01
Gangnam Style
A horse-riding dance turned a Korean pop video into the whole internet’s choreography.
Archive score99
Internet archive / 2012
Internet moments from 2012
Backdrop
The Internet in 2012
Year reference
Curiosity’s rover selfieScience got an image made for the feed.
Source: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS- Facebook went public, confirming that the social network had become a giant commercial and cultural infrastructure.
- Smartphone sharing, Tumblr, Reddit, and YouTube gave a single image, video, or catchphrase multiple fast routes into the mainstream.
Archive order
Archive picks
02
Grumpy Cat
One permanent frown became a template for dry, negative captions.
Archive score96
03
Overly Attached Girlfriend
One fixed smile turned a contest parody into an endless caption machine.
Archive score95
04
Substitute Teacher
A roll call became “A-A-Ron,” “Dee-Nice,” and one of the web’s most durable ways to mispronounce a name on purpose.
Archive score95
05
Dumb Ways to Die
Set fire to your hair. Poke a stick at a grizzly bear. Then, somehow, remember to be safe around trains.
Archive score94
06
DollarShaveClub.com - Our Blades Are F***ing Great
Dollar Shave Club introduced its subscription pitch with a warehouse walk-and-talk that treated product marketing as a sketch.
Archive score94
07
East/West College Bowl
College-football introductions got one rule: every name had to be less plausible than the last.
Archive score94
08
Sweet Brown: “Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That”
A local-news interview about a fire produced “a cold pop,” “bronchitis,” and a line that outran the parking lot.
Archive score93
09
Edward and Bella — A Bad Lip Reading of Twilight
Twilight’s solemn romance got new dialogue about cake, fish slaps, and a mouse named Wee-Wee.
Archive score93
010
Caine’s Arcade
A $2 fun pass, 500 plays, and a cardboard arcade that got the whole internet in line.
Archive score92
011
Ridiculously Photogenic Guy
One runner’s camera-ready smile turned a race photo into a template for impossible composure.
Archive score91
012
Steve Jobs vs. Bill Gates
2012 YouTube turned the Apple–Microsoft rivalry into a three-minute comedy rap battle.
Archive score90
013
Good Mythical Morning
An early creator-controlled upload reveals the comedy voice before it became a larger internet rabbit hole.
Archive score90
014
How The Dark Knight Rises Should Have Ended
How The Dark Knight Rises Should Have Ended became a compact, instantly recognizable internet-comedy artifact.
Archive score89