Overview

Daniel Shaver was a pest-control worker who was fatally shot by police officer Philip Brailsford at a La Quinta Inn & Suites hotel in Mesa, Arizona in mid-January 2016.

Background

On January 18th, 2016, Shaver showed a scoped air rifle he had been using to exterminate birds as a pest control worker to two people in his hotel room in Mesa, Arizona and pointed the gun out his hotel window. After receiving a complaint from another guest, hotel management called the police to investigate. Police subsequently arrived and delivered orders to Shaver and his guests, noting that if they failed to properly comply they could be shot. While complying with the officer’s request to crawl forward, Shaver reached toward his waistband leading Brailsford to open fire with an AR-15 rifle. Shaver, who was found to be unarmed, was shot five times and was killed almost instantly.

Developments

Body Camera Video

In March 2016, Brailsford was charged with second-degree murder. That month, Brailsford was terminated from the Mesa Police Department, who cited policy violations including having the words “You’re Fucked” engrabed on his rifle cover and unsatisfactory performance. he was Shaver’s wife was told she could see the body camera footage of the incident if she did not speak about the footage to the press. Under the orders of Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Sam Myers, the motion was granted to seal the footage of the incident. In May 2016, portions of the video were released by Myers, omitting the moment when Shaver was shot. On December 7th, Brailsford was acquitted on all charges, leading to the release of the full unedited body camera footage (shown below). Within four days, the footage uploaded to YouTube by BNO News gathered more than 1.38 million views and 10,100 comments.

Online Reaction

The following day, Redditor SecretSnack submitted the video to /r/PublicFreakout,^[1] where it gathered more than 61,400 points (86% upvoted) and 15,100 comments. Also on December 8th, The Young Turks discussed the video (shown below).

That evening, a photograph of Brailsford reached the front page of /r/Libertarian,^[2] /r/FullCommunism^[3] and /r/Bad_Cop_No_Donut,^[4] referring to him as a “killer” and “murderer” (shown below).

Search Interest

External References

Overview

Death of August Ames refers to the suicide of adult film actress August Ames, following a controversy regarding a tweet that some perceived as homophobic. Following the tweet, Ames was said to have been cyberbullied by some Twitter users, which some claim to have driven the actress to suicide.

Background

On December 3rd, 2017, August Ames tweeted, “whichever (lady) performer is replacing me tomorrow for @EroticaXNews , you’re shooting with a guy who has shot gay porn, just to let cha know. BS is all I can say🤷🏽‍♀️ Do agents really not care about who they’re representing? #ladirect I do my homework for my body🤓✏️🔍” The post (shown below) received more tahn 320 retweets and 1,400 likes in eight days.

Search Interest

About

Cat Person is a short story published in The New Yorker by Kristen Roupenian about a young woman who meets an older man, goes on a date and has a bad experience. The story went viral after it was shared by women with whom the story deeply resonated.

History

On December 4th, 2017, The New Yorker published to their website the short story “Cat Person” by Kristen Roupenian.^[1] It involves the characters Margot, a 20-year old student, and Robert, a 34-year old man who meets her at her job as a concession stand girl at a movie theater. After a few days of flirtatious texting, the two meet for a date, and have a poor kiss and awkward sex. Margot elects not to see Robert anymore and the story ends with him sending her a series of depressed text messages after seeing her out with another man, eventually calling her a whore.

Online Reaction

In the days after the piece came out, it began seeing some spread online. TV Critic Emily Nussbaum tweeted the story, saying she loved it, on December 7th (shown below).^[2]

Search Interest

External References

About

Haha Just Kidding But… is a text-based meme popular on Tumblr in which a person begins making an obtuse political point one might associate with Tumblr discourse before interrupting themselves mid-thought with a variation of the phrase “haha just kidding but that sounds like something someone on here would say doesn’t it?”

