Virtual rewind

Somya Abrol

Every youngster you spot is at it with his head down. Yes, we’re talking about phones and the steep rise of social media users in the country this year. Twenty-fourteen has been the year of social media – from finding love to flaunting vacation pictures to resorting to Facebook for trends and YouTube for constant entertainment and Twitter for news – youngsters’ way of life has changed by leaps and bounds thanks to that four-inch device in your hand.

As we get nostalgic, here’s a rundown on what was trending on various social media networks this year:

YouTube

1) Comedy Nights with Kapil (Sunny & Ekta Kapoor): This comes as no surprise, does it? Our very own Punjab da puttar Kapil Sharma has a crazy fan following and he knows it! This particular episode, though, has had 90,99,010 views so far!

2) AIB: Alia Bhatt - Genius of the Year: Alia Bhatt tried to salvage her ‘bimbo’ image – thanks to her GK faux pas on Karan Johar’s talk show – with this video, and succeeded to quite an extent, with 69,78,811 views so far.

3) Bollywood Aam Aadmi Party: Arnab’s Qtiyapa: These youngsters made sure that India knows that “India needs an answer”! This Arnab Goswami spoof had everyone in splits since February this year, with 43,24,460 views so far.

4) Narendra Modi in Aap Ki Adalat 2014: Rajat Sharma’s long-running show had Narendra Modi doing what he does best, charm his bhakts, while countering some pertinent questions and allegations. With 43,27,416 views, this episode did the rounds for months after its telecast.

5) Nayak 2: The Common Man Rises: Everyone’s favourite butt of jokes after the general elections, Arvind Kejriwal has been spoofed yet again in this video, with Alok Nath playing an even bigger role than the one in Nayak 1. Total view: 37,56,401.

Twitter

1) #GoldenGlobes: Lupita Nyong’o ruled the roost for Golden Globes, with Aaron Paul following a close second at the 71st Golden Globe Awards.

2) #Grammys: From Arianna Grande’s pout to Taylor Swift’s selfie with Lorde, twitterati went crazies over this star-studded hashtag in Jan this year.

3) #Oscars: From Benedict Cumberbatch photo-bombing Bono’s prized picture to A-listers like Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, Ellen DeGeneres, Meryl Streep, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts and the likes coming together for one legendary selfie – Oscars 2014 broke Twitter with over-indulgence.

4) #Wt20: Cricketers from the world over competed in Bangladesh at the fifth ICC World Twenty20 competition.

5) #Cannes 2014: From the Pulp Fiction gang walking the red carpet to Aishwarya Rai Bachchan redeeming her ‘diva’ image to Blake Lively ‘winning literally everything’ – Cannes 2014 sent the twitterati typing.

6) #IndiaVotes: The 2014 general elections saw an influx of Indian twitter followers – from Sachin posting his inked finger to Narendra Modi posting pictures with his mother’s blessings (pun intended) – literate India made the best of Twitter through the elections.

7) #Mangalyaan: The financially viable Mars orbiter from India had everyone wishing them a safe journey!

8) #NaMoInJapan: PM Narendra Modi’s much-celebrated Japan visit went down the Twitter wall of fame!

9) #MH17: The world mourned the loss of lives on Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.

10) #IIFA: The season of selfies hit desi celebs too, with the likes of Priyanka Chopra ruling the roost.

11) #bangbangdare: Remember Ranveer Singh dressed as Krish, dancing on the streets of Mumbai?

12) #Swachbharatabhiyaam/#Cleanmyindia: Still hot property, this hastag has been the trigger behind many a clean rods in Bharat.

13) #RIPRobinWilliams: The world lost a great artiste and an amazing human being in August this year.

14) #Icebucketchallenge: The hashtag became nothing short of a rage, as celebrities world over took to Twitter to spread awareness about ALS by pouring a chilled bucket of water on their head.

15) #Emmys: From Seth Meyer’s jokes to Heidi Klum and Zac Posen’s ‘getting dressed’ pictures – the Emmys were only bigger and better this year.

16) #PhotoshopRF: Being the darling that he is, tennis champ Roger Federer asked his Indian Fans to photoshop him in different Indian scenarios, and the feedback, as expected, was phenomenal!

17) #MalalaYousafzai: The brave, young soul won the Nobel Peace Prize with Satyarthi and won our hearts, yet again!

(Sources: YouTube and Twitter. All YouTube ‘views’ mentioned were noted till the time of going to print.)

Top 10 songs for 2014

1) Baby Doll (Ragini MMS 2)

2) Chaar Bottle Vodka (Ragini MMS 2)

3) Samjhawan Unplugged (Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhaniya)

4) Tu Meri Main Tera (Bang Bang)

5) Zaroori Tha (Rahat Fateh Ali Khan)

6) Devil-Yaar Na Miley (Kick)

7) Tune Maari Entriyaan (Gunday)

8) Jumme Ki Ratt (Kick)

9) Johnny Johnny (It’s Entertainment)

10) La La La Brazil (Shakira)

Source: YouTube

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