About

Alfred Matthew Yankovic (a.k.a. “Weird Al” Yankovic) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, actor, author and producer. Yankovic gained much fame and notoriety for his comedic parody versions of popular songs and their accompanying music videos.

Early Career

In 1976, Yankovic gave radio host Barret Hansen (a.k.a. Dr. Demento) a homemade audio tape containing parody songs performed with an accordion. A song from the tape titled “Belvedere Cruisin” was subsequently played on the Dr. Demento radio show. During his sophomore year of college, Yankovic was given the nickname “Weird Al” by other students and used it as his on-air persona while DJing at the university’s radio station. In 1979, Yankovic recorded the song “My Bologna” as a parody of that year’s hit rock song “My Sharona” by the Knack (shown below, left). In 1980, Yankovic released the song “Another One Rides the Bus” as a parody of the song “Another One Bites the Dust” by Queen (shown below, right).

Music Videos

In 1983, Yankovic released the music video for the song “I Love Rocky Road,” a parody of the song “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” by Arrows (shown below, left). In 1984, Yankovic released the music video for his parody of Michael Jackson’s“Beat It” titled “Eat It” (shown below, right).

In 1985, Yankovic’s “Like a Surgeon” parody of the pop song “Like a Virgin” by Madonna was released (shown below, left). In 1988, Yankovic released the music video for “Fat,” a parody of the song “Bad” by Michael Jackson (shown below, right).

In 1992, Yankovic released “Smells Like Nirvana” as a parody of the grunge rock song “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana (shown below, left). In 1996, Yankovic’s Amish-themed parody of the rap song “Gangsta’s Paradise” by Coolio was released (shown below, right), which Coolio later claimed he had not Yankovic permission to parody.

In 1999, Yankovic released a music video for the computer hardware-themed song “All About the Pentiums,” a parody of the rock remix of the song “It’s All About the Benjamins” by Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs (shown below, left). In 2003, Yankovic was prepared to produce a music video for the song “Couch Potato” off his eleventh studio album Poodle Hat when Eminem refused to give permission to shoot it out of concerns that it may hurt his public image. This marked the first album Yankovic had released without an accompanying music video. In 2006, Yankovic released a video for his song “White & Nerdy,” a parody of the hip hop song “Ridin’” by Chamillionaire (shown below, right).

#8videos8days

On June 29th, 2014, Yankovic tweeted^[7] that he would be releasing a new music video each day for eight consecutive days starting on July 14th to promote his new album Mandatory Fun (shown below).

On July 14th, Yankovic released the music video “Tacky” as a parody of the song “Happy” by Pharrell Williams (shown below, left). On the following day, Yankovic released the music video for his grammer Nazi song “Word Crimes” as a parody of the song “Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke (shown below, right). The video features references to the Doge meme and the /r/hamstergifs^[8] subreddit.

Online History

The AlyankovicVEVO YouTube channel was launched on September 2nd, 2009, which gathered upwards of 245 million video views and 372,000 subscribers in the next five years.. In March, the @alyankovic^[5] Twitter feed and the “‘Weird Al’ Yankovic” Facebook^[6] page were launched, gaining more than 3.28 million followers and 1.3 million likes in four years.

Know Your Meme Episode

In 2009, Weird Al made a guest appearance for the Know Your Meme episode on auto-tune, in which he assists Internet scientist Jamie Dubs in analyzing the pitch-correction software’s rise in popularity.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

In February 2014, Yankovic guest starred as the voice of the pony Cheese Sandwich in Season 4 Episode 12 of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic titled “Pinkie Pride” (shown below).

Epic Rap Battles of History

In June 2014, Yankovic played the role of scientist Sir Isaac Newton in the web series Epic Rap Battles of History (shown below).

AMA Post

On July 15th, 2014, Yankovic participated in an “ask me anything” (AMA) post on the /r/IAmA^[9] subreddit to promote his new album Mandatory Fun. Within one hour, the post gained upwards of 3,297 votes (95% upvoted).

Personal Life

Yankovic was born on October 23rd, 1959 in Downey California as the only child of parents Nick and Mary Yankovic. In 1992, Yankovic became a vegan after reading the book Diet for a New America. In 2001, Yankovic married Suzanne Krajewski with whom he had a daughter Nina in 2003.

External References

About

The Hairy Legs Club refers to an online community, especially active on Tumblr which encourages women to feel comfortable making the choice not to shave their legs by posting pictures of their unshaved legs.

Origin

On May 2nd, 2010, the Tumblr blog HairyLegsClub^[1] was created. The blog features photos of womens’ unshaved legs, gathered through user submissions. The blog features a disclaimer which reads:

“This is a POSITIVE space. This means that any negative messages or images will not be posted, and the users submitting them will be blocked. If you seriously have nothing better to do than insult people who are confident enough in their bodies to post images of them on the internet, then you need to find a productive hobby. Seriously. Nobody made you come to this page and look at the pictures. Get a life.”

