Editor’s note: Work in Progress

About

Virgin-Killing Sweater or Sweater That Kills Virgins (Japanese: 童貞を殺すセーター, Doutei wo Korosu Sētā), also called “That Sweater” (例のセーター, Rei no Sētā or あのセーター, Ano Sētā), are nicknames given to a halter neck sweater which features a large open back. In a similar vein to previous clothing fetish memes, it quickly became to a buzzword among Japanese Twitter users in January 2017.

Origin

According to Pixiv Encyclopedia^[1], this term was coined in a Tweet by Japanese user @Magane4989 on January 25th, 2017.^[2] Its pictures of blue and black halter neck sweaters he found are actual products by an otaku costume shop Seventy-Three in a Chinese online shopping website Taobao.^[3] This tweet gained 56000 rewteets and 67000 favorites in its first 4 days.

Translation:

This sweater is … erotic.
The Virgin-Killing Sweater

Precursor

Prior to this 2017 craze, another nickname for this kind of sweater, “Sukebe Knit” (スケベニット, lit. “Erotic Knit”), spread from Tweets by Japanese cosplayer Noraneko (のらねこ) in June-July 2016.^[4][5] It hasn’t got much attention, but some amateur illustrators inspired by the sexy cosplayer had already posted dozens of illustrations to Pixiv^[6] and the social networking service.^[7]

Spread

Due to its catchy naming which inherited the manner from a 2015 clothing fetish trend Clothes That Kill Virgins, the allure of Virgin-Killing Sweater quickly spread on Twitter.^[8] Over 300 illustrations had been posted to Pixiv^[9] and Nico Nico Seiga^[10] in its first weekend. And many of the artworks are reblogged onto Tumblr.^[11] News outlets for this online craze for the sexy sweater were quickly published from several Japanese online gossip news media^[12][13] as well as English news media The SUN.^[14]

Kano Sisters’ Participation

On January 28th, Japanese celebrities Kyoko and Mika Kano, known collectively as Kano Sisters^[15], joined onto the otaku bandwagon with a blog post of Mika wearing that kind of open back dress.^[16] The sisters explained that they had been wearing that kind of sexy outfits since well before and called it as “Buttock Cleavage Dress that Even Angels Get Stunned”. This participation of sexy celebs from the outside of otaku community made a headline on online gossip news media.^[17][18][19]

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References

Editor’s Note: Registration is needed to browse the original videos/illustrations listed in this section.

About

The Bye Bye Man Poster Parodies refer to parodies of the poster for the 2017 movie The Bye Bye Man

Origin

Spread

Various Examples

External References

About

The Unicum Guides are a series of YouTube videos that were started on December 7, 2015 by World of Tanks player Sliphantom/Super_Noodle after being inspired by a similar series of videos for DotA 2 by Frey557. These informative videos cover various vehicles in World of Tanks in an MLG style of how to properly play them, and what crew skills and equipment to use for each.

Spread

These guides have become popular amongst the World of Tanks community, and have even inspired copycat guides created by other WoT players after Sliphantom lost interest.

These guides have even spawned a similar set of videos for World of Warships such as the “How To” series by Yuro.|

Reacting to something confusing and silly with something just a confusing and silly that even one ups it.
Like fighting fire with Mt Dew.

About

Arcanine was a former Media Moderator on the meme research site KnowYourMeme where he was known for having a shit ton of swaggerz and shiet.

History

He joined KYM on June in 2014 when he decided to join the site after a month of lurking on his PS NoGames Vita. About less than a year later he got promoted to Media Moderator on March 5th, 2015. A few months later after that he recieved user powers.

The Great Fall

On January 26th, 2016, a false rumor spread around KYM claiming that he had spam banned Armesi, even though he wouldn’t do such a thing. Because the average KYM user and moderator were so dimwitted to tell the difference from fact and fiction, they took the bait and harassed Arcanine about it for many weeks and months. Even Don Caldwell was that much of a dumbass to take away Arcanine’s user powers.
After a week had passed by, the best mod on KYM who got wrongfully accused for banning Armesi got his powers back but still got harrased.

