid and needless the cross guards on the lightsabre were, claiming it offered no protection and was just there to look cool. The internet voiced its criticism of the sci-fi weapon the only way it could. Parody photoshops!
Some were hilariously childish.
Other’s added some utility to the sith’s blade.
While some were blunter in their criticism.
Regardless of the outrage at the dark lord of the Sith’s weapon, it was largely confined to the internet and didn’t stop Star Wars being one of the years biggest money makers.
Why You Always Lying
In August this year, Nicolas Fraser called out fibbers the world over with his fantastic vine called “That one person that’s sways lying on what they own”. The video showed himself listening to another person telling a lie.
It then cut to Fraser, dancing in a backyard while singing “Why the fuck you lyin’?” to the tune of Too Close from the 90s R&B group, Next. The clip went viral and became the hashtag #whyyoualwayslying. Now Nicolas’s face is synonymous with telling porkies and has becoming the internet’s way of admitting when they’re lying.
Sometimes you lie to others.
Sometimes you lie to yourself.
And the biggest lie of all.
For those interested in hearing Anton’s lyrical genius watch the extended version here.
Cheeky Nando’s
To us Brits, a ‘Cheeky Nando’s’ is a delicious meal of spicy chicken and chips, but this year it exploded as a meme. Early this year though the phrase ‘having a cheeky Nando’s’ began trending, and internet users ran with it.
Even Middle Earth got in on the fun.
Even the upper class love a cheeky Nando’s.
Politicians love a cheeky Nando’s.
Hilariously the meme seemed to genuinely annoy some Americans who aren’t lucky enough to have tried Nandos’s delicious peri-peri chicken… or know what cheeky means.
The Dress
Back in February the nation was only talking about one thing, “What colour is this dress?” The dress came from a Tumblr post which asked people to identify the color of a dress, which appeared to be either white and gold or black and blue. The question sparked a surprisingly huge debate and two competing hashtags “#WhiteAndGold” and “#BlackAndBlue.”
For the record, the dress is black and blue, the retailers confirmed it. Experts have said that the dress’s magic ability to change colour is to do with the colour constancy feature of the human colour perception system. This is a bit of your brain that attempts to make colours appear the right colour under different lights. The dress changes colour based off your perception of the dress, so if the viewer assumes a white light, the dress appears blue and black, but if a blue light is assumed, the dress appears white and gold.
However the dress being really blue didn’t stop the internet making some funny reaction memes.
He was always my favourite too!
The dress could spoil friendships.
Poor Billy and Zack.
Linda Glocke – I Will Destroy ISIS
This year ISIS became a major talking point as the threat from the militant death cult grew. However when things were at their darkest, a hero emerged, and she was called Linda. Linda may not be the hero we want, but she’s the hero we need.
Seriously though, the meme actually came from a comment that Linda Glocke made on an online news article about the execution of two Japanese hostages by members of the ISIS in January of this year. Glocke’s emotional comment didn’t actually go viral until November, after ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks in Paris.
Since then people have spotted Linda getting into the thick of the action.
She’s not afraid.
She’s coming for you ISIS.
Unfortunately it seems Linda’s given up hunting jihadi extremists and is letting the professionals handle the situation. Though she may just have a new target.
More of a concept than a journalist, Tom Percival was forged in the bowels of Salford University from which he emerged grasping a Masters in journalism.
Since then his rise has been described by himself as ‘meteoric’ rising to the esteemed rank of Social Editor at UNILAD as well as working at the BBC, Manchester Evening News, and ITV.
He credits his success to three core techniques, name repetition, personality mirroring, and never breaking off a handshake.