Monthly Review: February 2012

Monthly Review: February 2012

Highlights from this month: February began with "When Did This Become Hotter Than This," a clever photographic commentary on the current definition of "hotness" which culminated to a debate about women's body-image issues on feminist and fashion blogs alike (just in time for the National Eating Disorder month); "Angry Facebook Parent" Tommy Jordon's video response to his daughter's angst-ridden status update went viral with a whopping 11 million views in the first day of upload; School-specific memes in the style of advice animals swept across Facebook, spawning several dozens of University Facebook meme pages for colleges in North America and Europe; Occupational survey series "What People Think I Do" took over Facebook newsfeed and became the biggest hit of the month; Hollywood icon Angelina Jolie's leg was dubbed a meme after her dazzling appearance in a revealing dress at the Oscars' Red Carpet reception.

When Did This Become Hotter Than This?

"When Did This Become Hotter Than This?" is an image macro series comparing two sets of photographs featuring celebrities or famous subjects from two distinct time periods or generations. What began as a commentary on the ever-changing definition of beauty across generations, eventually led to online debates regarding the controversial issue of body images and even expanded across areas outside of celebrities, such as cute animals and inanimate objects.

Facebook Parenting

Facebook Parenting is a YouTube video message in which father Tommy Jordon responds to his daughter Hanna’s disobedient Facebook post by shooting her laptop with a pistol on camera. The surprisingly tech-savvy dad became an instant Internet icon when the video reached the mark of 20 million views within the first five days of upload. Since then, numerous parody skits and re-enactments have followed suit on YouTube.

What People Think I Do…

"What People Think I Do vs. What I Really Do" is a series of visual charts depicting a range of preconceptions associated with a particular field of occupation or expertise. Unlike image macro series that are based on singular stereotypes like Advice Animals, this series compares varying impressions about one’s profession held by others, self-image and the often mundane reality of the job. For our extensive image collection, check out KYM Gallery – What People Think I Do.

Facebook University Meme Pages

Facebook University Meme Pages are community pages featuring Internet memes related to specific academic institutions on the social networking site Facebook. While Facebook pages for university-specific memes didn’t arrive en masse until February 2012, the earliest known Facebook Memes page was created for Florida International University of Miami on October 1st, 2011.

Angelina Jolie's Leg

Angelina Jolie's Leg became the hot topic of the night during and after the 2012 Academy Awards ceremony, where the Hollywood's iconic actress made a strong impression to the millions of audiences with a highly revealing dress. Within hours, people on the Internet went abuzz with chatters about Jolie's right leg, someone created a Twitter for Angelina Jolie's leg and another blogger launched a photoshop meme involving an exploitable image of her leg.

The Best of the Rest

• Save Derpy: It was a both ecstatic and disappointing month for the Bronies' favorite background character Derpy Hooves, whose fan-given name was initially recognized into the canon of the show, only to be retracted from the episode following complaints from some viewers that the character is offensive toward the disabled.

• Super Saiyans are Real: YouTuber KillaKarisma showed the Internet exactly what it takes to become a Super Saiyan, a transcendent state of being assumed by the warring members of the Saiyan race in the Dragon Ball manga / anime franchise. Lulzy mashups and response videos soon ensued, including a message from another viral video star, Coppercab.

• Story Time Jesus: The latest arrival from LOL Jesus memeplex features famous Biblical stories narrated in the voice of a chatty high school football captain.

• Honey Boo Boo Child: Meet Reality TV show Toddlers & Tiaras's pageant star Alana Thompson, known for her wild antics and her secret caffeine filled drink known as "Go-Go Juice."

• Reply Girls: This Internet slang term refers to a specific type of female YouTuber that attempts to capitalize off popular videos by uploading a reply with a sexually suggestive thumbnail.

Back on the Radar

• High Expectations Asian Father Identified: The man behind this classic advice animal series has been identified as South Korean actor Jeon Mu-Song, who is known for playing father figures in several Korean films and TV series.

• ACTA Protests Across Europe: Over 80 European cities came together behind the Guy Fawkes masks on February 11th to protest against the ratification of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), a controversial multinational treaty currently under EU's revision. If passed, it would establish international conventions for enforcement of intellectual property rights.

• Cinnamon Challenge Raises Concerns: Although its online history dates back to as early as 2001, this classic dare game saw its largest resurgence ever in the past couple of months, after a girl named Anna Diaz recorded a video of herself attempting the challenge and posted it onto YouTube back in December 2011.

• Save Miku Hatsune Campaign: Otakus' favorite virtual character idol Miku Hatsune have begun to disappear from YouTube due to suspicious copyright claims on the video sharing website. In reponse, Vocaloid fans launched the "Save Miku" campaign to track down whoever was behind the video deletions.