10 internet moments turning 10 in 2023

Was 2013 the Best Year on the Internet? Arguments could be made to prove that yes, it was. This list is one of them. The doge meme’s harmless simplicity and goofiness, the uneasiness surrounding Miley Cyrus’ post-Disney comeback, the absurdity of asking “What does the fox say?”…they’re all here, as adorable as they were 10 years ago.

Sit back, relax and remember the days when the internet was more innocent and untouched.

1. Doge

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Wow. Lots of memories, so much fun! 2013 became the public image of the humble Shiba Inu Kabosu was changed forever by the doge meme. A photo of the dog, uploaded by its middle-aged Japanese owner, was hijacked by the internet, riddled with ungrammatically incorrect two-word phrases — usually starting with “such,” “much,” “so,” “very.” in neon comic sans. In 2013 the subreddits /r/Doge and /r/dailydoge were created and searched “doge meme” on YouTube led to a website written in Comic Sans and the launch of the satirical Dogecoin cryptocurrency.

2. “wrecking ball”

In September 2013, she came in like a wrecking ball, sensually licking sledgehammers and crying tender tears. Before the release of Wrecking Ball, Miley Cyrus was known as a squeaky clean Disney Channel kid, so the general public was blown away “openly erotic” Pictures of the former child star. Parodies abounded, including one very faithfully by radio personality Greg James and a shorter clip that replaced Cyrus’ face with Nicholas Cage’s.

3. Twerk

Twerking originated on the New Orleans hip-hop dance scene well before 2013, but Miley Cyrus made it a national trend when she performed her version of the move at the MTV Video Music Awards earlier this year. This feat prompted millions to search for the term online, so much so that it was Top googled term of the year In Britain, Cyrus’ performance of a black dance move is now widely regarded as ailing Appropriation of Black Bodies opened a larger conversation about respect and personal responsibility that continues to this day.

4. What does the fox say?

Norway has brought us many wonderful things: the Aerosol spray can, the Screamand the constant question: “What does the fox say?” Written and performed by comedy duo Ylvis, “The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)” was a fantastic talk show skit that became a hit in Norway and beyond. The tune peaked at number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spawned thousands of parodies including a 2016 SNL sketch with Kerry Washington answering the question, “What does my girl say?” It was also the theme for YouTube annual rewind video.

5. Harlem Shake

You may know George Miller by now as music artist Joji, but in 2013 he shot absurd and at best offensive YouTube videos under the moniker DizastaMusic. In February of that year, he uploaded a video titled “Do the Harlem Shake,” in which he and a handful of others hip-jumped to Baauer’s song “Harlem Shake” until the beat dropped, and then around them like those inflatable tube dancers struck outside of car dealerships. It was easily replicated and spread quickly. People did the Harlem Shake on airplanes, under waterand at work (on “army edition” now has 129 million views, more than double that the original video.) Ironically, while the song and trend purport to show people doing the “Harlem Shake,” neither of them spotlight it actual Harlem Shake Dance which originated in Harlem in the 1980s.

6. Chloe looking sideways

Lily Clem first went viral in 2011 when a video of her being surprised by a trip to Disneyland made her cry with joy in her family’s living room. Two years later, her parents surprised her again. This time, amidst all the happy shock and tears of joy, the camera panned to her little sister Chloe, who was looking straight into the lens as if to say, “Get a load of these lunatics.”

Soon little Chloe’s face was plastered all over the place, via celebrities and on billboards in Brazil. Buzzfeed called her “The Patron Saint of Tumblr” after edits of her expression were widely circulated on the site. Chloe is now 12 years old and her parents in 2021 sold their expression as NFT for $76,377.50, specifying the money would help “Put her through college.”

7. Starting from the bottom

Drake has been a generous purveyor of memes ever since Degrassi days, but “Started from the Bottom” is one of his most timeless. In the music video for the song, he jumps out of a Bentley convertible to dance alongside it while it’s snowing, bends over on a private plane, bowls, dances on a billboard and parties in the Dominican Republic. Drake started from the bottom (this music video) and now here he is (being reminded about his flirtatious rap to 21 Savage on their 2022 collaboration Rich Flex).

8. Relatable Jennifer Lawrence

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2019, I would posits that Lawrence “Celebrity shaped the 2010s” starting with her “crowning as the internet’s best friend circa 2013”. That was the year J.Law stumbled, fumbled, and worked her way into our hearts. Her little fall on the steps of the Dolby Theater while walking to her first Oscar silver linings Playbook made headlines, and the next year she was stumbling down the red carpet again. Whether Lawrence’s “Relatability” is authentic or fake has since been the subject of debate, but it’s hard not to be charmed nonetheless.

9. Florida man

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In 2013, absurd headlines such as “Florida man stabs woman over hamburger” and “Florida man hit by van after dog hits gas” led a Twitter user to do so make an account Documentation of the escapades of the “Florida Man”. The name made it sound like a guy was responsible for every crazy event, leading NPR to call Florida Man the “world’s worst superhero.” And he’s still out there moving; in 2021 buzz feed published a list of the year’s best Florida Man headlines. That’s because Florida’s unique combination of factors, like the mental health and addiction crises and flexible freedom of information laws, result in more arrests and allow journalists to access detailed information about them.

10. You had a job

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know your meme pinpoints the origin of this phrase as 2001, but Google Search interest in it picked up in February 2013, when hadonejob.com started collecting the best examples of the meme. It unites us all in despair and relief to know, “At least I’m not the bad at what I do.”