KYM will never be the same

Arcanine later got demodded right before the great Skeleton War began in October, due to the userbase believing he was a bad mod when he was actually a good mod instead and was the victim of framing.

A few days after 2017 began, he and (((HolyCrapItsBob))) got into an arguement on the IRC where Bob told Arcanine to kill himself. Because the userbase was so delusional, they thought Arcanine was the one who did it so the mods decided to take away his white privilege of being a mod ever again.

Then on January 28th of the same year and month, he left KYM to only come back equipped with a keyboard and the perk One Man Army to have his revenge via Arcanine’s Resistance Army.

Search Interest

About

Hey Hey Hey, This Is Library is a viral video in which a man quiets a group of protesters in a library by saying “hey hey hey, this is library.”

Origin

On January 21st, 2017, a video was uploaded to YouTube showing a group of student protesters at the University of Washington chanting “Who has the power? We’ve got the power” are interrupted by a man saying “Hey hey hey, this is library.”. The original video has since been removed but was subsequently reuploaded (shown below).

Spread

That day, the original video was submitted to /r/videos,^[1] where it gathered upwards of 69,000 votes (87% upvoted) and 5,500 comments. Meanwhile, YouTuber Serdar Sed uploaded a Thug Life remix of the video (shown below, left). Also on January 21st, 2017, YouTuber Trimox Chris uploaded an “I Am The One” remix of the video (shown below, right).

On January 23rd, a post titled “Whats this ‘Hey hey this is library’ meme i have been seeing everywhere?” was submitted to /r/OutOfTheLoop.^[2] That day, YouTuber Cool Songs uploaded a trap music remix of the video (shown below).

Search Interest

External References

About

The Narrator refers to a dialogue meme format popular on Twitter in which a user states something about themselves and are then interrupted by an imagined narrator contradicting the user’s statement.

Origin

“The Narrator” gag in which a person says something but is then interrupted by a narrator immediately contradicting the statement is a popular trope of the television series Arrested Development development (2003). The show’s narrator, voiced by Ron Howard, often interjects during scenes to clarify falsehoods made by the show’s characters (ex: shown below).^[1]

Michael: "Okay, that would be disgusting if you’d actually slept with her, but I don’t think you did.
G.O.B.: “I did. And it was disgusting.”
Narrator: “They didn’t, but it would have been.”

Spread

The meme saw modest spread in the following years, appearing infrequently on Twitter and Tumblr] usually as a reference to the show. On August 26th, 2016, Twitter user @flahertykeely published what many credit with sparking the joke format’s surge on Twitter in 2016, gaining over 95,000 retweets (shown below).

The format held traction as a popular dialogue meme during the 2016 United States Presidential Election, particularly in reference to Donald Trump. For the 2016 United States Presidential Election Debates, Arrested Development writer and narrator Ron Howard released videos in which he reprised his role of the narrator, interjecting himself into footage of the debates when Trump told falsehoods.

On January 19th, 2017, Twitter Moments^[2] featured a compilation of narrator jokes as they related to the current political climate. The joke also began spreading to Facebook meme pages around this time. On January 20th, the page Sad Comics^[4] posted a variation that gained over 1,300 reactions and 473 shares (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

Unavailable

External References

About

Animal Jam or National Geographic Animal Jam is a massively multiplayer online virtual world launched in 2010 by WildWorks in partnership with the National Geographic Society. The game, which has experienced 500% year-over-year growth, has more than 70 million registered players, and it is one of the fastest-growing online children’s properties worldwide.

History

The game was developed in 2010 by WildWorks (formerly called Smart Bomb Interactive), and it was launched on September 9, 2010. It is one of the fastest-growing online children’s properties worldwide; in May 2011, Animal Jam announced it had surpassed 1 million registered players. By August 2012, the game surpassed 6 million players. In March 2013 the game had surpassed 10 million players. In 2014, it was announced Animal Jam has reached 30 million players worldwide. By 2016, it had reached over 50 million players.

