Whether you were mourning Harambe’s death or playing Pokemon Go, 2016 was an eventful year. As it comes to an end, it is time to look back at all the notable occurrences of the past twelve months.
As expected, 2016 was a year full of new social media trends. One of the biggest being the immense amount of dances surfacing Twitter. After “Whip Nae Nae” unfortunately gained widespread media attention in 2015, many other dances became popular in the following months. This year, the breastroke and mannequin challenges were just a couple of the most infamous dance trends. Acting like a mannequin and doing the breaststroke movement, while random, were the popular videos on Twitter. Celebrities like Ellen Degeneres and Adele took part in these hilarious challenges.
Although nobody really needed another social media account to think about, “finstas” made their appearance in 2016. These “fake instagrams” gained widespread popularity because they are used as an outlet to rant about personal issues and all the problems a high school student can face. One of the most common insults used on “finstas” is to call people “snakes,” another word for being unloyal or fake.
By far, the most talked about event of 2016 has been the presidential election. Regardless of your political stance, we can all agree that this year’s election was overwhelming and the final result was definitely a shock. The next four years will be a huge change with president-elect Donald Trump in office. After the election results, there were many protests throughout the country. The 2016 election will be one for the history books.
While the political tension casted a dark shadow over 2016, there was plenty of new music released to keep us distracted from the nerve-wracking election. After what seemed like a decade of waiting, Frank Ocean finally released his new album, Blonde, which received multiple awards and climbed its way up to number two on the Billboard 200 chart. Another artist who peaked in 2016 was Chance the Rapper. His third album, Coloring Book, was nominated for the award “Best Rap Album” at the 2017 Grammy Awards. This nomination is making history because, unlike the vast majority of well-known artists, Chance the Rapper offers his music for free on the app “Soundcloud.” Until this year, to get nominated for a Grammy you could not offer your music for free. Thus, Chance is reclaiming what it means to be a celebrity by making his music more accessible for everyone. Another beloved singer, Beyonce, did not fail to make yet another amazing album, Lemonade. This album reminded all of us that Beyonce truly is, in fact, a queen.
2016 was an exciting year for sports. The summer Olympics were held in Rio, Brazil and surpassed everyone’s expectations. Although the ban on Russia and Ryan Lochte’s lies caused controversy, the Olympics were an exciting time for the athletes and fans. The women’s gymnastics team, also known as the “Final Five,” was a fan favorite throughout the Olympics. Gymnast, Simone Biles, got gold in the individual all-around and received gold in the team category as well. The most decorated Olympian of all time, Michael Phelps, came back for his fourth, and last, games and made history by winning his twenty-third gold medal.
Although this year has been exciting and memorable, many traumatic events have occurred as well. For the duration of 2016, police shootings were common stories on the news. Because many of these shootings were targeted at black citizens, the controversial Black Lives Matter campaign gained both worldwide support and criticism. Another tragedy, once again stemming from the police and racial issues, took place in Dallas, Texas. In July, five officers were shot by a man who was allegedly angry about the police shootings of black men. One of the most devastating hate crimes also happened in 2016. At a gay bar in Orlando, Florida 49 people were killed because of their sexual orientation. The tragedies that occurred in 2016 must be a lesson for what needs to change in 2017.
Like every year, 2016 had its ups and downs. But one thing is for sure, 2017 could not come faster.
