KYM Review: Events of 2014
This article is part of Know Your Meme’s 2014 State of the Internet series looking back at some of the most memorable and popular memes, events, subcultures, sites, apps and people that made their mark online this year.
he word "eventful" would be an understatement to describe the highs, the lows and everything in between that made 2014 yet another tumultuous year on the Internet. In North America, we began with online discussions about the drastic effects of climate change, starting with a whirlwind of snowstorms and record-breaking declines in temperature across the continent that became known as the Polar Vortex and followed by a series of unusual earthquakes across California in March. The year also kicked off with an explosive surge of viral moments in the world of professional sports, beginning with the Super Bowl XLVIII in the United States, followed by the 2014 Winer Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia (which rang in the new year with its fair share of viral videos, hashtags and memes) and culminating with the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Meanwhile, the globalization of viral media reached an unprecedented level as the usage of social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter continue to grow beyond the boundaries of languages and cultures across the world; when dozens of Nigerian schoolgirls and three Israeli students went missing in their respective countries, only weeks apart, the families of the missing students in both countries bonded through the sharing of the hashtags #BringBackOurGirls and #BringBackOurBoys.
GamerGate
| | GamerGate refers to the online backlash against perceived breaches of journalistic integrity on video game news sites that occurred as a result of the Quinnspiracy, an online controversy surrounding indie game developer Zoe Quinn’s alleged affairs with a number of male writers working in the video game news industry. |
Mike Brown's Death
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The Fappening
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Twitch Plays Pokemon
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2014 FIFA World Cup
Cyberattacks
Operation World Cup
Lizard Squad
Operation Save Gaza
OpKKK
The Snappening
Celebrity Nude Photo Leak
Sony Pictures Entertainment Hack
Conflicts
Israel-Gaza Conflict
Ukrainian Revolution
Cliven Bundy's Ranch Standoff
Shovel Fight
Tumblr-4chan Raids
Protests
Ferguson Riots
Copenhagen Zoo Euthanasia Protests
Scottish Independence Referendum
Hong Kong Protests
12F Venezuela Protests
Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Ruling Protests
U.K. Porn Censorship Protest
The Day We Fight Back
Internet Slowdown Day
Sporting Events
2014 Sochi Winter Olympics
Super Bowl XLVIII
Kevin Durant's MVP Speech
Richard Sherman's Postgame Rant
Washington Redskins Name Controversy
Donald Sterling's Racism Controversy
EVE Online: The Bloodbath of B-R5RB
Scandals
Donald Sterling's Racism Controversy
2014 Miss Indiana's Normal Body
Quinnspiracy and GamerGate
Mark Driscoll's 'Penis Homes'
Bill Cosby Rape Allegations
Comcast Customer Service Fiasco
Jay-Z & Solange Knowles Fight
James Franco's Instagram Solicitation
Woody Allen Child Molestation Allegations
Rolling Stone's UVA Frat Rape Story
Fine Young Capitalists Game Jam
Kendall Jones Hunting Photo Controversy
Mindy Kaling's Elle Cover
Emily Lett's Abortion Video
Scarlett Johansson's Sodastream Ad
Duke Student Porn Star Scandal
Shia Labeouf's Plagiarism Controversy
#CancelNancyGrace
#CancelColbert
U.S. Airway Porn Tweet Gaffe
Pranks
4chan Best Book Read Raid
Pay My Tuition Challenge
Digiorno's Design-A-Pizza Kit Raid
Dumb Starbucks
American Airlines Terrorism Tweet
Stunts
The Hot Pocket Stunt
The Potato Salad Kickstarter
Kira Hudson's Facebook Lesson
Hidden Cash Scavenger Hunt
Cicada 3301
The Potato Salad Kickstarter Campaign
Technology
Amazon Buys Twitch
Yahoo Buys Tumblr
iPhone 6 Bending Issue
The Rosetta Mission
#Shirtstorm During Philae Landing
Bill Nye vs. Ken Ham Debate
The Heartbleed Bug
The Shellshock Bug
Disasters
Ebola Outbreak in Africa
North American Polar Vortex
California Earthquakes
Malaysian Airlines Flight 370
Malaysian Airlines MH17 Crash
M/V Sewol Sinking
LaosAN74 Crash
Holidays
Singles Awareness Day
4/20 Easter
Talk Like a Pirate Day
No Bra Day
April Fools Day
Good Knee High Socks Day
Black Friday
Cyber Monday
Giving Tuesday
Steam Sales
Crimes
Michael Brown's Death
Eric Garner's Death
Jada's Sexual Assault Case
Craigslist Murder Confession
Reynolds High School Shooting
Isla Vista Killings
Georgia Toddler's 'Hot Car' Death
Garnett Paul Spear's Death
Justice
Oscar PIstorius' Trial
Affluenza
Michael Dunn's Trial
Slenderman Implicated in Winsconsin Teenagers Case
Canadian Parliament Shooting
David Kalac's 4chan Murder Confession
Midwest Furwest Poison Gas Attack
Operation Shell Shock
Farid de la Morlette's Arrest
Grand Canyon Squirrel Kicker
Maryville Rape Case
Conventions
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4ndy
What's that written in blood in the Mike Brown shrine photo? Does it say… DON? It all makes sense now!
travis_bickle
YEAH!
Fuck yeah, this year is over!
Like i said before, unless nuclear winter comes around in the next 5 years, this was the worst year of the decade.
Let's do a recap, shall we, mentlegen?
>The Ukraine crisis
>Putin confirming his status
>ISIS
>SJW’s going absolute apeshit
>GamerGate
>Pirate bay gets snuffed
>Furry gassing
>Bullshit porn laws in the UK
>The rape scandal, which might ruin the lives of possible innocents.
>Hong Kong protests
>Celebrity deaths
>Tonnes of completely stupid dare trends and hashtag campaigns
>Malaysian airlines disasters
>American cops killing innocents and subsequent protests
>Bullshit PR by Ubisoft concerning bad games
>Ebola outbreak
>Net neutrality and American isp’s fucking the internet up
>Rampant feminist bullshit
>Mexican school children missing
>Rolf Harris paedophillia scandal
>Massacres across the world
>Bill Cosby
And we managed to top all that shit of, somehow, by the killings of children by terrorists:
You… You know what? I take it back. If nuclear winter DOES come around sooner, we fucking deserve it.
You might not deserve it, your family might not deserve it, shit, maybe I don't deserve it, but WE deserve it, as a fucking species.
Happy 2014, i'd love y'all if you weren't humans
Rylade475
I know it's pretty recent, but why not include the Sydney Siege in the crimes section? It was pretty significant
benracer
Right now… may just be because my brain is fried… I am wondering what classifies the category "justice" Is it just stuff involving court cases, law issues, something else?
superjumpman
ummm, i can't read the description of gamergate because the text is blocked by an ad.
can someone fix this please?
ericruijun
It was one Hell of an Year and I knew it would be. I noticed it way back when two planes fell in the same week, and when revolutions and Protests were springing from everywhere. It also seems like there weren't much cheerful events…
junkers1337
And we're only about halfway through the decade people.
Kelazi5
It's kinda funny and ironic that the gif they used for Twitch Plays Pokemon is from Digimon the Movie.
Penny
I thought I'm gonna see the Hungarian Internet Tax Protests at the protests but not. Well anyway, this year was sucking like the previous, can't wait till the next one.
Master Mime
I wonder how much more eventful 2015 will be.