In the age of the web and social media, the word “viral” takes on a whole new meaning. No longer does it only refer to medicine, but also to anything that spreads like wildfire over mass media. 2015 was an interesting year for the internet, and not one that will soon be forgotten.
1. Justin Trudeau won our votes… and our hearts
Perhaps the most significant and defining moment of this year was on October 19th, when Justin Trudeau led the Liberal Party to their first majority government since the end of Jean Chrétien’s reign in 2004. Not only did Trudeau’s party win the most seats in legislature, but he earned himself a place in the hearts of not only Canadians, but people from all four corners of the world.
2. #DeadRaccoonTO earns himself a place in Twitter history
This poor creature, affectionately named Conrad, died on a Toronto street in early July. When the city did not immediately come to recover his body, a memorial grew around the deceased little fellow. Soon enough, the hashtag #DeadRaccoonTO gained speed and news of Conrad spread across the Twitterverse. RIP my fine furry friend.
3. The Kylie Jenner Lip Challenge (WHY?)
Here’s the lowdown: girls tried to suction small, round and hollow objects like shot glasses to their lips in attempt to increase blood flow to the tissue. This was all in an effort to plump the lips to make them look more like Kylie Jenner’s lips (which eeeevvveeerrryyyone knows are achieved using injections). What resulted was not full, luscious lips, but instead, the “challenge,” if one could call it that, produced disastrous effects.
4. Minions take over the planet
With the release on the Minions movie came the onslaught of everything related to the small, yellow little creatures. Everything from Facebook pages to Halloween costumes to hordes of officially licensed products, Minions were everywhere and showed no sign of stopping anytime soon. The hype has since died down a bit, but no matter where you look, you’ll probably still find Minions. Oh please let it come to an end. Permanently.
5. Man buns everywhere
Call it sexy, call it horrific, man buns made a big splash, with everyone from Leonardo DiCaprio, Harry Styles, Game of Thrones’ Kit Harington and many the common man sporting the look, man buns made a splash as the most popular male hairstyle of the year. Swoon…
6. Donald Trump announced he is running for president
Oh boy. I could go on all day about the misinformed, misogynistic and racist remarks that the billionaire has made, but I’d rather not, so I’ll just leave these tweets here for your contemplation. Please note that these are only a few of many, many offensive comments, like this one about dating his daughter in this 2006 interview.
7. Another ridiculous dance song goes viral
Silento’s song Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae) is one of the most viewed videos of 2015. The catchy (if you can call it that) tune has made an impressive ripple in social media over previous months. It’s even gotten so big that Buzzfeed made this video, teaching grandmas the dance.
8. Star Wars: The Force Awakens shatters box office records
It was destined to be a massive success right from the beginning. Since its release on December 18th, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens has broken so many box office records that there’s already a Wikipedia page dedicated to these feats.
9. Adele steps back into the spotlight to say, “Hello”
Whatever happened to Adele? Where has she been? No matter, the British superstar is back in full force. The first single off of her new album, 25, has gone viral and has already been covered and parodied countless times. Upon the release of ticket sales for the North American leg of her upcoming tour, they were sold out in minutes.
That was 2015. What will 2016 have in store for us?
Image Source 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9
All Donald Trump Tweets taken directly from Twitter
