Top Ten Winners of 2012

Editor’s Note: This article is part of Know Your Meme’s Top 10 Review looking back at some of the most memorable and popular memes, events and people that defined the Internet culture in 2012 as we know it. And brace yourselves, the grand finale list Best Memes of 2012 is coming soon!

Competition for our attention online was fierce this year, with a slew of athletes, artists, entertainers, politicians and other personalities attempting to promote themselves across the web. With the end of the year closing in, the Know Your Meme staff took a look back at some of this year’s biggest winners in social media and the mainstream Internet.

#10: Vermin Supreme

Occupation: Performance artist and activist Winning Point: Became a notable figure online, especially in the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fandom, for his appearances in viral videos and a “pony for every household” campaign platform Social Media Stats: 11,530 Facebook subscribers / 3,739 Twitter followers Celebrity Benchmark: Google Trends (Basil Marceaux > Vermin Supreme > Jimmy McMillan > Phil Davison) Related Concepts: 2012 United States Presidential Election, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

#9: Krispy Kreme

Occupation: Rapper and video blogger Winning Point: Accumulated over 227,300 subscribers and 39.6 million video views on YouTube this year from several rap videos made with his sidekick “Money Maker Mike” Social Media Stats: 219,000 Facebook likes and 65,705 Twitter followers Celebrity Benchmark: Google Trends (Based God > Eli Porter > George Watsky > Krispy Kreme) Related Concepts: Rap Battle Parodies, Poe’s Law

#8: Nate Silver

Occupation: New York Times statistician Winning Point: Correctly predicted the electoral college results for all 50 states in the 2012 United States presidential election Social Media Stats: 21,330 Facebook likes and 443,580 Twitter followers Celebrity Benchmark: Google Trends (Anderson Cooper > Rachel Maddow > Karl Rove > Nate Silver) Related Concepts: 2012 United States Presidential Election, Drunk Nate Silver

#7: Karen Klein

Occupation: Retired bus monitor Winning Point: Received over $700,000 in donations after a video went viral in which she is bullied by a student Social Media Stats: 6,791 Facebook likes and 141 Twitter followers Celebrity Benchmark: Google Trends (Karen Klein > Casey Heynes > Jonah Mowry > Thomas Bruso) Related Concepts: Kickstarter, Stop Bullying Comics

#6: Nicolas Cage

Occupation: Actor, Internet god Winning Point: Inspired the creation of several viral videos, a rage comic character and the /r/onetruegod subreddit Social Media Stats: 59,500 Facebook likes and Celebrity Benchmark: Google Trends (Bruce Willis > John Travolta > Nicolas Cage > Samuel Jackson) Related Concepts: Nicolas Cage Wants Cake, How’d It Get Burned?, Nic Cage as Everyone, Your Argument is Invalid, You Don’t Say, Not the Bees

#5: Kim Jong Un

Occupation: Supreme leader of North Korea Winning Point: Became the dictator of North Korea following his father’s death in December of 2011. Inspired the creation of a single topic blog and won Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year” community poll Social Media Stats: 2,826 Facebook likes and 201,306 Twitter followers (parody account). Celebrity Benchmark: Google Trends (Kim Jong Un > Hosni Mubarak > Muammar Gaddafi > Bashar al-Assad) Related Concepts: Hungry Kim Jong Un, Kim Jong Il Looking at Things, Death of Kim Jong-Il, Justin Bieber to North Korea

#4: Gabe Newell

Occupation: CEO of Valve Corporation Winning Point: Has developed a reputation online for treating employees well and customers with respect Social Media Stats: 17,606 Facebook likes Celebrity Benchmark: Google Trends (Gabe Newell > Markus Persson > Reggie Fils-Aime > Satoru Iwata) Related Concepts: Valve, Portal, Team Fortress 2, Half-Life

#3: Andrew Hussie

Occupation: Illustrator, Webcomic artist Winning Point: Had a very sucessful Kickstarter campaign for a Homestuck adventure game that raised over $2.4 million Social Media Stats: 8,605 Facebook likes 41,955 Twitter followers Celebrity Benchmark: Google Trends (Andrew Hussie > Ryan North > Randall Monroe > Jeff Jacks) Related Concepts: I Told You About Stairs, Homestuck, Webcomics,

#2: PSY

Occupation: Singer, Recording artist Winning Point: Released the international hit single “Gangnam Style”, which has surpassed Justin Bieber’s “Baby” as the most viewed YouTube video of all time Social Media Stats: 4 million Facebook likes and 1.6 million Twitter followers Celebrity Benchmark: Google Trends (Gangnam Style > Skrillex > Lana Del Rey > Gotye > Carly Rae Jepsen) Related Concepts: Viral Videos,

#1: Barack Obama

Occupation: President of U.S.A. Winning Point: Won the 2012 United States presidential election Social Media Stats: 34 million Facebook likes and 24 million Twitter followers Celebrity Benchmark: Google Trends (Barack Obama > Bill Clinton > Mitt Romney > Hilary Clinton) Related Concepts: 2012 United States Presidential Election