Spread

On May 3rd, 2012, the Tumblr blog VeryHairyLegs^[2], which also posts photos of women with unshaved legs, was created. On July 4th, 2014, Jezebel^[3] published an article titled “University Professor Gives Extra Credit to Women Who Don’t Shave,” which reported that Breanne Fahs, a professor at the University of Arizona, was giving extra credit to female students who refrained from shaving their arm pits or legs for ten weeks and recorded their experience. The article sparked a renewed interest in the hairy legs Tumblr blogs by the online media. On July 15th, 2014, several websites, including Bustle^[4], The Telegraph^[5] and YahooLifestyle^[6] reported on the movement and the two Tumblr blogs. As of July 2014, the Facebook group WANG (Women Against Non-essential Grooming)^[7] has gained over 7,000 members.

Notable Examples

Search Interest

External References

About

Flower Beards is a men’s fashion trend that involves decorating one’s facial hair with floral arrangements. In contrast to the flower crowns for men which evolved into a photoshop meme in 2013, the flower beards are actually worn by men and shared online in the form of a photo fad.

Origin

The earliest known flower beard photo was taken of Soup.io^[1] user erial’s father in 1977 (shown below).

On January 27th, 2013, photographer Sarah Winward^[11] published a blog post titled “Flower Beards,”^[10] which featured photographs of a man with various types of vegetation sticking out of his facial hair (shown below).

Spread

On October 16th, 2013, actress Kirsten Dunst tweeted a link to a gallery of Winward’s photographs.^[9] On February 5th, 2014, blogger Pierre Thiot launched the Tumblr^[1] blog “Will It Beard,” in which he highlights photographs of various objects placed in his facial hair (shown below, left). On March 14th, Thiot posted a photograph of his beard adorned with an assortment of pink flowers (shown below, right).^[2]

On July 11th, the Tumblr^[3] blog “Fuck Yeah Flower Beards” was launched. In the coming days, several news sites published articles about the flower beard trend, including Demilked,^[4] The Huffington Post,^[5] Esquire,^[6]BuzzFeed,^[13] Hello Giggles^[7] and Mic.^[8]

Notable Examples

Search Interest

External References

Overview

Matthew Burdette was a teenager who took his own life after a video of him masturbating in a bathroom stall went viral in November 2013. Like the teen suicides of Amanda Cummings, Amanda Todd and Mitchell Henderson, Burdette’s death became the subject of many conversations online about the issue of cyberbullying.

Background

On November 15th, 2013, 14-year-old San Diego high school student Matthew Burdette was purportedly kicked out of a class at University City High School for eating sunflower seeds and was subsequently secretly filmed masturbating in a bathroom stall. The video was posted online and circulated through video-sharing sites like SnapChat and Vine. On November 29th, Burdette committed suicide while on Thanksgiving holiday with his family and left a note expressing his inner turmoil caused by the harassment he was receiving.

“I can’t do school anymore. I have no friends. I don’t want to kill myself but I have no friends.”

Notable Developments

Lawsuit

On May 27th, 2014, Burdette’s parents filed a $1-million claim against the San Diego Unified School District for failing to take action against those who were bullying their son.

Burdette Claim

School District’s Response

On July 14th, 2014, the school district issued a statement announcing they were unable to comment about the suicide:

“At San Diego Unified, the safety and well-being of our students is a top priority. The district also adheres to the privacy and confidentiality laws and regulations related to students, families and ongoing investigations. For this reason, the district cannot provide details about Matthew Burdette’s death. Our hearts and thoughts continue to be with his family and loved ones.”^[10]

News Media Coverage

In July 2014, several news sites published article about Burdette’s suicide, including Sky News,^[2]CBS News,^[3] The Huffington Post,^[4] LA Times,^[5] The Daily Dot,^[6] The Daily Mail,^[7] The Mirror^[8] and Heavy.^[9]

Search Interest

Not available

External References

About

The Blonde Vegan is the online persona of popular blogger Jordan Younger, who writes and photo blogs about living a vegan lifestyle. In June 2014, she revealed her commitment to vegan eating had morphed into an eating disorder and she would therefore be incorporating meat and dairy into her diet, rebranding herself as The Balanced Blonde.

Online History

On June 21st, 2013, Younger created her Instagram^[3] account The Blonde Vegan, posting a picture of an elaborate fruit plate. Within a year the photo gained over 300 likes.

On July 12th, 2013, Younger published her first post on her blog The Blonde Vegan^[1] titled “If you’re reading this…” The post explained she wanted to focus on the realities of being a vegan as well as share vegan recipes, saying:

“Part of the reason I wanted to make this blog was so that I could address these questions, and explain to everyone – vegans, vegetarians and even the most carnivorous people out there – why I like to eat this way and why it makes me feel great.

