The social media discussion of 2021 was defined by —where a video meant to be shared with friends becomes national news (see: Devious Lick, Couch Guy). It was also the year we realized that "canceling" was out, but "intense critical analysis of vibes" was very much in.
Hallie Cain posted a video defining "Cheugy" (pronounced choo-gee): the opposite of trendy. Think "Live, Laugh, Love" signs, Ugg boots, or anything from the 2010s. Within a week, the word was in The New York Times .
A woman posted a video surprising her long-distance boyfriend at college. The video was wholesome—she runs in, he looks up from the couch, they hug. But the internet sleuths dissected the 12-second clip frame by frame. He didn't stand up. He looked guilty. A hand moves in the background.
From the "Sea Shanty" craze to the perplexing mystery of "What color is the dress?" 2.0, here are the 10 viral videos of 2021 that broke the internet and sparked the most intense social media discussions. Platform: TikTok | Views: 60M+ (Original)
Originating from the anime The Brave Fighter of Sun Fighbird , a still of a robot pointing at a butterfly saying, "Is this a pigeon?" was turned into video edits showing people pointing at obviously wrong things (e.g., a cigar, a cat, the moon).
Why it went viral: Algorithmic audio. Instagram pushed this specific track hard. The Discussion: Music critics debated whether the remix ruined the original rock vibe (Måneskin fans hated it) or improved it. The meta-discussion was about forced virality —did users actually love the song, or did the algorithm just make it inescapable? Platform: TikTok | Views: 100M+