Reception

The game has received relatively positive reviews, however was criticized for moderation flaws and strict limitations. Common Sense Media reviewer Dana Villamagna gave Animal Jam a 3-star rating, saying that the site was most appropriate for ages ten and over due to dangerous “unmonitored chat.” Gamezebo reviewer Nick Tylwalk gave the site a 4-star review, stating that “there’s something for animal lovers over a wide range of ages.”

Gameplay

Animal Jam takes place in a fictional area known as Jamaa, containing various biomes and cartoon player-created animals. Players can create an animal with an anonymous 3-part name, such as “Majestic Smartybear”, dress it up with virtual clothing, and control it in the gameplay environment. The original six virtual animals that could be created were the panda, rabbit, tiger, wolf, koala, and monkey. Many more animals have been added following the six, letting players have the possibility of seeing one of their favorite animals in the game. Players can also customize their dens with furniture, chat with other players, adopt pets, play mini-games, buy additional furniture and clothing with gems and diamonds, attend parties, and go on various RPG-style adventures. There is a membership feature costing real money, and members get access to exclusive dens, pets, animals, and adventures among other things.

Let’s Play Videos

Search Interest

External References

About

He Will Not Divide Us is an online performance art project by actor Shia Labeouf, featuring a 24-hour livestream outside the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, New York. The stream will be broadcast continuously for the duration of Donald Trump’s first term as president of the United States.

Origin

On January 20th, 2017, LaBeouf launched the livestream during the inauguration of Donald Trump.^[1] According to Indiewire, hundreds of people showed up to the livestream location the first day, including actor Jaden Smith.^[4]

“Open to all, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the participatory performance will be live-streamed continuously for four years, or the duration of the presidency. In this way, the mantra “HE WILLNOTDIVIDE US” acts as a show of resistance or insistence, opposition or optimism, guided by the spirit of each individual participant and the community."

Spread

That day, Twitter user @daisyrdley^[2] tweeted photos LaBeouf and Jaden Smith at the livestream location, garnering upwards of 124,150 likes and 61,800 retweets within 72 hours (shown below).

That day, YouTuber I’m a fish began uploading highlights from the stream in which /pol/ users praise Donald Trump, hold signs with Pepe the Frog, play the song “Shadilay” and write “KEK” on the museum wall (shown below).

On January 22nd, Infowars host @PaulJosephWatson posted footage of LaBeouf aggressively yelling “he will not divide us” in the face of a young man, along with the claim that “Shia Labeouf maniacally screams ‘he will not divide us!’ in a Trump supporter’s face” (shown below). Within 24 hours, the tweet gained over 10,600 likes and 7,700 retweets. That day, Redditor OnePonders submitted the video to /r/PublicFreakout^[3] in a post titled “Shia LaBeouf gets divided.” Many news outlets subsequently labeled the young man as a “white supremacist.”

Arrest

On the evening of January 25th, 2017, Labeouf was arrested on stream on suspicion of assault (shown below). According to a New York Police Department spokesman, Labeouf allegedly grabbed a man’s scarf and scratched his face, then pushed him to the ground after saying something that offended Labeouf on the livestream.^[5][6]

On January 26th, the @HWNDUS Twitter feed claimed that Labeouf was arrested because of a video in which a man says “Hitler did nothing wrong” (shown below). Shortly after, the feed posted another tweet claiming “Shia was attacked by a Nazi” along with the hashtag #FreeShia^[7] . That day, the hashtag became a trending topic within the United States, often accompanied by both protests and mockeries of the arrest.

Also on January 26th, YouTuber $15 American World Adventures uploaded a video of the alleged victim talking to the police, who claimed he was attacked by Labeouf unprovoked (shown below). The man did not appear to be the same individual from the “Hitler did nothing wrong” video.

Search Interest

External References

About

The Narrator refers to a dialogue meme format popular on Twitter in which a user states something about themselves and are then interrupted by an imagined narrator contradicting the user’s statement.

