So….2018. Yeah, that happened. I wanted to take time to look back on the past year in a totally non-serious light—by talking about my favorite memes of the year. These are in no particular order. Let’s kick back and have a few laughs!
1. Weird flex, but okay
Easily one of the most popular memes of the year, this one took the internet—particularly Twitter—by storm for months. I have seen so many hilarious variations of this one, but here is one of my favorites that does a good job of capturing the spirit (no pun intended) of this meme:
2. Squatting, Squinting Woman
Again, this meme has loads of super funny variations. I first saw this one poking fun at how Midwesterners look on their front lawns when there is a tornado watch or warning, and it made me burst out laughing at the accuracy. Here is another of my favorites:
3. Gabbie Hanna’s ‘Monster’ song interview
At the time of writing, this meme is still very much in fashion as it become popular in the middle of December. It was born after a Genius interview featuring YouTuber Gabbie Hanna. In the interview, she sings her new single “Monster,” belting certain lyrics in the chorus with such gusto that she overloads the microphone, resulting in a strangely edited video in terms of audio quality. And of course this clip of the song was not safe from getting the meme treatment. Here’s a compilation Gabbie herself put together featuring all the memes as of December 13th:
4. Confused BTS
Anyone who is at least a little in tune with internet and/or music culture this past year will know that K-Pop group BTS was wildly popular in 2018. Now, there are plenty of other celebrities who get caught making funny expressions on camera during interviews. However, this comical epidemic seems to be at its height when you get the seven young men of BTS on camera during any American interview. There are loads of hilarious memes of the members making very confused faces, which can probably mostly be attributed to the fact that only one of the members can speak fluent English.
5. Super Bowl halftime show selfie kid
It all started with a slightly confused, overwhelmed-looking kid taking a selfie with Justin Timberlake during the Super Bowl halftime show this February. The jokes started to pour in as people joked that the young man, due to his age, probably didn’t even know who Justin Timberlake was. The first meme I remember seeing of this kind featured the kid Googling “who is justin timberlake?,” and also one that showed him texting his dad, saying “can you come get me? im scared.” This meme didn’t stick around for very long, but man, was it a good one!
6. not a cell phone in sight….
Here we can all take a moment to poke fun at the disdain people show toward the overwhelming dependency we have on technology nowadays. If I had to pick a number one favorite meme of the year, this one would probably take the cake.
7. Alexa, play Despacito
Amazon’s Alexa somehow became a meme this year. This is a meme that has been around for quite a while now, and it has yet to vanish from my Twitter feed. Again, there are many variations of this meme; Despacito is not the only song that gets used as the butt of the joke here, but it seems to be the most popular punch-line for some reason.
8. Distracted Boyfriend
The distracted boyfriend meme is another meme that has withstood the test of time. This one has been around since the beginning of the year, and I can see why! The comic possibilities are endless. I’ve even seen people recreate this meme when they take meet-and-greet pictures with celebrities.
9. FBI agent in your webcam
A hugely popular conspiracy theory this year is that we are all being watched by the FBI through our webcams and phone cameras (and honestly, I kind of believe it), so of course this led to some quite hilarious edits from some very creative and funny people on the internet. Let’s ponder the possibilities of what FBI agents would think about us or say to us if they saw what we were doing on our phones and laptops….
10. in this essay, I will….
I appreciate the subtle humor in this meme. Also, as an English major, I can especially appreciate the idea of analyzing absurd ideas in an essay format. This seems like it would be much more enjoyable than crafting an essay on ancient Rome.
Honorable Mentions:
1. Donald Trump’s Presidential Alert
2. 5-year-old Cardi B
3. ladies, imagine this….