- 6/18/2025
From memes to movements, the internet has given birth to cultural phenomena that transcended screens and changed reality. Join us as we explore viral moments that reshaped our world! From digital currencies born from dog photos to social movements that sparked global revolutions, these internet sensations left permanent marks on society, politics, and culture.
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00:00I think it's great that we're seeing allies from other countries supporting the Black Lives Matter movement,
00:05and they're speaking out themselves, saying they're not innocent.
00:08Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the trending moments that had a major impact on the world and world affairs.
00:16Part of the work of the Me Too movement is about the restoration of that humanity for survivors.
00:23Doge.
00:24You're Doge? What are you talking about?
00:26The dog we all know and love pictured in the memes was born on November 2nd, 2005.
00:31Beginning as a goofy mispronunciation of the word dog, Doge has become particularly associated with a meme surrounding one particular Doge.
00:39The dog in question, a Shiba Inu named Kibosu, gives some hilarious side eye in the most famous picture of her.
00:46In early 2010, Sato updated her personal blog with pictures of Kibosu,
00:50including the iconic photograph of the dog glancing sideways with raised eyebrows.
00:55However, the meme didn't stop at image macros.
00:58It has also inspired a cryptocurrency, Dogecoin.
01:01Although originally created as a joke, it's among the most popular of the volatile investments.
01:06Collective value of all Dogecoins exceeded $10 billion,
01:09as more and more people invested serious money into a currency that was now much more than just a meme.
01:14Furthermore, U.S. presidential advisor and richest man in the world, Elon Musk,
01:19helped spearhead the creation of the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
01:24The newly created department has slashed thousands of government jobs and created plenty of controversy.
01:30And it all started with a funny dog picture.
01:32By eliminating your position, how much money was saved for the taxpayers?
01:38The taxpayers didn't save any money by eliminating money.
01:40The money that we have under my leadership actually returned is over $30 billion to the Treasury.
01:48I'm no mathematician, but that sounds pretty good.
01:52It gets better project.
01:53But I was picked on because, you know, I liked musicals, and I was obviously gay,
01:59and some kids didn't like that, and I did get harassed.
02:03Teens cutting their own lives short is a tragic issue.
02:06In the wake of several gay teenagers doing so, Dan Savage and his now husband, Terry Miller,
02:11created a highly viral video sharing a simple message.
02:13It gets better.
02:15Not only did the original video trend, it also inspired others to join their stories,
02:19with other gay adults and celebrities and politicians of all orientations joining in.
02:24You are not alone.
02:26You didn't do anything wrong.
02:27You didn't do anything to deserve being bullied.
02:30And there is a whole world waiting for you, filled with possibilities.
02:35There are people out there who love you and care about you just the way you are.
02:39The project is now a non-profit aimed at helping and motivating young LGBTQ plus people worldwide.
02:44We are all unique, but we also have a community of people who could support us and empower us.
02:50It's just a matter of finding them.
02:52If you don't give power to the words that people throw at you to hurt you,
02:57they don't hurt you anymore.
02:59And you actually have power over those people.
03:01Ice Bucket Challenge.
03:02Bill Gates, my partner in Facebook, Sheryl Sandberg,
03:06and Netflix's founder and CEO, Reed Hastings.
03:08People doing something uncomfortable online is always going to get a lot of attention,
03:17but doing it for a good cause?
03:19Well, that's even better.
03:20The Ice Bucket Challenge was created to spread awareness for ALS,
03:23also called Lou Gehrig's disease, or motor neuron disease.
03:27Those challenged must film themselves having a bucket
03:29or other container of icy water dumped over them,
03:32or else make a charitable donation, or both.
03:34All right, go for it, one, two, three, go!
03:44Okay.
03:53The viral challenge and even celebrity attention
03:55helped raise a substantial amount of money for organizations researching the disease.
04:00And while attempts to recapture the viral sensation haven't been quite as successful,
04:04some participants have continued donations in the years since.
04:16GameStop Short Squeeze.
04:18We can be the ones selling it to them, at whatever the price is.