Origin

“The Narrator” gag in which a person says something but is then interrupted by a narrator immediately contradicting the statement is a popular trope of the television series Arrested Development development (2003). The show’s narrator, voiced by Ron Howard, often interjects during scenes to clarify falsehoods made by the show’s characters (ex: shown below).^[1]

Michael: "Okay, that would be disgusting if you’d actually slept with her, but I don’t think you did.
G.O.B.: “I did. And it was disgusting.”
Narrator: “They didn’t, but it would have been.”

Spread

The meme saw modest spread in the following years, appearing infrequently on Twitter and Tumblr] usually as a reference to the show. On August 26th, 2016, Twitter user @flahertykeely published what many credit with sparking the joke format’s surge on Twitter in 2016, gaining over 95,000 retweets (shown below).

The format held traction as a popular dialogue meme during the 2016 United States Presidential Election, particularly in reference to Donald Trump. For the 2016 United States Presidential Election Debates, Arrested Development writer and narrator Ron Howard released videos in which he reprised his role of the narrator, interjecting himself into footage of the debates when Trump told falsehoods.

On January 19th, 2017, Twitter Moments^[2] featured a compilation of narrator jokes as they related to the current political climate. The joke also began spreading to Facebook meme pages around this time. On January 20th, the page Sad Comics^[4] posted a variation that gained over 1,300 reactions and 473 shares (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

Unavailable

External References

About

*St. Louis Manifest is a historical reenactment Twitter bot that recounts the tragic fates of German Jewish refugees who died in concentration camps under Nazi Germany after being denied asylum in the United States in May 1939, using data from the United States Holocaust Memorial and Museum (USHMM). Upon its launch in January 2017 in observance of the Holocaust Remembrance Day, the memorial project immediately went viral on the social media, as its debut coincided with President Donald Trump’s controversial temporary suspension of the refugee admissions program and entry of people from seven Muslim-majority nations.

Origin

On January 27th, 2017, shortly after President Trump signed an executive order calling for an immediate suspension of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) and entry of any Syrian nationals into the American soil, a newly launched Twitter bot named St. Louis Manifest (@Stl_Manifest) began tweeting photographs and names of hundreds of German Jewish refugees aboard the transatlantic liner MS St. Louis who were denied entry into America by the U.S. Coast Guard in May 1939 and ultimately perished away in Nazi concentration camps across Europe.

Spread

[researching]

External References

Overview

Donald Trump’s “Muslim Ban” refers to a controversial executive order issued by President Trump which calls for an immediate suspension of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) and entry admission to any foreign nationals originating from seven Muslim-majority countries, regardless of their visa status. Upon its enactment on January 27th, 2016, Trump’s anti-immigration policy drew sharp criticisms from politicians, advocacy groups and public opinion alike, as well as a series of protests at major international airports across the United States.

Background

Formally entitled “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States,” President Trump’s executive order stipulated the immediate suspension of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), a joint federal agency that identifies and admits refugees for resettlement into the United States, and a temporary denial-of-entry to any foreign nationals originating from seven Muslim-majority countries, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen and Syria, with the duration ranging from 60 days to indefinite, regardless of their visa status.

Developments

[researching]

Online Reactions

Airport Protests

Search Interest

External References

About

Winona Ryder’s SAG Award Reaction refers to various facial expressions made by actress Winona Ryder while standing next to fellow Stranger Things cast member David Harbour during their acceptance speech for winning Best Ensemble Drama at the 2017 Screen Actors Guild Awards (SAG Awards).

Origin

On January 29th, 2017, the cast of Stranger Things was awarded Best Ensemble Drama at the 2017 SAG Awards ceremony in Los Angeles, California. During Harbour’s politically-charged acceptance speech, Ryder could be seen making a wide variety of facial expressions (shown below).

