What do you remember most about 2011? So far, we’ve looked at the most tweeted events, Facebook’s top status trends, celebrities who joined Twitter, Twitter’s top topics and hashtags, Yahoo, AOL/Ask, and Bing‘s most searched for items. So, what does that leave? Internet memes, of course.
What was your favorite Internet meme of 2011? Let us know.
According to Don Caldwell of popular site Know Your Meme, the top memes of 2011 are: (Drum roll please)
1. Rebecca Black’s “Friday”
2. Planking
3. Occupy Wall Street
4. First World Problems
5. Scumbag Steve
6. X All the Y
7. Nope! Chuck Testa
8. Nyan Cat
9. ’60’s Spider-Man
10. My Little Pony
According to Caldwell, a lot of these memes became viral sensations because people could take them and put their own spin on them. He indicated that some of the others, such as Rebecca Black’s “Friday,” grew in popularity because “it’s so bad, it’s good.”
Caldwell went on to say that most Internet memes become what they are by chance since consumers are quick to detect “forced” memes. However, there are cases, such as with the Old Spice Guy, in which the online community accepts branded marketing campaigns.
Did your favorite meme make the cut? If not, tell us what it was and why you think it should have been included.