The Top 10 Viral Moments of 2016
2016 has been very good to the Internet, providing us with viral videos, memes and social media squabbles that make our days way more bearable.
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We live for social media movements that go viral because the Internet can be a horrible place filled with click-bait links and fake news articles BUT it’s also a hilarious place where cultural moments explode and celebrities are born overnight. To commemorate the end of the year, we've rounded up the best viral moments of 2016 for your to relive and enjoy again and again and again. Among the dozens upon dozens of viral memes, videos, songs and the like, here were our ten favourites:
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In May 2016, 37-year-old Texan Candace Payne filmed herself in the parking lot after purchasing a Star War’s Chewbacca mask. She put it on and instantly broke into uncontrollable laughter. Well, she laughed and the world laughed with her.
For some unknown reason, the award for catchiest song of 2016 goes to “Pen Pineapple Pen,” a spoof music video made by Japanese comedian Piko Taro. Everyone was thrown into a fruit loop trying to guess what the song was really about. So much so that it became one of the most watched videos on YouTube this year.
No one could've guessed just how popular Harambe, a 17-year-old Western lowland silverback gorilla would be after he was shot and killed when a child fell into his enclosure in late May 2016. The incident spawned lots of enduring memes online criticising the child's parents for negligent care.
Michelle Obama proved once again why she is one of the coolest First Lady's of the United States ever when she appeared for a carpool karaoke session on the Late, Late Show with James Corden. FLOTUS rapped, rocked and sang her way into our hearts with her rendition of Beyonce's "Single Ladies" song and Missy Elliot's "Get Ur Freak On" party anthem.
After the Republican National Convention in July, it was revealed that much of Melania Trump’s speech was plagiarised from Michelle Obama’s 2008 Democratic National Convention speech. At first, the Trump campaign claimed Melania wrote the speech herself but side by side comparisons brought out the truth.
If you haven’t seen the Mannequin Challenge in your social media feeds or on your TV screen, then where have you been hiding? In this viral video genre, groups of people gather and freeze themselves in place, often in elaborate poses and scenarios, as one camera-toting person walks through the scene to zoom in on the details. It’s goofy, it’s creative, it’s innocent fun. The fad even hit The Singapore Women’s Weekly team:
With nearly 200,000 views on YouTube, the video of Kristina Kuzmic eating ice cream while explaining why parents shouldn't be friends with their kids clearly resonating with other like-minded adults in 2016. We love how she dumps wine in the ice cream too towards the end.
