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Open Discussion: The State of the Memes in 2014

Last posted Dec 02, 2014 at 04:37PM EST. Added Nov 25, 2014 at 02:04PM EST
87 posts from 77 users

Hello Know Your Memers,

With another year coming to a swift end, let's take some time to look back and think some deep thoughts about some of the biggest recurring patterns, themes and memeplexes of 2014. Feel free to cite any specific entries / videos / photos to support your idea and staff / moderators will tag them in groups.

I'll start with a couple:

  • The Gender War: Although this has been on a build-up in recent years, the topic really grew into the centerpiece topic of this year's most heated online debates and discussions.

pilongadello wrote:

expand dong was the best meme of 2014.

One of the best, but I say some of the best came from the World Cup, Olympics, MLB, and NFL. I recommend a category called This Week In Sports.

I'd say that while most of the #gates of this year were mostly forgettable, I reckon the GamerGate problem was probably the most important, as it started the trend and got a lot of publicity.

Or, y'know, maybe The Rains of Castamere?

The Madden giferator was amazing, I hadnt laughed so hard in a while.
I think we can all agree that Gamergate earns a pretty high spot whether you agree with it or not

This year was disappointing for me, not that that really matters since none of this is serious anyway.
I think it'd be just as interesting to talk about the most cancerous memes and trends. Here's my vote. Plus most hashtags. I'm also glad that advice animals have finally declined, may the RIP in Pieces.

chowzburgerz wrote:

One of the best, but I say some of the best came from the World Cup, Olympics, MLB, and NFL. I recommend a category called This Week In Sports.

Plenty of incredible sports memes. Things Tim Howard Could Save, LeCramp, the Madden GIFerator, etc.

ANGERY Sonic wrote:

I'd say Five Nights at Freddy's, Expand Dong, Madden GIFerator, and maybe the 10 Hours of Walking In X.

Yeah the FNAF fandom has been going strong since August, and the sequel has only escalated things. Personally I'm wondering if a third one will be released within the next few months, or if the creator will actually let some time pass before the terror begins anew.

There's been lots of nice memes. My favorite meme is possibly the madden gifferator. Fun fact: 2014 is the year that the Spongebob Squarepants entry got confirmed. Just wanted to say that.

Particle Mare wrote:

There have been several highly notable protests against governments worldwide.

Ferguson Riots
Hong Kong Protests
#YaMeCanse
Hungarian Internet Tax Protests
Internet Slowdown Day
#BringBackOurGirls
Ukrainian Revolution
Operation World Cup

Filter by 'protest' for more

Protests exist all around the world, each year again, and that will never cease.

In the more recent years however, social media became more and more a part of these protests, functioning as a medium for participants and amateur journalists to keep the world updated on the occurances that are going on. Protesters can also communicate easier to organise these protests. Social media lights them, and fuels them.

But this year it stood out for sure, so I'm giving social media journalism a ribbon.

Last edited Nov 25, 2014 at 07:51PM EST

Starter Packs and Steal Her Look were two I found reeeeally funny for reasons I'm not sure why. Expand Dong is another obvious one, and I also love the influx of spoop this year. Spoopy and 2spooky and all that have existed for a while, but this year it became bigger than ever and now it's a war. A SKELETON WAR.

@autoreloader

Holy shit I just wanted to say I was listening to the song when I saw your post. This is like witchcraft.

Last edited Nov 25, 2014 at 08:34PM EST

2014, OMO, has been a bad year considering all the entries that went in. First off with Robin Williams death, the Ferguson riots, the conflict in palestine and the god aweful hashtags created from them and the game based on the bombing of palestinians. And goats, so many fucking goat entries that were basically an excuse to make people spew out that cancerous joke on this site. Taking that and all of the other shitty and pointless hashtag campaigns made only makes the year even worse for me.

But on the bright side, the closing of the cringeworthy was a plus. and some of the more popular entries like expad dong and the NFL gifs brought me enough laughs. Also the refixing of the Warhammer 40k and DOTA 2 entries were also a highlight for me since they both deserved a much needed fixing. And some other things in which I'm too lazy to go through and mention that other people haven't mentioned already.

So overall rating of the year to me

meh/10

Lets see what lies ahead in 2015.

Technically, Expand Dong shouldn't be considered a 2014 meme since it started in 2012, but I'll give it a pass since the entry was added in late 2013. It has really taken off this year partly because of the whole "delivery" fad, for better or for worse (you're welcome). Some of you may think it's just a KYM in-joke, but I've seen that shit all kinds of places. My brother even showed me the Toonami delivers the good ol' Dandy cock image (I didn't make that one) he saw on one of the random Twitter accounts he follows. It's crazy.
…
With all this being said, although Montage Parodies started even before Expand Dong did, they really became popular (and in many ways cancerous, but that's beside the point) this year. It's pretty astounding to me the way it's become this new YTP-like genre and community completely unrelated to YouTube Poop which a couple years ago I couldn't even fathom. I thought any sort of bizarre and over-the-top video remix would have to be a YTP, right? If Montage Parodies are on the ballot for Meme of the Year, I'll vote for them over Expand Dong for substance and relevance, the freshest and dankest meme this year.

