01
The Dress
Blue and black or white and gold? A photograph prompted a global argument about color perception.
Archive score96
Internet archive / 2015
Internet moments from 2015
Backdrop
The Internet in 2015
Year reference
The Force Awakens teaserA trailer became the internet’s shared event.
Source: Star Wars on YouTube- Live-streaming services and mobile video moved the web toward “watch it happen now” culture.
- The meme ecosystem was becoming faster and more visual, with Tumblr, Twitter, Reddit, and Facebook constantly feeding one another.
Archive order
Archive picks
02
Hotline Bling
Drake danced in glowing cubes; the internet supplied every other soundtrack.
Archive score94
03
Confused Nick Young
Nick Young’s tilted double-take, plus a few question marks, became the internet’s fastest way to ask: “What am I looking at?”
Archive score94
04
Why You Always Lying
A driveway accusation became a 1990s R&B-style comedy video, complete with theatrical settings and side-eye.
Archive score93
05
Left Shark
One blue shark’s offbeat choreography became a memorable part of the Super Bowl halftime show.
Archive score91
06
Dog of Wisdom
A dog in a tiny plane met a cloud-dwelling oracle, received one perfect piece of advice, and immediately broke into an ’80s TV-theme duet.
Archive score91
07
The Squatty Potty Unicorn
A fake medieval product pitch used a cheerful unicorn and rainbow ice cream to make bathroom posture wildly overdramatic.
Archive score91
08
El Risitas / Spanish Laughing Guy
An Andalusian comedian’s unstoppable laugh became the internet’s preferred response to spectacular technical failure.
Archive score91
09
When You’re Broke But Still Killing The Game
An early creator-controlled upload reveals the comedy voice before it became a larger internet rabbit hole.
Archive score90
010
Merry Chrysler
A deliberately mangled holiday greeting gave the internet a new December sign-off: “Merry Chrysler.”
Archive score90
011
FacebookJohn Oliver’s Facebook Privacy-Hoax Debunk
John Oliver fought Facebook copyright copypasta by making a more ridiculous piece of copypasta.
Archive score86
012
Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)
Silentó named the moves; the internet supplied endless versions of the dance.
Archive score86
013
Dover Police DashCam Confessional (Shake it Off)
Officer Jeff Davis lip-syncs “Shake It Off” in a staged Dover Police dashcam sketch.
Archive score84