If you think Kim Kardashian’s butt “broke the Internet” this year, think again. There were bigger (no pun) stories out there. Stories that went viral. And no, I’m not talking about Ebola – that’s a whole other kind of viral.
Some of these stories were happy, some sad and some were just weird. All in all, a very busy year for viral news and events that resonated with people all over the world. As the year comes to an end, here are some of the most viral things we witnessed in 2014.
The news about the passing away of some of our favourite actors
Philip Seymour Hoffman
While he was still at his peak, actor Philip Seymour Hoffman was found dead in his apartment on February 2nd. He left behind an amazing career where he played some of the most complicated characters on film.
Robin Williams
And then, later in the year, we lost the great Robin Williams. Words aren’t enough to describe this man’s impact on people all over the world.
The release of the iPhone 6
Every time Apple release a new product, you know it will be all over the news. There were countless debates about how awesome (or not) the new iPhone 6 was, jokes about how expensive it is. Some people were even too nervous to handle the pressure.
… followed by ‘The Bendgate’
But sometimes, a product isn’t perfect. And when the hype has already been built, the Internet’s wrath is unmatched.
We were shocked by the disappearance of Flight MH370
On March 8th, Flight 370 of Malaysia Airlines was scheduled for an international trip from Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Malaysia to Beijing Capital International Airport, China. Less than an hour after take-off, the plane disappeared off the traffic controllers’ radar screens. Soon after, a multinational search expedition started in the Gulf of Thailand and the South China Sea regions. This then spread to the Strait of Malacca and the Andaman Sea and eventually into the Indian Ocean and the West of Australia region. Till date, we’ve found no answers.
There were 12 Malaysian crew members and 227 passengers from 15 different countries on board.
… but it didn’t take the Internet long to come up with memes on it
Yes, we’ll definitely go to hell for laughing at some of these.
We spent an entire summer glued to the TV watching the FIFA World Cup.
This summer, most people had one thing on their minds – the FIFA World Cup in Brazil. There was a huge debate about how the funds could have better used to help out the huge section of poor people in Brazil but in the end, it was all about football.
And we went ballistic when Germany massacred Brazil with a 7-1 scoreline
After the dismal exit of Spain, England and Italy in the early stages, and surprising performance of Costa Rica, we witnessed the biggest the highlight of the tournament – Germany thrashing the host nation Brazil with a 7-1 scoreline.
Some grandmas got high on weed
Meanwhile, three grandmas, Paula, Dorothea and Deirdre, got high for the first time in their lives. One of the most adorable things that went viral this year.
While a really old man taught us the meaning of living life to the fullest
If you ever questioned the zeal of old men on the dance floor, let this video change your mind.
We were amazed by the “Apparently kid”
Noah Ritter, a five-year-old who was interviewed by a local news channel while attending the Wayne County Fair in Pennsylvania, animatedly discussed his indifference to the news and said “apparently” more than what you’d expect from a 5-year old. The interview footage, which you can watch here , was uploaded to YouTube and within 48 hours, it garnered 4.1 million views.
And we were scared shitless when we thought another kid was the minion of the undead
This was the brainchild of Thinkmodo, who rigged a remote controlled stroller with a demonic animatronic infant, replete with the ability to barf, headbang and even show the finger to naive people on the street. Watch the entire clip here .
But we laughed our asses off at the ‘spider-dog’ prank
SA Wardega is a Polish prankster and his best work this year was undoubtedly the dog in the giant spider costume . Before you laugh at the people who were fooled by it, just think about what you would have done in their place.
Just like we laughed when this dog went full on “club can’t handle me right now” mode when his owner left the house
This was a video uploaded on YouTube by user ignoramusky and it featured a dog and a cat who were left at home. But this time, the owner had installed a camera in the room with a bed in it. The same bed on which the dog isn’t allowed when the owners are home. Watch the video here and see why it went viral.
All over the world people participated in the ice bucket challenge
Around the July-August mark, many people were participating in the Ice Bucket challenge to raise awareness for the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) disease. While the challenge. But because the social media and the internet work in funny ways, soon we had gimmicks like ” the sexiest ice bucket challenges ” and whatnot.
While some used the same method to highlight some other injustices
The Rubble Bucket Challenge was started in Palestine as a way of telling the world that the people there too needed some media attention. And since water is scarce in the area, they decided to use rubble instead. That’s something they had in plenty, thanks to their Israeli neighbours.
