Internet time machine / 2015

2015, kept in the archive.

Backdrop

The Internet in 2015

YouTube preview for The Force Awakens official teaser.

Year reference

The Force Awakens teaser

A trailer became the internet’s shared event.

Source: Star Wars on YouTube
  • Live-streaming services and mobile video moved the web toward “watch it happen now” culture.
  • The meme ecosystem was becoming faster and more visual, with Tumblr, Twitter, Reddit, and Facebook constantly feeding one another.
Read Pew’s social-media update

Archive order

Archive picks

01

The Roman Originals black-and-blue dress, shown in The Guardian’s credited retrospective

Meme · Viral photograph and perception debate

The Dress

Blue and black? White and gold? The internet had opinions, loudly.

photographoptical illusiondebate
Archive score96

02

Hotline Bling video preview

Video · Music-video reaction format

Hotline Bling

Drake danced in glowing cubes; the internet supplied every other soundtrack.

youtubemusic videoreaction format
Archive score94

03

Why You Always Lying video preview

Video · Vine-born comedy-music remix

Why You Always Lying

A driveway accusation became an immaculate 1990s R&B production, complete with rain machine, toilet, and side-eye.

vineyoutubecomedy music
Archive score93

04

Left Shark video preview

Meme · Live-performance viral character

Left Shark

One blue shark missed the choreography and immediately became the most beloved thing at the Super Bowl.

super bowllive performancedance
Archive score91

05

Dog of Wisdom video preview

Video · Creator-made CGI absurdist animation

Dog of Wisdom

A dog in a tiny plane met a cloud-dwelling oracle, received one perfect piece of advice, and immediately broke into an ’80s TV-theme duet.

youtubeanimationdogs
Archive score91