Her Facebook page^[2] was created on August 4th, 2013, as of July 2014, it has gained over 3,000 likes.

On November 15th, 2013, Younger introduced The Blonde Vegan 5-Day Cleanse Program^[5], which she charged $25 for and included 25 healthy eating recipes and inclusion on an e-mail thread where others doing the cleanse could talk about the program.

Eating Disorder

On June 24th, 2014, The Blonde Vegan published a post titled “Why I’m Transitioning Away From Veganism.”^[6] Within the post Younger explained that her veganism had turned into an obsession, and she had become over restrictive with her diet to the point where it was negatively affecting her health. She explained the changes she was making to her diet as a result, saying:

“So, long story short, I am reevaluating my diet. I’m saying goodbye to the labels. I’ve tried organic farm fresh eggs and wild fish from the local farmer’s market. I had some sashimi from an organic restaurant that I very much trust. All in the last couple of weeks. This is terrifying for me and extremely out of my comfort zone after living under the vegan umbrella for so long, but I’m doing it for my physical and mental health.”

The post gained over 200 comments, many critical of her decision to no longer be a vegan. On June 28th, Younger published a post titled “Some Of The Wackiest Things That Have Happened Since “Coming Out” as a Non-Vegan,”^[7] which featured a round-up of some of the negative responses she received when she announced she was no longer a vegan. The negative response she received was covered by several websites including HelloGiggles^[8] and Jezebel.^[9] On July 14th, Younger posted an image on her Instagram account asking her followers whether they preferred she change her blog name to “The Veggie Blonde” or “The Balanced Blonde.” On July 15th, she changed her Instagram and Twitter account from The Blonde Vegan to The Balanced Blonde.

Social Media Presence

As of July 2014, Younger has gained over 75,000 followers on Instagram and over 1,000 followers on Twitter.^[4]

Notable Examples

Search Interest

External References

About

Pokemon Shaming, also shortened as Pokeshaming, is a series of illustrations featuring Pokemon characters holding up signs with confessions of their own humorous transgressions that are characteristic of their abilities, drawn in the style of dogshaming photographs

Origin

On June 16th, 2014, Tumblr user DavidMakesArt^[5] posted several illustrations of Pokemon characters looking ashamed and holding up their confessional messages with references related to their individual attack moves (shown below). In the first month, the post gained over 940 notes.

Precursor: Dogshaming

Dogshaming is a single topic blog launched in August 2012, featuring photographs of dogs with signs describing transgressions performed by the animal.

Spread

On July 11th, 2014, DeviantArtist^[3] sabretoothlioness uploaded an illustration of the Pokemon Espeon wearing a sign confessing to using the move “psychic” to place objects in the toilet (shown below, left). On July 12th, Tumblr user tamagoomy^[2] posted an illustration of the Pokemon Goomy holding a sign confessing to using the “rain dance” move inside a home (shown below, right). In the first week, the post gained over 175 notes.

On the following day, DeviantArtist^[1] sunsona uploaded an illustration titled “Pokeshaming,” featuring several different Pokemon holding signs confessing transgressions (shown below, left). On July 14th, Tumblr^[8] user barag0n submitted an illustration of the Pokemon Ditto holding a sign apologizing for morphing into its Pokemon trainer’s boyfriend (shown below, right). In the next 48 hours, the post garnered more than 5,400 notes.

Meanwhile, Redditor Pierre56 submitted a Pokemon shaming illustration of the character MewTwo confessing to murdering its creators to the /r/pokemon^[9] subreddit (shown below, left). On July 15th, Pierre56 submitted an illustration of the Helix Fossil confessing to starting “a cult” to /r/pokemon^[10] (shown below, right). In the coming days, the Internet news sites Kotaku,^[4] Dorkly^[6] and A.V. Club^[7] highlighted notable examples from the series.

Notable Examples

Search Interest

Not available.

External References

About

“Carl!” is a quote often shouted by the character Rick Grimes when addressing his son Carl in the horror drama television series The Walking Dead, which is often mocked online for the frequency with which it occurs on the show and for Grimes’ variable pronunciation of his son’s name.

Origin

The show’s protagonist Rick Grimes and his son Carl were introduced in Season 1 Episode 1 of The Walking Dead titled “Days Gone Bye,” which originally aired on October 31st, 2010. Grimes is a former police officer who awakens to find himself in the middle of a zombie apocalypse and begins traveling with his son after rescuing him in Atlanta, Georgia. Grimes is frequently shown yelling “Carl” when attempting to get his son’s attention.

Spread

On November 14th, 2012, YouTuber MichiganSt35 uploaded a clip from The Walking Dead of Rick Grimes bawling after his wife dies titled “Rick finds out Carl is gay” (shown below).

