Although the people of the internet might have short attention spans, they also seem to have fantastic long-term memories. For those of us who grew up in the golden age of social media sites like YouTube, there are certainly quite a few videos that played a significant role in our lives at the time.
Whether amusing, frustrating, or even downright horrifying, viral videos probably have made an impact at some point in your life. Here’s a list of the most memorable, in our opinion.
1. Charlie the Unicorn
If you were in school anytime during the mid-aughts, you probably at least remember someone quoting this video. It’s the story of a grumpy, lazy unicorn who is taken on an adventure by two other unicorns to a mythical candy mountain, but it’s all a ruse.
What started as a birthday present created by independent filmmaker John Steele quickly became an internet meme. First uploaded in 2005, Charlie the Unicorn has since accumulated upwards of 50 million views. It’s even spawned several sequels and its own line of merchandise. And it’s undoubtedly a piece of nostalgia for many of us.
2. Antoine Dodson
When Huntsville, Alabama man Antoine Dodson was being interviewed by a local news station regarding a home intruder breaking into his sister’s bedroom, he probably never would have guessed that his sound bite would propel him to internet stardom.
But Dodson’s charismatic and flamboyant personality did in-fact take the internet by storm. The video garnered almost overnight internet popularity, and even spawned an auto-tuned version called the “Bed Intruder Song,” which has been bought thousands of times on iTunes, and even hit the Billboard Hot 100 list. Even if you haven’t seen the original interview, you’ve probably heard the “hide your kids, hide your wife” refrain somewhere — seeing as the song has been played over 134 million times.
3. End of Ze World
Perhaps one of the earliest instances of a viral video, the classic animated short “The End of the World” was first released on Albino Black Sheep, a popular video site, way back in 2003 — two years before YouTube was even founded.
It’s a humorous and rather ridiculous breakdown of geopolitics and nuclear arms, which is perhaps why it went viral in the first place. Its conclusion: that all of the nations of Earth were going to blow each other up in the end. Despite the depressing context, the irreverent video was certainly amusing, and even had its own share of iconic catchphrases, such as “WTF, mate?” and “I am le tired.” But it’s notable because it became viral before the foremost viral video platform was even created.
4. Salad Fingers
While YouTube has cemented itself as a place for entertaining viral videos and cat memes, many of us forget that there is, indeed, a mysterious and often horrifying side to the platform. And the videos that inhabit this creepy side of YouTube are often memorable because we happen to stumble upon them late at night, for some reason.
“Salad Fingers” is a perfect example of the weird side of YouTube viral videos. Described as a “surreal psychological horror cartoon” by KnowYourMeme, “Salad Fingers” is one part nonsensical and one part horrifying. Originally released on Newgrounds, it features a horrifying protagonist named Salad Fingers, who derives pleasure from caressing rusty spoons and other objects. And luckily for those of us who can’t get enough of the creepy character, there’s a whole series of sequel videos.
5. Never Gonna Give You Up
Ah, yes: Rickrolling. The bane of our young internet lives. You’ve probably been Rickrolled at least once — especially if you spent some of your youth in the mid- to late-aughts. Sure, it’s not the most enjoyable viral video, but it certainly is one of the most memorable. For many of us, the first ten seconds of the song are probably immortalized in our memories.
For those unfamiliar, the prank works by disguising the music video for the 1987 Rick Astley Song “Never Gonna Give You Up” as something else — often with a misleading link or thumbnail. Think you’ve found that leaked song you’ve been searching all night for? Nope, just a Rickroll. See a link to an unreleased, secret trailer for an upcoming video game? That was probably a Rickroll, too. The video was even tweeted out by the White House in 2011 in response to a fiscal policy question, and it’s estimated to have been viewed at least 48 million times. Yeah, it’s annoying. But it’s all in good fun, and I bet some of us have even come to appreciate the prank.
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