Jack the Dipper wrote:

Technically, Expand Dong shouldn't be considered a 2014 meme since it started in 2012, but I'll give it a pass since the entry was added in late 2013. It has really taken off this year partly because of the whole "delivery" fad, for better or for worse (you're welcome). Some of you may think it's just a KYM in-joke, but I've seen that shit all kinds of places. My brother even showed me the Toonami delivers the good ol' Dandy cock image (I didn't make that one) he saw on one of the random Twitter accounts he follows. It's crazy.
…
With all this being said, although Montage Parodies started even before Expand Dong did, they really became popular (and in many ways cancerous, but that's beside the point) this year. It's pretty astounding to me the way it's become this new YTP-like genre and community completely unrelated to YouTube Poop which a couple years ago I couldn't even fathom. I thought any sort of bizarre and over-the-top video remix would have to be a YTP, right? If Montage Parodies are on the ballot for Meme of the Year, I'll vote for them over Expand Dong for substance and relevance, the freshest and dankest meme this year.

Unfortunately, I don't think that Montage Parodies can count at this point since they did start in 2011, but I'm totally with you for voting for it does somehow miraculously show up on the ballot. That being said if any of you haven't heard of a game called GAME OF THE YEAR: 420BLAZEIT vs xxXilluminatiXxx [wow/10 #rekt edition] – Montage Parody The Game then you totally should dankload it and play this amazing piece of heaven.

Asura wrote:

2014, OMO, has been a bad year considering all the entries that went in. First off with Robin Williams death, the Ferguson riots, the conflict in palestine and the god aweful hashtags created from them and the game based on the bombing of palestinians. And goats, so many fucking goat entries that were basically an excuse to make people spew out that cancerous joke on this site. Taking that and all of the other shitty and pointless hashtag campaigns made only makes the year even worse for me.

But on the bright side, the closing of the cringeworthy was a plus. and some of the more popular entries like expad dong and the NFL gifs brought me enough laughs. Also the refixing of the Warhammer 40k and DOTA 2 entries were also a highlight for me since they both deserved a much needed fixing. And some other things in which I'm too lazy to go through and mention that other people haven't mentioned already.

So overall rating of the year to me

meh/10

Lets see what lies ahead in 2015.

Movie and fandom memes… so many fandom memes are coming.

Well, it was a good year for some new anime series in japan

im talking about Jojo's Bizarre adventure : stardust cruzaders like example, since the 3rd arc was animated, the internet was "ok" like always, thats a good point since the series is very underrated
its going to resume next year. just look the chart.

[direct use of the Google Trends embed code is no longer allowed]

in resumé: since everyone was expecting the results of 2012 animation, nobody get mad

also, ill like to nominate."ebola-chan" to the most unexpected meme of 2014

PS: English sucks, i know, sorry grammar nazi

What about these:
Flappy Bird
Darude – Sandstorm
Expand Dong
GamerGate
The Fappening
Twitch Plays Pokemon
Five Nights at Freddy's

Oh, and the image gallery of "My Little Pony" hasn't been at the top for about 6 months now.

Last edited Nov 26, 2014 at 03:35AM EST

This year was also the year many hashtag memes emerged (not that many of this site liked it)
these ones were also notable
>the ice bucket challenge
>doom paul
>the 4chan-tumblr war
>the "absolutely disgusting" thing

Don't Hug Me I'm Scared was pretty big at the start of year and (in hindsight) was pretty successful at going viral. Didn't quite have the utter fandom explosion that Twitch Plays Pokemon and 5N@F would go on to have, but I still see the cosplays and snowclones (green is not a creative color!). And I enjoyed DHMIS3.

Super Smash Bros really exploded this year, even if the article was made before this year.
The Madden GIFerator and World Cup 2014 were probably my favorite memes this year, they were fucking hilarious.

This has be one unforgettable year, so much has happened good and bad.

My Fav:
Twitch Plays Pokemon
GamerGate
World Cup 2014
the ice bucket challenge
Madden Giferator
I'm really feeling it
Vince McMahon reaction GIF
RKO Vine Remixes
Absolutely Disgusting

I'm sure I'm missing more.

Seriously, this has been one hell of a year.

Highlights for me
Expand Dong: I don't know if it's because Donkey Kong is one of my favorite series, but each image just cracks me up. I also love the effort that some of them got with great examples being the "City Escape" from Sonic Adventure 2 and the gorilla warfare.
Madden Giferator: EA finally did something I enjoyed, that deserves praise from that alone.
ME!ME!ME!: Even though this one is very early, being only a week old, I absolutely love it. The song is infectious, the animation is absolutely incredible, and I absolutely love the design of Mimi. Also being a huge PSG fan, hearing TeddyLoid do some new music felt great.

creepypasta
expand dong
five nights at freddys
pokemon
super smash bros
gamergate
penguins
cats
sharknado
dafuq
reaction images
tumblr
video game logic
hentai quotes
anime

man we got so many, must i say more?

Skeletor-sm

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