On December 3rd, 2013, BuzzFeed^[2] highlighted several multi-pane comics featuring Grimes telling his son Carl various dad jokes (shown below).

On January 26th, 2014, YouTuber Infinitify uploaded a supercut of Rick Grimes saying his son’s name in the first four seasons of the show (shown below).

Notable Examples

Coral

Many Internet users have mocked the many instances Grimes has pronounced the name “Carl” as “Coral.” On April 15th, 2014, the pop culture blog Wet Paint^[3] published an article on The Walking Dead, which listed “Coral!” as a glossary term for when Grimes yells his sons name repeatedly. On May 3rd, Tumblr^[1] user carlsburnbook posted a photoshopped promotional image for the 2003 animated film Finding Nemo Rick and Carl Grimes superimposed in the frame and the title “Finding Coral” (shown below).

Search Interest

External References

About

Thor is a character in Norse mythology known as the God of thunder who became a character in the Marvel Universe in 1950. The Marvel character has most recently been portrayed by Chris Hemsworth in Thor (2011), The Avengers (2012) and Thor: The Dark World (2013).

History

Thor appears in Norse mythology as the son of Odin, living in the fictional land of Asgard. Thor originally appears as a character in the Marvel universe^[15] in Venus #11, which was released in November of 1950. Thor got his own self-titled comic books series in March of 1966 with the first issues titled “Whom the Gods Would Destroy!” The series continued for over 400 issues through 2009. From 2011-2012 a series titled The Mighty Thor put out 23 issues, and from 2012-2014 Thor: God of Thunder put out 25 issues.

Films

On May 6th, 2011, the film Thor^[9] was released, starring Chris Hemsworth as the titular Thor. The film was a critical and commercial success, earning a rating of 77% on RottenTomatoes^[10] and earning over 440 million dollars^[11] worldwide. Hemsworth also appeared as Thor in the 2012 Marvel film The Avengers. On November 18th, 2013, Thor: The Dark World^[11] was released. The film earned a rating of 65% on Rotten Tomatoes^[13] and earned over 640 million dollars^[14] worldwide.

The Female Thor

On July 15th, 2014, Marvel announced^[16] on the morning talk show The View that in an upcoming comic Thor would become a woman. The same day many sites covered the news supporting the change including TIME’s^[20] article “Here’s Why a Female Thor Makes Total Sense.” Other sites focused on other angles to the story, like Wired’s^[21] piece which explained the speed the news traveled through mainstream news sources is proof comic culture is truly mainstream and The Guardian^[22] opinion piece titled “A female Thor is good – a feminine male superhero would be better.” Jason Aaron, a writer for the Thor comic book series explained exactly what a female Thor would mean, saying:

“This is not She-Thor. This is not Lady Thor. This is not Thorita. This is THOR. This is the THOR of the Marvel Universe. But it’s unlike any Thor we’ve ever seen before.”

Online Presence

As of July 2014, the Facebook page^[1] for the film Thor has gained over 12.1 million likes and the film’s Twitter account^[2] has gained over 260,000 followers. On May 8th, 2011, the /r/Thor^[3] subreddit was launched for discussions related to the superhero, as of July 2014, the subreddit has over 600 subscribers.

Fandom

There are numerous Thor fan blogs on Tumblr, including fuckyeahthor^[4], verily-thor^[5] and ask-the-mighty-thor.^[6] As of July 2014, more than 170,000 images have been uploaded to DeviantArt^[7] under the tag “Thor” and over 7,000 Thor related stories have been submitted to the fanfiction database Fanfiction.net.^[8]

Related Memes

Loki

Following the release of the 2012 film Marvel’s The Avengers, a fandom arose surrounding Tom Hiddleston’s portrayal of the villain Loki. In April of 2012, a Quickmeme^[22] page titled “Loki” was created, which features photographs of Hiddleston that can be edited with custom captions (shown below).

On April 4th, a Facebook^[26] page titled “I Love Tom Hiddleston (Loki Page)” was launched, accumulating more than 15,000 likes in the first 16 months. On Tumblr, several Loki-related fan blogs have been launched, including “F Yeah Loki,”^[23]“Loki Lovers”^[24] and “Loki’s Monster Crotch.”^[25] On July 21st, 2013, Hiddleston appeared as Loki at the San Diego Comic-Con and took over comedian Chris Hardwick’s panel to address the audience (shown below).

Viral Videos and Parodies

On June 2nd, 2011, YouTuber HISHE^[18] uploaded a video titled “How Thor Should Have Ended.” As of July 2014, the video has gained over 9.7 million views. On October 29th, 2013, YouTuber Screen Junkies^[17] uploaded an Honest Trailer for Thor. As of July 2014, the video has gained over 3.3 million views.