Origin

On March 30th, 2017, Tumblr user gordons^[1] wrote a text post which read:

Any hatred for Ayn Rand here secretly stems from misogyny for intellectual women in power lmao no I’m just pulling your dick but that sounded like something someone would say on here didn’t it

The post gained over 25,000 notes.

Spread

According to Meme Documentation, ^[2] the post format did not grow popular until August of 2017. A popular post from that time posted August 13th, 2017 by discourseful^[3] read:

jokes that finish with “haha just kidding but that sure sounds like something someone on here would say” are ableist because it fools people into thinking someone really means it but then makes them feel stupid haha just kidding but that sure sounds like something someone on here would say

That post gained over 16,000 notes. On August 19th, Tumblr user diablojobs^[4] made a post using the joke crossed with hewwo which gained over 54,000 notes (shown below).

stop the “hewwo” meme
its appropriating DD/LG culture and making fun of it, which invalidates our experiences! we didnt choose to have this kink and haha just kidding but could you fucking imagine.

Several posts on Tumblr using the format have gained tens of thousands of notes, causing Meme Documentation to document the meme on December 10th, 2017.^[2]

Various Examples

Search Interest

Unavailable

External References

About

3251 Upvotes is a series of four-panel exploitables, which people use to express dismay toward the comments that receive upvotes on Reddit.

Origin

The earliest known instance of the meme was posted on January 5th, 2017 by Redditor^[1] Redkurtain in the /r/dankmemes subreddit. The comic features a line-drawing person looking around and saying “Lamb Sauce.” The final panel shows their upvote tally exceeding 3,251. The post (shown below) received more than 5,300 points (91% upvotes) and 30 comments in 11 months.

Spread

The following month, on February 27th, Readditor^[2] system_requirements posted the meme with a hat photoshopped over the character. In this instance, they are saying “won in tarna-”. The post (shown below, left) received more than 3,100 upvotes (95% upvoted) and 30 comments in nine months.

On April 9th, an anonymous 4chan^[3] user posted the meme in the /pol/ message board. In this example, the character says “coherent political discussion” in the first panel and “/pol/ btfo” in the third. The post (shown below, center) received more than 80 comments before archiving.

The following month, on May 14th, Imgur user iStabs posted a variation with the line “Upvote if you remember some generic shit we all remember.” The fourth panel shows “3,272 points.” The post (shown below, right) received more than 6,000 upvotes and 226,000 views in seven months.

On September 28th, Redditor^[5]FXRGRXD posted a square variation of the meme in /r/dankmemes. In the third panel, the character says, “Rick and Morty fans are not as intelligent as they think they are.” The post (shown below) received more thand 49,000 points (89% upvoted) and 800 comments.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References

About

Me.me is a content aggregation website that indexes and curates notable instances of internet memes from various online communities and social networking sites. Since its original launch under the name Onsizzle in 2015, the website has revamped itself into a search engine for internet memes, which are categorically sorted by tags and associated keywords, as well as venturing into a cryptocurrency market centered around the concept of trading memes, in part inspired by the tongue-in-cheek concept of “meme economy” and its spin-off projects like NASDANQ.

History

[researching]

Features

Me.me Trends

[researching]

Meme Derived Asset Exchange

[researching]

Highlights

Me.me Zeitgeist

Search Interest

External References

About

MAGA Christmas Ornament Reviews refers to a popular trolling technique on Amazon in which people leave negative reviews for Trump-themed Christmas ornaments with the MAGA slogan on them by writing parodies of the Trump administration.

Origin

In November of 2016, the Trump campaign began selling Christmas ornaments related to Trump, such as a MAGA hat. On November 23rd, 2016, The Washington Post^[1] reported on the ornaments. The MAGA hat ornament was finished with 14-karat gold and cost $149. Twitter user @KyleGriffin1^[2] tweeted about the ornament that day (shown below).

Spread

Once the product was listed on Amazon, people began trolling the listing by leaving 1-star reviews for the product with references to Trump and the campaign. On the 23rd, Amazon^[3] user DMCReports wrote a lengthy review of the product that was a thinly veiled parody referencing their thoughts about the election (shown below).