During the speech, Twitter user @WellsAdams posted screencaptures of Ryder’s facial expressions, captioned with “Winona Ryder is lit AF” and “Winona Ryder is ordering a drink on stage” (shown below).^[1][2]

Spread

That evening, other Twitter users joked about Ryder’s reactions, with many commenting on the wide range of emotions she appears to go through (shown below).

Also on January 29th, YouTuber davefink6667 uploaded a remix of the acceptance speech which zooms in on Ryder’s face wwhile the “Strangers Things”: theme plays in the background (shown below, left). On January 30th, Redditor sabrefudge submitted a similar clip featuring the song “Mad World” covered by Michael Andrews and Gary Jules played in the background (shown below, right). Within 11 hours, the post gained over 4,300 votes (89% upvoted) and 520 comments on /r/videos.^[8]

In the coming days, several news sites published articles about the online reaction to Ryder’s facial expressions, including The Daily Mail,^[3] The Telegraph,^[4] The Sun,^[5] Mashable^[6] and Page Six.^[7]

Search Interest

External References

“Fugg my doot” is a meme which originated from 4chan’s darkest hole, /b. the OP of a thread declared that whatever post got trips at the end of their post id first would be forced into a meme, regardless of whether it was a picture or text. Sometime into the thread trips were achieved with the text reading “Well Fugg my Doot.” This phrase was immediately picked up and is paraphrased as simply “Fugg my Doot” and other forms. The original phrase and its many paraphrased forms have since begun spreading to other threads on the site as an expression of surprise or disappointment and has been inserted to other meme formats such as:
“>2017
>not fugging a doot” ,“Op enjoys being fugged in the doot” ,“Fug Life” and “beep beep on my way to fugg your doot.”

About

#StopPresidentBannon is a Twitter hashtag launched in protest Donald Trump’s appointment of Chief Strategist Steve Bannon to the National Security Council in January 2017.

Origin

On January 28th, 2016, United States President Donald Trump signed a memorandum to reorganize the National Security Council (NSC), adding his chief strategist Steve Bannon and Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, while removing the director of national intelligence and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. That day, Interim Dean Will Mebane of St. Paul’s Episcospal Cathedral tweeted the hashtag #StopPresidentBannon, which gained over 180 likes and 150 retweets within 48 hours (shown below).^[1]

Spread

That day, other Twitter users began tweeting criticisms of Bannon’s appointment using the “#StopPresidentBannon,” leading the hashtag to trend on the social networking platform (shown below).

On January 29th, artist Pia Guerra tweeted an illustration of Bannon seated behind Trump referring the president as a “big boy” (shown below).^[2] Within 24 hours, the post gained over 18,000 likes and 13,000 retweets. The same day, the @Impeach_D_Trump^[3] feed posted a picture of Bannon with “President” written underneath juxtaposed with a photograph of Trump with “Vice President” written underneath (shown below, right).

In the coming days, various news sites published articles about the trending hashtag, including Newsweek,^[4] Time,^[5] Yahoo! News,^[6] UpRoxx^[7] and Fortune.^[8]

Search Interest

Not available.

External References

About

Dancing Winnie the Pooh is a 3D-rendered animation of the Disney character performing the signature dance from South Korean singer Psy’s 2012 viral hit music video “Gangnam Style”. In late January 2017, the animation went viral on Twitter with a series of audio-dubbed remixes featuring other pop songs, in a similar vein to the development of the 1999 classic viral video “Dancing Baby”.

Origin

[researching]

Spread

[researching]

Examples

External References

WIP

About

“Is That a JoJo Reference?” is a catchphrase used in response to pictures that include allusions to the manga and anime series JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, which gained traction in mid 2016 as mockery to fans of the series that alleged references on unrelated material, mostly on poses.

About

Yaint is a slang contraction of the words “you are all not.” In 2017, a series of comics and image macros in which a character insists on using the expression began trending on the microblogging site Tumblr.

Origin

On December 11th, 2003, Urban Dictionary user lauren submtted an entry for “yain’t,” defining it as a combination of the words “y’all” and “a’int” (shown below).