On November 5th, 2013, YouTuber CinemaSins^[19] uploaded a video titled “Everything Wrong With Thor In 8 Minutes Or Less.” As of July 2014, the video has gained over 2.8 million views. On February 14th, 2014, YouTuber Screen Junkies^[17] uploaded an Honest Trailer for Thor: The Dark World As of July 2014, the video has gained over 3.7 million views.

Search Interest

External References

About

“What Pumpkin?” is a common “tool” used by MSPA creator Andrew Hussie to annoy fans and create “optical illusions”. Eventually, What Pumpkin became the name of one of the studios ^[1] by Andrew Hussie.

Origin

What pumpkin? was first used on Jailbreak when the command “Graft pumpkin so that you have one hideous arm”^[2] in wich the pumpkin dissapeared.

Spread

The text quiclky spread through the MSPA fanbase when it was widely used through the series. Fanart of Andrew Hussie or other MSPA characthers related to pumpkins exist. Eventually, it’s popularity led it to be the name of a studio.

The pumpkin over the years

In Jailbreak, the pumpkin was simply white:

However, in Problem Sleuth, the pumpkin was more realistic and had color:

In Homestuck, the pumpkin was more cartoonish. The most notable one had Becquerel’s face printed:

Google Trends

External References

^[1]What Pumpkin Studios – Homepage

^[2]MSPA– Graft pumpkin so that you have one hideous arm

About

Bing is an Internet search engine launched by Microsoft in 2009 as a direct competitor to Google search. The website advertises itself as a “decision engine” that aims to deliver faster and slightly more relevant search results for its users. As of May 2014, Bing is ranked the second most popular web search engine in the United States.

History

Early Microsoft Search Engines

In 1998, Microsoft launched MSN Search, which contained a search engine, index and web crawler. On September 11th, 2006, MSN Search was replaced with Windows Live Search. In 2007, the engine was rebranded as “Live Search” and merged with Microsoft adCenter.

Bing

According to Wikipedia,^[6] Microsoft used focus groups to come up with the name “Bing,” which was chosen for being short, memorable and easy to spell. On May 28th, 2009, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced the company’s plans to launch the Bing search engine the following month. On June 1st, Bing was released for the public, replacing Live Search.

Integration

In June 2010, Facebook integrated Bing to provide web search results in the Facebook search page. On June 10th, 2013, Apple announced it would be switching from Google search to Bing as the default search engine for Apple devices.

Features

The Bing user interface displays a daily changing background image, typically featuring notable geographic locations, animals, people and sports. The site’s left side panel contains navigation options, related searches and prior searches. When displaying video search results, the site displays thumbnails which begin playing a preview on mouse-over. For some search queries, Bing displays “instant answers” in the results page, including sports scores, stock information, mathematical calculations, dictionary definitions, translations and flight tracking.

Highlights

Ballmer Firing Bing Employee Sketch

On December 16th, 2009, YouTuber Scott Rose uploaded a video in which his friend Ernie Brandon tells a humorous story about being fired by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer for not saying “Bing” properly during a company meeting (shown below). The video was meant to be a teaser for a comedy screenplay the pair were working on, but was widely posted across the Internet as if it were true.^[5]

Porn Searchability

Bing has a reputation for providing more Internet pornography search results than competitors like Google. Additionally, the site’s video search tool will play previews of adult film results in the thumbnail.

On April 10th, 2014, Redditor dirkdiggler7678 submitted a post titled “Why does everyone say that Bing is great for porn?” to the /r/OutOfTheLoop^[4] subreddit, where the top-voted comment responded that Google’s search filters remove most pornographic content, even if the user has turned off “Safe Search.” On June 24th, 2014, The Daily Dot^[1] published an article titled “How Bing became the search engine for porn.”

World Cup Predictions

During the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Bing’s prediction technology managed to correctly predict all 15 winners for each knockout match, failing only to forecast Holland’s win over Brazil in the third-place match.^[2] To make the predictions, Microsoft used team records, past victory margins and other data to determine which team was more likely to win.

Traffic

As of July 2014, Bing has a global rank of 25 and a United States rank of 11 on the traffic analytics site Alexa.^[3]

Search Interest

External References

Overview

Comcast Customer Service Fiasco refers to the online backlash surrounding a recorded telephone conversation in which tech blogger Ryan Block repeatedly tries to request a Comcast customer service representative to cancel his cable service subscription over the course of an 18 minute-long call. The recording instantly went viral after Block uploaded a portion of the conversation to Soundcloud in July 2014, which ultimately prompted the American cable company to issue a personal apology.

Background

Comcast Doesn’t Give a F*ck

The consumers’ dissatisfaction with Comcast’s customer service department has been previously discussed online, most notably in a parody Comcast commercial by Funny or Die titled “Comcast Doesn’t Give a Fuck.”