Over the course of the following year, the trend continued with the MAGA hat and other ornaments. The trend was noticed the following year. On November 24th, 2017, Twitter user @BBCocoBear^[4] tweeted about the trend (shown below).

On December 7th, People^[5] wrote about the trend. Uproxx^[6] and AV Club^[7] also wrote about the trend.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References

About

73 / “The B0aty Number” is a phrase that refers to an amount of damage inflicted during a specific Player-Versus-Player fight between the Old School RuneScape (OSRS) streamers B0aty^[1] and Skill Specs^[2] in 2015. The event led to people associating the number with B0aty and reacting whenever it is referenced. It is common for people to over-exaggerate their amusement or act incredulous when doing so. There are also snowclone variants of the phrase such as “The Adam Lyne Integer”, “The Dead Ginger Digit” and “The Bpaptu Numeral”. These phrases are often associated with the Joy emoji.

Origin

In 2015, Twitch streamers and friends B0aty and Skill Specs fought each other in a death match on stream, during which B0aty confidently states that Skill Specs would not be able to inflict enough damage to wipe out his remaining health and kill him. Immediately after the remark, Skill Specs inflicts the damage in one attack and kills him. Following this, he bursts into laughter while B0aty can be heard in the background commenting in disbelief at what just occurred. On 2nd July 2015, a video was uploaded to Skill Specs’ YouTube channel which shows the entire fight from his point of view. As of December 2017 it has been viewed over 173,000 times.

Spread & Online Presence

Following the event, the number 73 became associated with B0aty (and to a lesser extent with Skill Specs), and has spawned phrases which are used to express joy and disbelief at seeing it, even when the context is not directly related to the fight. The number is often referenced in various posts on the OSRS subreddit^[3] and within the OSRS Twitch and Twitter communities. Videos have been created about the event, including compilations of the number occurring and edits of the fight.

On 28th February 2017, twitter use @YoungJilker uploaded a video featuring Big Man Tyrone in which he chuckles about the number. The video has received upwards of 12,000 views.

The fight has also been acknowledged and referenced within the game. On 11th December 2017, the annual Christmas holiday event was added into OldSchool RuneScape, and featured an indirect reference to the number during a conversation with an NPC.

Resurgence

In June 2017 the meme made a large resurgence when B0aty died from seventy three damage during an attempt at beating the “Inferno”; Oldschool RuneScape’s toughest Player-Versus-Monster challenge. A Twitch clip of the event was created and has been viewed over 127,000 times as of December 2017.

Search Interest

References

^[1]Twitch – B0aty

^[2]Twitch – Skill Specs

^[3]Reddit – r/2007scape

About

Alita: Battle Angel refers to James Cameron and Robert Rodriguez’ upcoming photorealistic adaptation of the mangaBattle Angel Alita. Because the film is not animated, the decision to digitally manipulate lead actress Rosa Salazar’s eyes to be unrealistically large, as they would be in an anime art style, prompted strong responses online.

History

On December 8th, 2017, 20th Century Fox uploaded the trailer for Alita: Battle Angel to their YouTube channel. The trailer gained over 286,000 views (shown below). The film is said to lift the “spine story” of the first four issues of the manga.

Online Reaction

Quickly after the trailer was released, much of the discussion centered on Alita’s eyes, particularly how many found the eyes unsettling. The Verge^[1] wrote:

The character looks like an anime doll come to life, or like a Disney character that’s just a hair off from normal. It’s probably a deliberate choice, meant to remind viewers at every moment that Alita isn’t human. But after so many years of CGI animators trying to mimic convincing human faces and not entirely succeeding, it’s still unsettling to see a character hovering this close to realistic, while staying this far away from it.

