"Eastwooding" became a thing this year following the legendary film star's appearance at the Republican National Convention in August.
If you watched the presidential and vice presidential debates this October, how those debates were perceived—both in terms of standout moments and who was winning—may have been shaped by where you watched them.
If you happened to have your browser window open and were perusing Facebook or Twitter, you would have seen the internet pluck out seemingly minor phrases and obsessively mock them, magnifying the significance of what would have otherwise been mundane statements—aka "binders full of women" or "killing Big Bird." The internet hordes quickly latched on to such absurdities and within mere moments launched themed Tumblr blogs, fake Twitter accounts, and hashtags that then carried these sound bites into the next day's news cycle.
[RELATED: Top 10 Political Gaffes of the Year]
The vehicle for such mockery was the meme—the term coined to describe how a small piece of culture is replicated and evolves over time. Here we take a look at the memes that had the largest impact on the internet in 2012.
1. Ridiculously Photogenic Guy
See him in action here, here, here, here, and of course, here.
When New Yorker Zeddie Little attended a South Carolina 10K race earlier this year, he had no inkling that his face was about to be plastered across the internet, becoming the embodiment of that photogenic guy we all envy when flipping through Facebook photos. Photographer Will King snapped a picture of Little as he ran by and later noticed that, while many of the runners were overcome with looks of agony and sweat, Little's face was unflustered and picturesque. He uploaded it to Reddit with the headline "My friend calls him 'Mr Ridiculously Photogenic Guy," and it wasn't long before reporters were able to track him down and identify him. The question every journalist aimed to answer? Whether Little was single (sadly, the answer was no).
2. Overly Attached Girlfriend
See examples here, here, here, and here.
Everyone has a story about the girl or guy they met who began naming their future kids mere days after the first date. Or a tale of a paranoid girlfriend who launched accusations of infidelity after the slightest whiff of suspicion. To represent this jealous, hyper aggressive significant other, we have the Overly Attached Girlfriend. The image for the meme was captured from a Justin Bieber fan video submitted to a sing-off competition the pop star had created. The video promised that "If I was your girlfriend / I'd never let you leave / without a small recording device / taped under your sleeve/ I'll always be checking up on you." The creator of the video, Laina Walker, meant it as a spoof (at least we hope!).
3. McKayla Maroney Is Not Amused
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