Ryan Block’s Audio Recording

On July 15th, 2014, Ryan Block uploaded a recording of his attempt to have his Comcast cable service discontinued to the audio-sharing website Soundcloud (shown below). During the call, Block repeatedly pleads with the representative to cancel his service and is aggressively met with questions about the decision (shown below).

Notable Developments

Online Reaction

The same day, Block’s spouse Veronica Belmont tweeted^[1] a link to the Soundcloud file, receiving over 1,300 retweets and 900 favorites in the first 72 hours.

Shortly after, several posts about the recording reached the front page of Reddit,^[3][4][5] many of which which mocked Comcast’s customer service. In the comments section of a post on the /r/television^[6] subreddit, Redditor txmadision claimed to be a former Comcast data analyst and explained the financial incentives that may have caused the representative’s extreme behavior. The comment was subsequently featured on the /r/bestof^[7] subreddit.

Comcast Response

Also on July 15th, Comcast released a statement apologizing for the representative’s behavior, claiming it was “not consistent” with how they train employees.

“We are very embarrassed by the way our employee spoke with Mr. Block and are contacting him to personally apologize. The way in which our representative communicated with him is unacceptable and not consistent with how we train our customer service representatives. We are investigating this situation and will take quick action. While the overwhelming majority of our employees work very hard to do the right thing every day, we are using this very unfortunate experience to reinforce how important it is to always treat our customers with the utmost respect.”^[8]

News Media Coverage

In the coming days, several news sites published articles about the incident and Redditor txmadison’s subsequent revelations, including NPR,^[8] Business Insider,^[9]CNET,^[10] The Washington Post,^[11] Mashable,^[12] Slate,^[13] BoingBoing^[14] and The Verge.^[15]

Search Interest

External References

About

Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (Callsign MH17) was a scheduled international passenger flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. On 17 July 2014, the Boeing 777 crashed near Hrabove in the Donetsk Oblast of Ukraine, which is approximately 40 km from the Ukraine-Russia border. The incident killed all 283 passengers and 15 crew members onboard the aircraft, however the death toll sits at 293, unconfirmed

Timeline

researching

Spread

W.i.P

Marshall Bruce Mathers III, better known by his stage name Eminem and his other name Slim Shady, is an American rapper, record producer, songwriter, and actor.

About

Oddly Satisfying is a subsection of Reddit in which people share photographs of things that give them an inexplicable sense of satisfaction.

Origin

“Oddly satisfying” and similar phrases had been used online as early as June 4th, 2011, when a post was published on Jezebel^[3] titled “An Oddly Satisfying Montage Of “You Just Don’t Get It, Do You?” Moments.” The phrase also appeared in the title of a Reddit thread, “This zipper gif is oddly satisfying,” posted in the /r/GIF^[12] subreddit by redditor bfgsndave on April 23rd, 2013.

On May 14th, 2013, Redditor Willo444^[2] created the subreddit /r/oddlysatisfying^[1], which is described as a place where:

“you can post things that make you feel, well, oddly satisfied. This can be physical (like popping bubble wrap), visual (a perfectly looped GIF), or even aural (the crunching of leaves).”

As of July 2014, the subreddit has attracted more than 160,000 subscribers.

Precursor

Reddit’s /r/oddlysatisfying was inspired by /r/mildlyinteresting, a subreddit community that was born out of a discussion in /r/WTF about the need of a clearer categorical distinction between images that are evocative of WTF and those that would be more aptly described as “mildly interesting." On February 4th, 2012, Redditor doginabathtub launched the proposed /r/mildlyinteresting as a place to share images that are “pleasant, the slightly amusing, and the somewhat intriguing, sometimes.”

Spread

On November 5th, 2013, CollegeHumor^[13] published a list titled “23 Oddly Satisfying GIFs You Could Probably Watch Forever.” On March 17th, 2014, Buzzfeed^[14] published a list titled “21 Oddly Satisfying GIFs You Won’t Be Able To Stop Watching.” On April 29th, 2014, Pleated Jeans^[15] published a list titled “16 Oddly Satisfying Animated GIFs.” On June 15th, 2014, the Twitter account @OddlySatisfying^[16] was created, within a month it had gained over 3,000 followers.

Notable Examples

Derivatives

As of July 2014, there are 16 derivative subreddits in Reddit’s Oddly Satisfying Network, including /r/asmr,^[9] a subreddit community for Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response,^[12]/r/mildlyinteresting, /r/ThisBlewMyMind^[21] a community where users share incrediable facts and /r/showerthoughts^[18] a community where users share the deep or shallow things they think of while in the shower. In addition, there is a Tumblr tag^[4] for other images deemed oddly satisfying.

The Oddly Satisfying Network

Search Interest

External References

About

*"Wait For It…" is an expression used to build up suspense in anticipation of an impending spectacle or climactic event. Online, the phrase is typically employed in the title description or comments of a video to inform the viewer of a relatively uneventful build-up that gradually leads up to the pivotal moment during playback.

