All The Things That Were the Most 2016 Things of 2016

If there’s one thing you can say about 2016, it’s that it was extremely 2016.

Prince died? That’s 2016 for you. Trump got elected? So 2016. People got mad about a Star Wars movie starring a woman? It’s 2016, alright. Racists were upset about a black Santa? Incredibly, uniquely 2016.

Tweeting “this is the most 2016 thing” is a common trope that relatively meme-aware but ultimately not-that-clever internet users (that is to say, most of us) employed whenever something completely messed up happened this year. It denotes the ludicrousness of whatever just transpired, while highlighting the general mood of the time.

Pegging all of the ugliness to a finite stretch of 365 days also offers the hope that it’ll all be over soon.

Unfortunately, the problems that seem like they could only ever exist in the mud and the shit of 2016 all go back decades and even centuries. They’ll continue to stretch into 2017 and onwards forever and ever until we finally destroy the root causes, if we ever manage to do that.

Maybe, then, saying that something terrible or just plain crazy is “the most 2016 thing” is actually a mental defense mechanism that allows us to frame the day’s problems as temporary. Maybe it also allows us to shore up nostalgia for years that we remember more fondly. Or maybe it’s just lazy tweeting.

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A fugitive sending police a better mugshot was the most 2016 thing.

Quantifying heartbreak was the most 2016 thing.

Rapper BOB being a flat-earth truther was the most 2016 thing.

A drone hitting Bone Thugs-N-Harmony on stage was the most 2016 thing.

Getting hit in the dong with a ping pong ball was the most 2016 thing.

A man on a hoverboard taking a Donald Trump flyer was the most 2016 thing.

the most 2016 thing to ever happen: a man on a hoverboard accepting a donald trump flyer pic.twitter.com/m9PlBa4pk0
— Kath Barbadoro (@kathbarbadoro) February 1, 2016

Monica Lewinsky getting custom emojis was the most 2016 thing.

Kanye West manning the aux cord at Madison Square Garden was the most 2016 thing.

Jeb(!) Bush was the most 2016 thing.

A baby dolphin getting selfied to death was the most 2016 thing.

DJ Khaled selling vape juice was the most 2016 thing.

A guy on a hoverboard shooting someone was the most 2016.

Grime rapper Stormzy getting his own burger was the most 2016 thing.

Something called “BaeTea” was the most 2016 thing.

Taking a selfie with a hijacker was the most 2016 thing.

'Best selfie ever:' British man takes picture with Egyptair plane hijackerhttps://t.co/RQrTpLTLCR pic.twitter.com/Djh3NKvUdH
— WAFB (@WAFB) March 31, 2016

Hamburger Helper dropping a fire mixtape was the most 2016 thing.

Stone Cold Steve Austin smashing IPAs at Wrestlemania was the most 2016 thing.

A Goofy Movie discourse was the most 2016 thing.

“Daddy” discourse was the most 2016 thing.

A decent meme becoming a symbol of hate was the most 2016 thing.

Thinking Rachel Ray cheated with Jay-Z was the most 2016 thing.

Hulk Hogan’s sex tape lawsuit being the long-term revenge plan of a billionaire egomaniac was the most 2016 thing.

A parrot witnessing a murder was the most 2016 thing.

Presidential candidates beefing on Twitter was the most 2016 thing.

Lindsay Lohan becoming a Twitter Brexit pundit was the most 2016 thing.

Mischa Barton trying to be woke while on a yacht was the most 2016 thing.

Taking a mass selfie with a politician was the most 2016 thing.

Thinking Pamela Anderson poisoned Wikileaks’ Julian Assange was the most 2016 thing.

Serious thinkpieces about Pokémon Go were the most 2016 things.

Pokémon Go was the most 2016 thing.

Donald Trump using Pokémon Go in an attack ad was the most 2016 thing.

NEW: Donald Trump captures "Crooked Hillary" Pokemon https://t.co/aPcbgtWEtc #PokemonGO pic.twitter.com/MiJdD29gOi
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) July 14, 2016

Turkish PM Recep Erdoğan thwarting a military coup via FaceTime was the most 2016 thing.

CNN anchor Jake Tapper quoting The Wire was the most 2016 thing.

Clint Eastwood calling people “pussies” was the most 2016 thing.

Cops trying to be woke was the most 2016 thing.

A guy climbing Trump Tower was the most 2016 thing.

Fucking a McChicken was the most 2016 thing.

Dogs taking anxiety meds was the most 2016 thing.

Old people learning how to slide into your DMs was the most 2016 thing.

Watermarking memes was the most 2016 thing.

Being aggressively vaped at was the most 2016 thing.

Tila Tequila becoming a Nazi was the most 2016 thing.

Donald Trump defending angry night-tweeting was the most 2016 thing.

Screaming humanoid fruit was the most 2016 thing.

Creepy clowns was the most 2016 thing.

Streaming a funeral was the most 2016 thing.

Candy companies weighing in on the presidential election was the most 2016 thing.

Being hated by your dog was the most 2016 thing.

Bob Dylan getting a Nobel prize in literature for some reason was the most 2016 thing.

Snoop Dogg inviting Ken Bone to smoke up on the internet was the most 2016 thing.

DJ Khaled Snapchatting his wife giving birth was the most 2016 thing.

Anthony Weiner returning in the third act to help sink Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign was the most 2016 thing.

Donald Trump getting elected was the most 2016 thing.

Fidel Castro being dead was the most 2016 thing.

Taking an Uber to an anti-Donald Trump rally was the most 2016 thing.

The Rock being People’s Sexiest Man Alive was the most 2016 thing.

Kanye West meeting with Donald Trump was the most 2016 thing.

"We've been friends for a long time": Kanye West and Donald Trump appeared together Tuesday at Trump Tower https://t.co/JBZWmCrHoM pic.twitter.com/Go5gZAiVHZ
— CNN (@CNN) December 17, 2016

Saying things are the most 2016 things of 2016 was the most 2016 thing.

#PizzaGate was the most 2016 thing.

A Woody Allen-looking Weird Twitter dude joining the Kurdish Peshmerga was the most 2016 thing.

See you in 2017!

from All The Things That Were the Most 2016 Things of 2016