The Memes of 2016
A frog on the campaign trail and a game in the street
Feeds and Algorithms, 2016–2020
Pokémon Go launched in July and put millions of people on the street holding phones. A cartoon frog became a campaign issue in September, and the Anti-Defamation League added a version of it to its hate-symbol database later that month.
In October Vine announced it was shutting down, and the Mannequin Challenge briefly filled its place. Oxford chose “post-truth” as its word of the year.
Top memes of 2016
1 meme in the archive peaked this year.
1Pepe the Frog
44/100+6%Rising2005Peaked in 2016
2Drake Hotline Bling
38/100+2%Classic2015Peaked in 2015
3This Is Fine
47/100+7%Rising2013Peaked in 2020
Also circulating
2016, month by month
The leading memes of the year on one scale, 0 to 100. The yellow dot marks each one’s highest month.
Pepe the Frog
Pepe the Frog: Jan 75, Feb 73, Mar 80, Apr 81, May 83, Jun 90, Jul 90, Aug 89, Sep 90, Oct 89, Nov 87, Dec 85 Drake Hotline Bling
Drake Hotline Bling: Jan 72, Feb 70, Mar 67, Apr 66, May 65, Jun 58, Jul 62, Aug 58, Sep 57, Oct 56, Nov 54, Dec 52 This Is Fine
This Is Fine: Jan 55, Feb 54, Mar 56, Apr 59, May 62, Jun 62, Jul 60, Aug 61, Sep 61, Oct 62, Nov 62, Dec 62 Grumpy Cat
Grumpy Cat: Jan 37, Feb 37, Mar 35, Apr 35, May 35, Jun 34, Jul 32, Aug 35, Sep 31, Oct 34, Nov 34, Dec 33 Rickroll
Rickroll: Jan 33, Feb 35, Mar 33, Apr 32, May 34, Jun 35, Jul 34, Aug 32, Sep 32, Oct 33, Nov 33, Dec 33 Wojak
Wojak: Jan 28, Feb 32, Mar 30, Apr 32, May 33, Jun 32, Jul 34, Aug 32, Sep 34, Oct 33, Nov 35, Dec 34
Attention index, 0 to 100 on one scale for the whole archive. Estimated from each meme’s key dates, not measured.
Timeline
Dated moments from the memes above, in order.
Ad campaigns. A Super Bowl 50 advertisement parodies the video, a sign of mainstream saturation.
In a museum. A taxidermy installation based on “Ceiling Cat” is acquired by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
A reaction for the news cycle. The image becomes the default reply to political and cultural crises.
A period piece. Remembered as the fastest-burning dance meme of its time.
Contested symbol. The Anti-Defamation League adds certain variants to its hate symbol database, noting that most uses are not hateful.
What kind of memes
Categories across the memes active in 2016.