Origin

While the phrase most likely entered the English vernacular through its appearance in several popular films released since the late 1990s, such as Notting Hill_^[9] and Harold and Kumar Goes to White Castle^[10], its colloquial usage as a dramatic interjection has been attributed to Barney Stinson (played by Neil Patrick Harris), one of the main characters in the American TV sitcom "_How I Met Your Mother":/memes/how-i-met-your-mother (shown below).

Spread

On June 11th, 2008, Urban Dictionary user Dude of Life submitted an entry for “wait for it,” crediting How I Met Your Mother with popularizing the phrase. On November 10th, 2010, an entry for the phrase was created on the How I Met Your Mother Wiki.^[4] On June 31st, 2011, YouTuber DoctorJay2012 uploaded a video titled “Thriller Cat…wait for it,” featuring a cat walking in a defensive stance with the 1982 pop song “Thriller” by Michael Jackson playing in the background. In the first three years, the video gained over 5.9 million views and 4,000 comments.

On May 12th, 2013, Redditor lanadeathray submitted a post about the catchphrase to the /r/HIMYM^[5] subreddit, gathering more than 789 votes (90% upvoted) and 80 comments prior to being archived. On March 31st, 2014, Vulture^[2] published an article listing every time Barney Stinson says “wait for it” in all nine seasons of How I Met Your Mother. On June 20th, Redditor CharlieDarwin2 posted an animated GIF titled “Wait for it…”, featuring a Jimmy Kimmel comedy sketch mocking television graphics displaying the United States soccer team (shown below). In the first month, the post garnered upwards of 3,700 upvotes (92% upvoted) and 500 comments in the /r/funny^[6] subreddit.

Search Interest

External References

Overview

Operation Shell Shock is an online vigilante campaign orchestrated by 4chan users against two North Florida teenage girls who shared video footage of themselves torturing an endangered gopher tortoise in July 2014.

Background

In July 2014, a video was posted to Facebook by two Florida teenage girls in which they attempt to set a rare gopher tortoise on fire several times before thrashing the animal against the pavement and stomping it to death.

Notable Developments

Operation Shell Shock

On July 16th, 2014, 4chan^[3] users launched “Operation Shell Shock” to identify the teenagers and punish them for torturing the tortoise.

In threads on the /b/ (random) board, users were able to locate the address the video was taken at by comparing stills with Google Street View images (shown below, left). Additionally, the suspected identities, phone numbers and social media accounts of the two girls were posted on /b/ (shown below, right).

Online Reaction

On July 16th, the Nevada Voters for Animals Facebook^[1] page reposted the original videos and called for viewers to help bring the two teenagers to justice. The same day, Tumblr user Felinecrusader^[4] posted about the video, urging readers to report the two girls to PETA, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation, the ASPCA and the police. In the first 48 hours, the post gained over 360 notes. Also on July 16th, the “Justice for the Tortoise” Tumblr^[5] blog was launched. On the following day, Redditor kungpowgoat posted an article about the incident to the /r/news^[6] subreddit, where it gathered more than 650 votes (91% upvoted) in the following 24 hours.

News Media Coverage

On July 16th, The Florida Times Union^[2] published an article reporting that local law enforcement officials confirmed that the girls were 15 and 18 years of age and attended the Ridgeview High School in Orange Park, Florida. In the coming days, several news sites published articles about the video and 4chan’s retaliation, including The Daily Dot,^[7] The Huffington Post,^[8] New York Daily News,^[9]NBC Miami^[10] and the Miami Herald.^[11]

Search Interest

Not available.

External References

Overview

Operation Protective Edge is a military operation launched by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in the Palestinian Gaza Strip following an escalation between Israel and Palestinian organization Hamas in July 2014.

Background

In June 2014, Israel launched “Operation Brother’s Keeper” during the search for the Israeli teenagers Eyal Yifrach, Natfali Frankel and Gil-ad Shaar. During the operation, the IDF killed ten Palestinians and took 500 members of Hamas into custody. Hamas responded increasing rocket launches against targets in Israel. According to the Times of Israel,^[1] the IDF’s Iron Dome air defense system intercepted 30 of 140 rockets fired at Israel on July 7th, with “no injuries or major damage” from the attacks. The same day, the @IDFSpokesperson Twitter feed posted a tweet announcing the commencement of “Operation Protective Edge” against Hamas (shown below). On the following day, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said “all Israelis have no become legitimate targets for the resistance.”^[2]

Notable Developments

#GazaUnderAttack

On July 8th, 2014, BBC Trending^[3] reported that the hashtag “#GazaUnderAttack” had been tweeted hundreds of thousands of times in the past week and that many of the accompanying images date as far back as 2009 and that many were “from conflicts in Syria and Iraq.”