On December 17th, 2016, Tumblr user nyanberry^[4] posted a comic of Superman arm wrestling a glowing figure who replies “yaint” to the phrase “you are all not.” Within two months, the post gained over 24,400 notes.

Spread

On January 1st, 2017, Instagram user owen_kung reposted the Superman comic.

On January 30th, Instagram user @empactivated postedan edited version of the arm wrestling comic with the characters Zarya and McCree from Overwatch (shown below).

Search Interest

External References

Overview

2017 Quebec Mosque Shooting was a mass shooting that occurred at the Islamic Cultural Centre in Quebec, Canada in late January 2017, in which a lone gunman killed six people and injured an additional seventeen others. Following the incident, Quebec student Alexandre Bissonnette was arrested as the only suspect.

Background

On January 29th, 2017, a lone gunman wearing a head covering entered the mosque after the evenings scheduled prayers, opening fire on those remaining inside. In the attack, six people were fatally shot, and an additional seventeen people were injured, five of which were in critical condition.

Developments

Online Reaction

That evening, the Islamic Cultural Center streamed a Facebook Live video outside of the mosque, gathering upwards of 496,000 views, 8,8,00 shares and 5,300 reactions over the next 48 hours (shown below).

Meanwhile, a thread about the shooting reached the front page of /r/worldnews,^[5] gathering upwards of 48,000 points (84% upvoted) and 17,200 comments within 48 hours.

Justin Trudeau’s Response

Immediately after the incident, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gave his condolences to the victims, denouncing the attack as “cowardly” and labelling it a “terrorist attack on Muslims in a center of worship and refuge.” The following day, Trudeau delivered a statement about the attack, referring to it as “senseless violence” that has “no place in Canadian society” (shown below).

Donald Trump’s Response

Also on January 30th, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer delivered a statement condemning the attack and noting that United States President Donald Trump had spoken with Trudeau following the incident (shown below).

Suspect

Following the shooting, 27-year-old Alexandre Bissonnette was arrested after calling police to report himself as the shooter. Bissonnette was subsequently charge with six counts of first-degree murder and five counts of attempted murder. Prior to Bissonnette’s identity being revealed, Fox News tweeted that the suspect was “of Moroccan origin” (shown below).^[2]

On January 30th, Bissonnette was identified as the only suspect. That day, Heavy^[4] published an article titled “Alexandre Bissonnette: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know,” noting that he was a student at the Universite Laval and held “right-wing, pro-Israel, pro-Trump and anti-immigration beliefs.”

On January 31st, The Daily Dot^[3] reported that Bissonnette was a “far-right internet troll,” citing his Facebook likes which included Donald Trump and French politician Marine Le Pen. Additionally, the article highlighted several instances of Twitter posts incorrectly identifying the suspect as a Muslim or refugee. That day, a post titled “Terrorist who killed 6 in Quebec was member of the alt-right” reached the front page of the /r/fuckthealtright^[6] subreddit, garnering more than 24,800 points (65% upvoted) and 2,700 comments within 24 hours.

4chan Post

Following the shooting, a post on 4chan’s /pol/ board made by a Canadian user asking “what day are mosques most active? I’m going to demonstrate at the main one in my city and want to go at the right time” was discovered, leading some to speculate that Bissonnette submitted the thread prior to the attack (shown below).^[1]

Search Interest

External References

About

Countess Boochie Flagrante refers to a series of posts made on Tumblr in which people jokingly blame their bad behavior on their alter-ego named Countess Boochie Flagrante.

Origin

In response to a post by Tumblr user weedcellar that claimed “Eminem isn’t violent, Slim Shady is,” Tumblr user hoebutmadefashion posted “im robbing a bank tomorrow and when the cops come for me imma tell them it was my alter ego countess boochie flagrante.” While the date of the post is unclear, Tumblr user signedsincerelymegan^[1] reblogged the post on December 22nd, 2014, suggesting it was posted in late 2014.

Spread

Various Examples

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External References