This article was published on December 27, 2016

The most memorable tweets, memes and web sensations of 2016


The most memorable tweets, memes and web sensations of 2016

In a year that saw memes become more popular than Jesus and the Bible translated into emoji, there was no shortage of jokes and puns on the internet in 2016.

But while there are plenty of spoofs and wisecracks to look back to with amusement, only a small selection can make it our year-end roundup.

So without further ado, we present to you the most unmissable tweets, memes and web sensations of 2016.

The US election

Before we move on to the more techy goofs and gaffes, let’s get this one right off the bat.

Regardless of how you feel about the outcome of this year’s election, the led-up to Donald Trump’s presidential triumph over Hillary Clinton was nothing short of meme-worthy.

Everything was fun and games in the beginning.

But once Trump scooped the presidency, things quickly started heating up.

Nothing, however, came even close to the series of witty tweets spoofing a recent photoshoot of Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

Besides all the madness in the Twitterverse, the election also inspired a barrage of parody apps, games and plugins.

Among other things, there was a ‘Surgeon Simulator‘ that lets you virtually tear apart Donald Trump, an iOS game that features the Republican building a wall as a whack-a-mole parody that lets you grab ’em by the pussy – but not quite like you’d think.

But this wasn’t all. Team Clinton made its own app, introducing a photo filter that riduculed Trump – which Hillary even promoted via her Twitter account.

In addition to this, there was also a Twitter bot that retweets what Trump said at this time and day four years ago as well as a Facebook plugin that swaps out reactions with the Republican’s face.

25 of the best tweets from the 2016 election – so far

Trump’s triumph in tweets: the happiest and saddest post-election reactions

These hilarious Biden and Obama memes are the best way to get over the election

Samsung

Despite the unfortunate discontinuation of the fire-catching Galaxy Note 7, Samsung puns were the bomb this year.

The South Korean manufacturer repeatedly fell victim to a gang of sarcastic netizens, dishing out burning ridicule at any possible occasion – even at Apple’s MacBook launch event.

Then there was also the parody GTA mod that switched up hand-grenades with the Note 7 – which is actually pretty hilarious.

The real hard-hitter, however, came when Obama poked fun at Samsung’s misfortune while speaking at an event in Miami.

I mean, does it get any worse than getting roasted by the President of the United States himself?

Watch: Hilarious GTA parody pokes fun at Samsung’s exploding Galaxy Note 7

Obama pokes fun at Samsung’s fire-bursting Galaxy Note 7

Apple

Apple made some courageous decisions in 2016.

Back in September, Cupertino unveiled the new and improved iPhone 7 featuring enhanced water resistance, pimped up stereo speakers and boosted camera capabilities – but no headphone jack. Instead, Apple introduced its new wireless AirPods. Guess what the reaction was?

Talk show host Conan O’Brien didn’t miss a chance to mess with the AirPods either, throwing a jab at Apple with a gut-busting fake commercial.

Undeterred by the mockery from the iPhone 7 launch, Apple continued with the bold moves and later in October revealed its new MacBook Pro featuring a flashy OLED multitouch-responsive Touch Bar – which also had no escape key.

A roundup of unmissable tweets about Apple’s iPhone 7 launch

The best Twitter reactions about Apple’s new MacBook launch

Microsoft

Despite delivering some rather impressive products and announcements this year, Microsoft had a pretty goofy 2016.

Back in July, the Redmond giant reached out to the next generation of software engineers, inviting them to their annual Internapalooza event in San Francisco where more than 3,000 tech savvy students gather together to socialize and potentially link up with industry professionals.

But while there’s nothing wrong with touching base with the leaders of tomorrow, the Windows-maker took… a rather interesting approach with their invitational email.

In a desperate effort to appeal to what it apparently envisioned as a mob of slang-babbling millennials, Microsoft recruiters made fools of themselves, sending out an email laced with ‘cool-sounding’ lingo that only exposed how out of touch the company’s talent seekers are with the younger generation.

But hey: We all know these 90’s kids are all about “GETTING LIT” any chance they get – including on a Monday night. At a Microsoft career mixer.

You’d think the recruitment email fail would’ve taught the company a thing or two about trying too hard to be cool and witty, but few months later Microsoft nearly messed up again after almost dropping the N-bomb in an Xbox newsletter, promoting zombie survival horror game Dead Rising 4.

microsoft, dead rising 4, xbox, email, n-word

Fortunately, the Xbox team was quick to apologize for the negligence, avoiding any serious backlash – and some people even found the situation quite hilarious.

Microsoft wants you to think it’s LIT AF, hilariously fails

Microsoft says sorry for almost saying the N-word in Xbox newsletter

 Google

While Google is wrapping up a spectacular 2016, it also had a couple of funny mishaps over the last year.

When showcasing its newly introduced Google Home smart speaker during the #madebygoogle hardware event in October, hilarity ensued in the audience anytime one of the speakers on stage dropped the magical phrase ‘OK, Google.’

On another occasion shortly after turning 18, Google proved it still has a lot of growing up to do after a group of Redditors were shocked to discover that searching ‘illustrated books for 8 year olds’ on its search engine breeds some… less than appropriate results.

I guess it’s not as bad as axing the headphone jack though, right?

Google’s event yesterday was the most hilarious ‘OK Google’ nightmare

Google thinks ‘The Little Book of Big Penis’ is a suitable read for 8-year-olds

What else?

What are some of your favorite tweets and memes from 2016? Share the joke with us and let us know down in the comments.

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