Kotaku^[2] brought up the eyes but also expressed nervousness about the dialogue and the screenplay penned by Cameron. Mewanwhile, commenters on Reddit and Twitter expressed mixed opinions about the trailer and the eyes. A thread about the trailer posted to /r/movies^[3] gained over 23,000 points. Kotaku^[4] covered the range of opinions within about the trailer, with some expressing optimism and others pessimism about the film (examples shown below).

On Twitter, reactions also ranged from excitement to pessimism. User @TheJWittz tweeted that the big eyes only work when drawn, gaining 90 retweets (shown below, left). Others supported the commitment to faithfully adapting the art style. Twitter user @spookypixels tweeted an image of the “source material” to make that point (shown below, right).

Others joked about the controversy itself. User @TheJordanRoss jokes that the eyes would be replaced by Christopher Plummer, a joke about how Ridley Scott replaced Kevin Spacey with Plummer in his film All The Money In the World after the backlash surrounding Spacey’s alleged sexual assault (shown below, left). User @pvponline joked that while others were talking about the eyes, he was most concerned about just how faithful the film would be to the manga (shown below, right).

Search Interest

External References

Overview

#MagicGate refers to a controversy surrounding the banning of YouTuber Jeremy Hambly from attending Magic the Gathering events due to complaints alleging he harassed cosplayer Christine Sprankle.

Background

On June 5th, 2017, Hambly uploaded a video titled “Playset Of Beta White Knights Prevent Rape Of MTG Cosplayer @cspranklerun” on the UnsleevedAfterDark channel. While the video has since been removed by YouTube, an archived version is available at the Internet Archive.^[1] In the video, Hambly posted a video criticizing cosplayer Christine Sprankle for complaining about harassment she had received on social media, claiming she was attempting to drive Patreon donations by pretending to be a victim.

Developments

In mi-November 2017, Sprankle announced that she was quitting Magic the Gathering following harassment she had received due to Hambly’s videos.

On November 25th, the @wizards_magic^[3] Twitter feed posted a tweet condemning harassment and cyberbullying within the Magic the Gathering community, gathering more than 3,900 likes and 930 retweets over the next several weeks.

That day, UnsleevedMedia released a video titled “Here Is What Real ‘Harassment’ Looks Like,” in which he addressed the accusations of harassment (shown below, left). The following day, the Tolarian Community College YouTube channel uploaded a video titled “In Response: What We Owe to Each Other,” which outlined various instances of Hambly’s harassment.

On December 7th, Wizards of the Coast suspended Hambly’s Duelists’ Convocation International (DCI) membership permanently.^[2] Additionally, professional Magic the Gathering player Travis Woo received a 1-year DCI ban for creating the “Magic the Bad” Facebook group. That day, Woo and Hambly posted videos on YouTube responding to their suspensions (shown below).

In response, a Change.org petition was created calling for Wizards of the Coast to “reinstate Travis Woo and Jeremy Hambly.” Over the next several days, the petition gained over 13,000 signatures. On December 11th, Redditor ChrisGarrett submitted a post asking “Why are people boycotting Hasbro/Wizards of the coast?” to /r/OutOfTheLoop,^[4] to which several users cited the Hambly controversy in the comments section.

Search Interest

External References

About

Enabled/Disabled is a four-panel exploitable series comparing two similar images, designating one of them “enabled” and “disabled” (similar to Drakeposting).

Origin

The earliest known usage of the meme was posted by Instagram^[1] user @loose_condom on December 6th, 2017. That day, he posted a four-pane meme. In the top half of the image, he had a screenshot of a Music “enabled/disabled” toggle switch from a computer operating system set to “Enabled” next to a picture of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra^[2] brass section. The bottom half featured a picture from a Pool of Sound Initiative^[3] event, in which people with physical and learning disabilities perform music. Next to this picture was the same toggle switch set to “Disabled,” commenting on the performers disability. Within five days, the post (shown below) received 18 likes.

Spread

Four days later, the original image was posted on the subreddit/r/dankmemes by Redditor^[4] Hi-MetalAlien. The re-post received more than 300 points (95% upvoted) and 16 comments in 24 hours.