Because, Gaza was bombed, repeatedly
Speaking of Israelis, they had a lot to do with some something the whole world was talking about – the Gaza bombing , which saw countless innocents losing their lives when their homes turned into a heated battlefield overnight.
And a faction known as ISIS emerged
Not too far away from Gaza, the Iraqi faction of the al-Qaeda, now known as ISIS (or ISIL depending on which news sources you follow), was playing their own version of Total War. These guys were so hardcore, that even al-Qaeda severed ties with them. Using the conflict between the Shia and the Sunni Muslims in Iraq, ISIS, an army of extremist Sunni fighters, took over portions of Iraq with unprecedented violence and savagery. They executed Shias, foreign journalists and other “non-believers” while thousands of other Sunni muslim extremists from other parts of the world joined their cause.
There were riots in Ferguson
Michael Brown was an 18-year-old black man who was shot and killed by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri, on August 9, 2014. Brown, who was college-bound and had no criminal record, was unarmed, although local police accused him of robbing a convenience store moments before the shooting.
Brown’s killing and the subsequent events in Ferguson have become a national controversy in USA touching on much larger issues of race, justice, and police violence.
A video about eve-teasing and cat-calling went viral
10 Hours of Walking in NYC is a viral video uploaded by Street HarassmentVideo YouTube channel showing a woman walking through the streets of New York City while being catcalled, harassed and followed by various men. The woman was part of a team called Hollaback and was accompanied by another person walking in front of her with a GoPro camera attached to the back.
While the video did go viral, it saw some level of criticism as well for showing mostly African American men catcalling her.
And yet again, the Internet had its own take on it
There were numerous parodies to the original viral hit. One even had Princess Leia from Star Wars walking in NYC, which had other characters from the series like Luke Skywalker, Hans Solo, Bobba Fett and even Darth Vader, harassed her.
And then there was the weirdest one (especially if you’re a fan of Skyrim) where a female character walks around different areas of the game with the non-playing characters harassing her. Unlike other parodies, this one features a dragon.
Animals too had some tense moments
In Australia, this happened.
And even the planet vented its anger by creating giant holes out of nowhere
On July 17th, we saw reports of a giant “endless” hole in the Yamal Peninsula region of Siberia and were bewildered by this 262 ft wide phenomenon. Theories range from meteorites, stray missiles, a man-made prank, and aliens, to an explosive cocktail of methane or shale gas suddenly exploding. The version about melting permafrost due to climate change, causing a release of methane gas, which then forces an eruption is the current favorite, though scientists are reluctant to offer a firm conclusion without more study. There have been reports of two other holes seen in Russia.
While a biker named Danny Macaskill showed us how to be closer to nature
Stunt Rider Danny Macaskill released an amazing video of his latest exploit. The Scottish stunt rider pulled off some of his wildest moves while conquering the breathtaking but dangerous Cullin Ridge on the Isle of Skye. MacAskill, along with his camera team created this 7:38 minute video using footage shot over 10 days.
No, we didn’t forget the ‘First Kiss’
Earlier, this year, WREN came up with a video called ‘ First Kiss ‘ which showed 20 strangers meeting each other for the first time where they shared a kiss in front of the camera. While there is some speculation that the video was actually an ad for a clothing brand and the “strangers” were professional actors, it spiraled into many parody videos, like First Shit , First Motorboat and First Handjob .
And then there was the infamous celebrity photo leak
While on one hand, we were celebrating the human intimacy, when it came to celebrities, some of us took it too far. Case in the point – the 2014 Celebrity Photo Leaks aka ‘The Fappening’, a massive leak of almost 500 candid photos of celebrities, mostly women. The leak originated when some of the celebrities’ accounts on Apple’s Cloud Services, iCloud, were compromised. Actresses like Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton, Kirsten Dunst, Kaley Cuoco are some of the most well known victims of this leak.
In the end, the Nobel Peace Prize shared by an Indian and a Pakistani, was perhaps the highlight
Kailash Satyarthi from India and Malala Yousafzai from Pakistan were both awarded the Nobel Peace Prize this year. Two people from nations that apparently are arch enemies, sharing this prestigious award, was indeed the highlight of 2014 and the world’s way of telling us that peace is still (and always) an option.