Editor’s Note: 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 past year.
T
his year saw an influx of brand new sites, mobile applications and online platforms all competing for what little attention we have left. In online marketplaces, Airbnb inspired a photoshop meme after revealing their new logo, Fiverr users hired Rog and Tyrone to produce testimonials and Alibaba became the biggest tech IPO in United States history. News sites like Gawker, Upworthy and BuzzFeed took clickbait to a new level by mastering the art of manipulative headlines, inspiring The Onion to create the satirical Internet news site Clickhole. In crowdfunding, the platform Patreon, founded by Jack Conte of Pomplamoose, hit it big with creatives looking to fund their projects and became one of the many battlegrounds between GamerGate supporters and their critics. On the controversial side, Uber managed to piss off online journalists when an executive suggested the company dig up dirt on writers like Sarah Lacy of Pandodaily. Most recently, the taxi service app made headlines for increasing prices during a hostage siege in Sydney, Australia.
| | - Type: Livestreaming Website
- Profile: Twitch has become the top platform for all video game-related livestreams, including Let's Play videos and e-sports events.
- Notable Events: "Twitch Plays Pokemon" became one of the biggest livestream events in the history of the web, with an estimated 1.16 million total participants. In September, the site was acquired by Amazon for $970 million.
- Stats: Holds 1.8% of peak United States traffic with an Alexa rank of 106.
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| | - Type: Dating Application
- Profile: The most talked about matchmaking app of the year lets users to swipe through profiles of people within close proximity but only allows messaging with those they have matched with.
- Notable Events: Numerous Tumblr blogs were launched to mock various Tinder profiles and conversations. The app was widely discussed during the Sochi Olympic games after snowboarder Jamie Anderson revealed that many athletes were using the service in the Olympic Village.
- Stats: Over 1.2 billion profiles with more than 15 million matches each day
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| | - Type: Video Sharing Application
- Profile: A favorite among slapstick enthusiasts, Vine has created a whole new generation of celebrity vloggers, including Nash Grier, Cameron Dallas and Andy Tate.
- Notable Events: Bryan Silva showed off some cringeworthy rap skills in his "Gratata" rap videos, Peaches Monroe's eyebrows were "on fleek", Frank Ocean's "Thinkin' Bout You" got butchered and Tish Simmonds wouldn't get out of her mum's car.
- Stats: 40 million registered users, 57% female (infographic)
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| | - Type: Imageboard Website
- Profile: Frederick Brennan's imageboard is like a hybrid of 4chan and Reddit, allowing users to create and moderate their own custom discussion boards.
- Notable Events: Following Christopher Poole's controversial decision to ban all GamerGate discussion on 4chan, many users flocked to 8chan to escape the new restrictions.
- Stats: One million pageviews per day, 35,000 unique visitors per day and 400,000 posts per week. (The Daily Dot)
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| | - Type: Satirical Viral News Site
- Profile: The Onion launched Clickhole in June this year as a parody of Internet news sites like Upworthy and BuzzFeed, known for using "clickbait" web content to generate advertising revenue.
- Notable Events:
- Stats: 129,998 Facebook likes
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Mobile Apps
Websites
News Sites
katakis
that daily dot 8chan link
"pedophiles child porn gamergate"
oh boy
Nekolink
The last time I was on 8chan,it was full of gamergate bullshit. Glad 4chan is cured now
Pokeheart65
GamerGate was the cure 4chan needed, but Moot took over LIKE THE CANCER HE IS!
RTheSecond
Cured how? /pol/ is a shitposting board now.
Firebug
AND NO FLAPPY BIRD???
Don
That was in 2013.
Firebug
Well.
Egg, meet my face.
chowzburgerz
Dammit, you weren't angry. I wanted my eggs fried.
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