Applauding Israelis Photograph

On July 9th, RT Middle East correspondent Allan Sorenson tweeted^[4] a photograph of Israelis sitting on a hilltop to view attacks on Gaza and “clapping when blasts are heard” (shown below). In the next two weeks, the post was gathered over 12,200 retweets and 1,900 favorites.

Cease-Fire

On July 14th, Israel agreed to a cease-fire proposed by Egypt, temporarily ending hostilities. The cease-fire was subsequently rejected by Hamas who claimed they were never consulted and rejected “it’s current form.” On July 17th, Al Jazeera^[5] reported that a temporary cease-fire had been agreed to allows UN humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip, noting that “at least 226” Palestinians had been killed in the past nine days of bombardment.

Search Interest

External References

Overview

On July 17th, 2014, Eric Garner, a 400 pound asthmatic^[1] was put into a choke-hold after apparently breaking up a fight outside a local storefront in Staten Island. Five police officers surrounded the father and then forced him onto the ground, while the man continually shouted “I can’t breathe.”^[2] Eric Garner died shortly thereafter.

Background

Eric suffered from numerous medical conditions including Asthma, Diabetes, and Sleep Apnea.^[1] Whether or not these played a role in his death is unclear. After the death, Mayor Bill de Blasio called the event a terrible tragedy, and spoke out against wide-spread excessive force in the police force. However, civilian bystanders are wondering if the event wasn’t blatant racism against a black man who had frequently been targeted by the local police force for “Selling untaxed cigarettes”^[3], something those who knew him repeatedly denied he ever did.

Search Interest

Not available.

External References

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Overview

The Jesus Chatline, was a popular mock-up christian phone-in show. It consisted of the two co-hosts: Richard Burnish and Steven Chilton, acting as fake christian presenters who would both share the broadcast hosting 1-2 hour long episodes on a weekly basis answering prank phone calls from Anonymous callers originating from 4chan’s /b/ board. The hosts actively encouraged the trolling of their own programme on an official thread and have since coined the phrase “trollception” due to the hosts who were under a fake act whilst being trolled by the 4channers themselves.

Background

The prank callers themselves usually referred to jokes which originated from the website 4chan, this included the overuse of the n-word, general obsessive profanity, 4chan memes and notable catchphrases eg. “triforces” or “battletoads.”The show was also notable for its hosts trying to maintain a straight face throughout these calls, when either Richard or Steven broke character (which was often) they would usually either go to a commercial break or quickly exit camera shot. During the shows lengthy tenure the hosts created many unique scenarios referring to them as ‘special editions’. These included a Prison Edition, Racial Harmony Edition, Funeral Edition, Redneck Edition and special Birthday Editions among many others.

Notable Developments

The internet show aired on various streaming sites across the span of its 2011-2012 run and eventually came to an end in July 2012. Following the dramatic finale of Jesus Chatline, Steven created his own show titled, Rumbled Feathers although this iteration was short lived. Since late 2012 both Richard & Steven have remained out of the public spotlight although the classic streamed footage has remained archived on YouTube.

Special Editions

• Firstly, the notable Prison Edition where both Richard and Steven had apparently been arrested for money-related offences. The duo broadcasted in-front of an obvious green screen in order to fictitiously gather enough funds to grant themselves bail. They were set a number of risqué tasks by the callers so the grand total could be raised. An example being Richard pecking Steven on the cheek which went against their strong homophobic views.

• The Racial Harmony Edition involved the show dedicating itself to racial issues as well as particular stigmas and stereotypes attached to certain ethnicities. There was a recurring montage segment exclusive to a particular race (ironically noting that races stereotypes) this included suggesting that Hispanics were all involved in jobs relating to manual labour and that a lot of Indians are cab drivers amongst other racial stereotypes.

• The Funeral Edition showcased the illegitimate funeral of Steven Chilton. For almost three hours Steven’s supposed dead body lies on a sofa whilst Richard hosts a memorial episode remembering the life of Steven. Callers contributed by speaking of their fondest memories of him whilst others blared emotional hard-hitting ballads down their phone-lines along with memorable film quotes which included extracts from the blockbuster Jaws and 2002 flop, The Master of Disguise (considered by some to be one of the worst movies of all time). Throughout the show Steven is clearly seen to be sniggering at certain caller contributions and progressively moving his arms and feet.

Recurring Segments

Recurring segments were limited although there were a select few. This included the Children’s Chatline which showcased a number of embarrassing high school photos and unintentionally provocative hand-drawn artworks by children usually sent in by the trolling contributors or the hosts themselves. Throughout the show a number of video fillers were used as break interludes for when the co-hosts were either switching roles or for when they’d begun uncontrollably laughing.The show also featured a number of mock advertisements including Dad’s Cream and many more.

Search Interest

External References

http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1097073
http://www.thethinkingatheist.com/forum/Thread-The-Jesus-Chatline