04:22Other people hear that, and they're like, you know what?
04:24You're right.
04:25So they do that.
04:26They start to push the price of the stock up,
04:28probably closer to what it actually should be worth,
04:30considering that the company's not going bankrupt.
04:32And then the stock starts to increase in value a lot,
04:35and that becomes news,
04:36and that brings more people in whether they understand what's going on or not.
04:38The stock market is complicated,
04:41but some people understand it,
04:42and some of those people are on Reddit,
04:44specifically the subreddit,
04:46r slash wallstreetbets.
04:47Some users noticed that the stock of gaming retailer GameStop
04:50was being undervalued compared to how successful it was,
04:53with hedge funds essentially promising to buy more GameStop shares
04:56than actually existed.
04:58These users then began hyping up and buying up GameStop stocks.
05:02The plan was for the Reddit army to keep buying GameStop stock,
05:05driving up the price,
05:06and making the hedge funds lose more and more money.
05:09The hedge funds would be forced to abandon their positions
05:11and cover their losses by buying shares from the market
05:14to return to their lenders.
05:16This meant the hedge funds shorting the price
05:18would need to buy all the stocks they'd previously shorted at the market value,
05:21which had been driven up by what was basically a meme.
05:24The resulting fallout led to huge losses from the hedge funds,
05:27market fluctuations,
05:28a U.S. congressional investigation,
05:30and a movie adaptation.
05:32Wallstreetbets I thought were a bunch of idiots
05:34just throwing money in the stock
05:35because they thought it was funny.
05:37I was wrong.
05:38Now I see what Wallstreetbets really is.
05:41It is a rebel.
05:42This is one of those rare moments
05:44where Wallstreet are the ones being screwed over.
05:46Kony 2012.
05:48We worried the rebel.
05:49When they raise us again,
05:52then they will kill us.
05:54A nearly 30-minute documentary
05:56and call to action
05:57over Ugandan war criminal and cult leader,
05:59Joseph Kony,
06:00Kony 2012 went viral
06:02with nearly unprecedented speed.
06:04Its emotional appeal
06:05and Kony's horrific treatment of children
06:07touched the hearts of nearly everyone who watches it.
06:10And what he does is
06:11he takes children from their parents
06:13and he gives them a gun
06:15to shoot
06:17and he makes them shoot
06:18and kill other people.
06:22But they're not going to do what he says
06:24because they're nice guys, right?
06:27Yeah, they don't want to do what he says,
06:29but he forces them to do bad things.
06:33Thanks to his overnight success
06:34and numerous calls by viewers
06:36to their representatives,
06:37the U.S. Congress passed a resolution
06:39to assist the African Union's attempts
06:40to capture Kony.
06:42One of its creators also had a very public
06:44and very naked breakdown.
06:46While Kony remains at large
06:47as of this writing,
06:48his forces have been much reduced
06:50and he was forced into hiding.
06:52He's still out there,
06:53but his army is shrinking and splintering.
06:55He is effectively in hibernation.
06:57Barack Obama Hope Poster
06:59Rose to international prominence
07:01with your Obama Hope Poster from 2008.
07:06During then-U.S. presidential candidate
07:08Barack Obama's 2008 campaign,
07:10his publicist commissioned artist Shepard Fairey
07:13to create a poster for them.
07:14The resulting stencil portrait
07:16with its vivid use of red, beige, and blue
07:18and messages reading hope, change, and progress
07:21quickly became famous.
07:23Well, you know,
07:24they're both about putting across my philosophy,
07:27which the obey is getting people
07:28to question obedience.
07:30And, you know, in a sense,
07:32it's antagonistic, it's provocative.
07:34The Obama was,
07:36after a very dark period of the Bush years
07:39and a lot of cynicism,
07:40it was a genuinely optimistic gesture,
07:42very sincere.
07:43Versions featuring other public figures,
07:45both real and fictional,
07:46with captions their own,
07:48have been the subject of memes
07:49in the years since its creation.