The following day, more examples were posted to /r/dankmemes. Redditor^[5] Alienghost27 posted a variation using characters from SpongeBob SquarePants. The post (shown below, left) received more than 800 points (867 upvoted) in 24 hours. Redditor^[6] posted a version using the kerchoo meme, received more than 7,000 points (97% upvoted) in 18 hours. Redditor^[7] Theanonistanon posted another variant featuring Bee Movie. Within 12 hours, the post (shown below, right) received more than 85 points (98% upvoted) and 15 comments.

Various Examples

Search Interest

Not available

External References

About

Skidaddle Skidoodle Your Dick Is Now a Noodle refers to an image macro featuring a drawing of a wizard casting the titular spell. It later became a popular subject of YouTube remix videos in which a person would read the phrase followed by a music cue, usually the theme song from NFL broadcasts.

Origin

On September 23rd, 2017, the picture was posted to dailylolpics,^[1] marking the first known appearance of the image (shown below). The image bears a resemblance to Whoosh / вжух memes.

Spread

In the coming days, the picture began spreading online. It was posted to the Instagram page rad_shiba^[2] on September 25th where it gained over 210 likes and it was posted to the Facebook page Gimme Memes^[3] on September 26th, where it gained over 690 likes and reactions. On October 2nd, 2017, a video of a person reading the image was posted to YouTube by Bobokins12, where it gained over 33,000 views (shown below, left). On November 22nd, a video was uploaded by your mom a hoe which featured a reading of the caption followed by the theme music from NFL broadcasts, gaining over 74,000 views. This would become the template for future remixes of the meme (shown below, right).

In the following two weeks, dozens of reposts and remixes of the football music remix appeared on YouTube. An animated version was posted by YouTuber Olliveen on the 25th, gaining over 3,000 views (shown below, right). An edit which applied the audio to Harry Potter posted by Tristan Gaming on the 26th gained over 15,000 views (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References

About

Tired / Wired is a phrasal template used to express the fading cultural significance of one subject in regards to a newer one.

Origin

The earliest use of using the words “Tired” and “Wired” as a type of social barometer comes from the first issue of Wired^[1] magazine, published on April 1st, 1993. The magazine launched the feature, which became a staple of the publication, with a list of things that were now considered culturally passé, or tired, and those that they considered fresh, or wired (shown below.

Spread

In 2002, Wired magazine added a third column to the list, “Expired.”^[3]

The phrase has since become a phrasal template on Twitter. On March 14th, 2007, Twitter^[2] user @hildjj tweeted, "Tired: interoperability testing. Wired: interoperability Simplicity is a feature. The post (shown below) is the earliest known iteration of the template.

Search Interest

External References

About

Qanon’s “Calm Before the Storm” refers to a series of cryptic, conspiratorial posts released on 4chan and 8chan authored by a user identified as “Qanon.”

Origin

On October 31st, 2017, a post titled “Bread Crumbs – Q Clearance Patriot” was submitted to 4chan’s /pol/ board, which contained a list of rhetorical questions regarding various issues in United States politics (shown below).

Spread

On November 20th, 2017,

Search Interest

External References

About

Whisper To Me refers to an exploitablewebcomic by K009 in which a person asks their lover to whisper something to them. What the character whispers is altered in the exploitable variations.

Origin

On January 7th, 2016, K009^[1] posted the original comic to their Tumblr. The whisper is “I liked Kylo Ren better with the mask on.” The post gained over 18,000 notes (shown below).

Spread

Various Examples

Search Interest

Unavailable

External References

About

CryptoKitties is a collectible video game built on the Ehtereum block-chain computer platform, allowing for digital scarcity. The game allows users to buy, sell, trade and breed digital cats. Within a week of launching users had already spent more than $6.7 million on the game.

Search Interest

About

Fohhh is an acronym for “fuck outta here,” short for “get the fuck out of here.” It began seeing use as a meme in late 2017 following a tweet by Twitter user @chelllssseeea which used the term. After people began making fun of the tweet, a lengthy Twitter thread adapting the tweet to various Simpsons screenshots began going viral.

Origin

“Foh” is an acronym for “fuck outta here.” On April 13th, 2003, Urban Dictionary user The Big Nug T^[1] defined it as such (shown below).

Spread

The phrase continued seeing use in the following years, usually in black subcultures online such as Black Twitter, in situations where one is dismissing ideas (examples shown below).

@chelllssseeea Tweet

On September 1st, 2017, Twitter user @chelllssseeea tweeted two tweets which read, “sucking dick while my man plays 2K >>>>>>” and “LMAO y’all thought i meant my mans dick? 😂 fohhhh”.^[2] The tweets gained 58 and 48 retweets, respectively (shown below).

Because @chellssseeea is a white woman with a moderately significant following on Twitter (over 7,000 followers), people began making fun of the tweet, particularly its use of African American Vernacular English (AAVE). On September 23rd, 2017, Twitter user @burgerkrang^[3] tweeted a video of himself reading @chelllssseeea’s tweet, pronouncing “fohhh” phonetically. The tweet gained 135 retweets and 680 likes (shown below).

After the tweet, the phrase began seeing minor use as a meme on Twitter among people who understood the reference. For example, on November 12th, 2017, Twitter user @meowiewowwie^[4] tweeted a riff on the joke featuring a raccoon image macro (shown below).

On December 11th, Twitter user @Vrunt^[5] tweeted screenshots from the Steamed Hams scene from The Simpsons, adapting @chelllssseeea’s tweet to fit the scene. It gained 270 retweets and over 1,800 likes (Simpsons screens shown below).

This started a lengthy thread in which Twitter users adapted the tweet to fit various Simpsons scenes. For example, Twitter user @CMackDC^[6] applied the quote to the Lemon of Troy scene, gaining 11 retweets and over 120 likes (screens shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References

About

The Crash Wasn’t Your Fault is a series of image macros featuring characters who hallucinate or dream conversations with a deceased friend or family member who tells them to forgive themselves for their death.

Origin

On June 20th, 2016, The Philosopher’s Meme Facebook^[1] page posted a variation of the Sweet Jesus, Pooh comic in which the character Tigger awakens from a nightmare in which Pooh tells him “You need to let me go Tigger” and “The crash was an accident” (shown below).

Precursor

Spread

On July 22nd, 2017, Redditor urineall posted a On July 29th, Instagram user thermite.mp4 posted an “Ideal GF”: illustration featuring a character labeled “Ghost GF” with the captions “you have to let me go” and “anon the crash wasn’t your fault” (shown below, right).

On October 20th, Twitter user @IllegalOpinion^[2] posted a Virgin vs. Chad comic in which the character Chad wakes up in bed after having a dream in which his deceased friend Daniel tells him to “let me go” and “the crash was 10 years ago it wasn’t your fault” (shown below). Within two months, the tweet gathered more than 2,800 likes and 1/230 retweets

On December 1st, Twitter user Eliza Skinterklaas‏ account posted a joke featuring a mock dialogue in which a man asking to watch Netflix is told “Gary u have to let go. The accident wasn’t your fault” (shown below).^[3]

Search Interest

External References

About

Harry Potter Predictive Text Chapter refers to a fake chapter of Harry Potter written by a bot trained on the Harry Potter books using predictive keywords. After Botnik Studios tweeted the chapter, it went viral as Twitter users filled spread the chapter and commented on the humorous lines of dialogue.

Origin

On December 12th, 2017, @BotnikStudios^[1] tweeted a fake chapter of Harry Potter written by a robot trained on the books using predictive keywords as the text. The tweet of the chapter, from a fake book titled “Harry Potter and the Portrait of What Looked Like a Large Pile of Ash,” gained over 33,000 retweets and 70,000 likes (shown below).

Spread

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References