07:51The poster may have helped contribute
07:52to Obama's first election,
07:54and the original poster is now displayed
07:55in the Smithsonian Institute.
07:57Plus, it's practically a visual shorthand
07:59for political messaging and posters now.
08:01Do you still feel optimistic about the president?
08:05Blocking the Keystone Pipeline
08:07was something that I'm very proud of him doing.
08:12WikiLeaks.
08:12It's a worry, isn't it?
08:14That the rest of the world's media
08:15is doing such a bad job
08:17that a little group of activists
08:20is able to release more
08:21of that type of information
08:23than the rest of the world press combined.
08:25A non-profit organization
08:26dedicated to publishing leaked,
08:28often classified government information,
08:30WikiLeaks has gone viral
08:32several times during its history.
08:34WikiLeaks has released information
08:35revealing corruption
08:36from several governments,
08:37as well as diplomatic
08:38and military documents
08:39from the United States,
08:41with their 2010 leak in particular,
08:43causing a firestorm online worldwide.
08:45In this video,
08:46I think you see the corruption
08:47of pilots and the military
08:49by war itself,
08:51in particular,
08:52by the modern nature of aerial warfare.
08:55So you see these young pilots
08:57acting like they're playing video games,
08:59only the highest scores they are getting
09:02are with real human lives.
09:04The organization's info drops
09:05have proven controversial,
09:07with some praising them
09:08and others criticizing
09:09a lack of circumspection,
09:11such as including social security numbers
09:12and other personal data.
09:14WikiLeaks and particularly founder
09:16Julian Assange
09:17have also faced
09:18a mountain of legal difficulties.
09:20However,
09:20in the wake of WikiLeaks' revelations,
09:22governments have had to re-examine
09:24what it means to be transparent
09:25with their citizens
09:26in the age of the internet.
09:28At the bottom line,
09:29they're a publisher.
09:31And so the idea
09:32that a government is going after them,
09:34if anyone's cheering that on,
09:35they don't belong in a democracy.
09:38Arab Spring Videos
09:39In 2010,
09:40the Arab Spring happened
09:41and changed the whole situation
09:43in the Middle East.
09:44In Syria,
09:45dictator Bashir al-Assad
09:46didn't think much of resigning
09:48and started a gruesome civil war
09:49against his own people.
09:51Speaking of WikiLeaks,
09:52some of the organizations
09:53leaked documents in 2010
09:54included the corruption present
09:56in several Arab
09:57and Middle Eastern countries.
09:59These leaks,
10:00as well as widespread
10:00authoritarian abuses,
10:02led to protests
10:03breaking out across
10:04northern Africa
10:05and the Middle East.
10:06protesters armed themselves
10:08not only with signs,
10:09but with cell phones,
10:11allowing the protests
10:12to spread at social media speed.
10:15On January 11th,
10:16a week after Bouazizi's death,
10:18Tunisia's government fell apart
10:20and the disgraced president,
10:21Ben Ali,
10:22fled the country.
10:24Despite attempts by governments
10:25to suppress information
10:26about the protests,
10:27social media played a big role
10:29in not only reporting
10:30on the demonstrations,
10:31but also in organizing them.
10:32The Arab Spring demonstration
10:34saw longtime dictators
10:35in Tunisia,
10:36Egypt,
10:37and Libya,
10:38among others,
10:39all being deposed.
10:40Additionally,
10:41the protests sparked
10:42armed conflicts
10:43like the Syrian civil war,
10:44the rise of ISIS,
10:46and the Yemeni civil war,
10:47all of which continue
10:48to have repercussions today.
10:50While the Arab Spring
10:51revealed how fast
10:52a revolution fueled
10:53by technology could unfold,
10:55it also once again proved
10:56how complicated
10:57and unpredictable
10:58revolutions can be.
11:01Hashtag Me Too.
11:02And the vision I have
11:03for this work
11:04has given me a larger platform
11:06to speak about it,
11:06talk about it,
11:07and more resources
11:08to actually implement
11:09some of these ideas.
11:11Although the Me Too movement
11:12actually began back
11:13in the mid-2000s
11:14on social media
11:15with activist Tarana Burke,
11:17it didn't truly go viral
11:18until after the Harvey Weinstein
11:19allegations ignited the internet.
11:21Actress Melissa Milano
11:22began the Me Too hashtag
11:24on Twitter,
11:25hoping to spread awareness
11:26of the magnitude
11:26of the issue
11:27of sexual harassment
11:28and assault,
11:29and spread it did.
11:30But now Me Too
11:32is igniting wider debates.
11:34Today is on the horizon!
11:38About the ability
11:38of legal systems
11:39to deliver justice.
11:41In addition to many
11:42high-profile celebrities
11:43coming forward,
11:44social media exploded,
11:45with Facebook once disclosing
11:47that over half
11:48its American users
11:49knew someone
11:49who had been assaulted.
11:51The movement led
11:51to several abusers,
11:52particularly in the
11:53entertainment industry,
11:54being exposed.
11:56Additionally,
11:57the Me Too movement
11:57has undeniably led
11:58to greater cultural awareness
12:00worldwide of assault
12:01and far more calls
12:02to crack down on it.
12:03I pulled out a piece of paper
12:05and I wrote Me Too
12:06on the top of it.
12:08And I proceeded
12:09to write out an action plan
12:11for building a movement
12:12based on empathy
12:13between survivors
12:15that would help us
12:16feel like we can heal,
12:18that we weren't
12:19the sum total
12:20of the things
12:20that happened to us.
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12:38Hashtag Black Lives Matter.
12:39Trayvon Martin,
12:41an unarmed
12:41Black American teen,
12:43was walking home
12:44from a convenience store
12:45in Sanford, Florida
12:46when he was fatally shot
12:47by George Zimmerman,
12:49a neighborhood watch volunteer.
12:50After police in Florida
12:52decided not to arrest Zimmerman,
12:54the case sparked
12:55international protests
12:56and debates
12:57about racial profiling,
12:59racial violence,
13:00and self-defense laws.
13:02Founded by a trio
13:03of activists in 2013,
13:04Black Lives Matter
13:05is a social movement
13:06that has acted
13:07in response
13:07to widespread racism
13:09and discrimination
13:10against Black people,
13:11particularly by the police.
13:12Justice for Eric Garner!
13:14Justice for Eric Garner!
13:16In the days
13:16after Garner's death,
13:18rallies were held
13:19in five cities
13:20with protesters
13:21calling themselves
13:21part of the
13:22Black Lives Matter movement.
13:24Black care, please!
13:25The movement
13:26gained momentum
13:26and trended several times
13:28in the 2010s
13:28and early 2020s,
13:30particularly in the wake
13:31of several highly publicized
13:32deaths of Black people
13:34at the hands of police.
13:35But the core argument
13:36that African Americans
13:37aren't treated equally
13:38is backed up
13:39by statistics
13:40that show that Black men
13:41are killed by police
13:42at a higher rate
13:42than white men.
13:43BLM has sparked
13:44online discussion
13:45and real-world protests
13:47with somewhere
13:48between 15 to 26 million
13:50protesters
13:51participating in the United States,
13:53making it one of the biggest
13:54protest movements
13:54in American history.
13:56While reactions
13:56have varied over time
13:57and the movement
13:58has created several
13:59counter-movements,
14:00there's no denying
14:00the impact of Black Lives Matter
14:02on public discourse.
14:03Perhaps one of the biggest shifts
14:05comes from the reflections
14:06and conversations
14:07being had around the world.
14:08We want change!
14:09We want change!
14:11It can be quantified
14:12in the millions of dollars
14:13that have been donated
14:14to the Black Lives Matter movement.
14:17In Washington, D.C.,
14:19the street in front
14:20of the White House
14:20has been renamed
14:21Black Lives Matter Plaza.
14:24Is there another viral moment
14:25that made the world stand still?
14:27Get moving down to the comments
14:28to tell us your picks.
14:29Challenge accepted.
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