People Share the Best Things They Saw Online in 2020

As if my social media addiction needed any encouragement, I was forced to live my year online in 2020. For some, checking our phone every two seconds was a way of coping with everything this year brought us — professional setbacks, cancelled plans, and personal tragedies to name a few. Others were just happy to be there, soaking in the collective experience of having been pushed into the same fighting pit as the rest of the world 

Call it what you may, but amidst the constant doomscrolling that became second nature to us this year, we chanced upon some gems. From the relatable rants on Instagram Reels that made us feel heard to the endless remixes of cringeworthy sounds that turned into immediate bops, we asked some citizens of the Internet the best thing they saw online in 2020.

For me, it would definitely be Kenyan Internet comedian Elsa Majimbo saying, “It’s a pandemiccc” in that singsong voice of hers. 

I absolutely adore how casually she mentions things. To be honest, her content isn’t unique in that it’s not something that’s not already a tweet or unheard of ever before, but the way she says it, and then eats that chip, just makes it so funny. Her videos genuinely crack me up.

It was a video of a dog set to the popular sound, “I had so many cute outfits planned for this year but couldn’t wear it.” The audio is extremely funny and when you match it with a dog in different outfits, it’s hilarious and you can’t resist it. You have to watch it over and over!

And how can we forget Lucky Ali dropping Reels.

The worst was definitely the tone-deaf video of celebrities singing “Imagine” by John Lennon at the beginning of the pandemic.

I think one of the biggest and best things to happen to the Internet in 2020 was the introduction of Instagram Reels, which is how we got some amazing stuff like the “Main Tera” edits, “Biggini Shoot”, and This or That reels. And of course, the year was saved by Lucky Ali singing “O Sanam”.

Another thing I loved is how every student on the Internet was going through the same things so anything that showed students struggling with online classes or people helping each other out with Zoom hacks was relatable af. I remember there was this one Reel that said “play this when you're asked a question in class you don’t know the answer to” and it had just broken voices, like when you have bad reception. I saw a lot of people sharing that and I really liked how it created a sense of a community between students worldwide.

I spent most of 2020 online, which meant that online fads and feuds were a mainstay for someone like me who keeps lurking on YouTube, Reddit and other social media platforms. 

My favorite moment by far is Elon Musk's tweet back in May, in which he stated that Tesla's stock price was "too high". This ultimately led to their share prices falling by more than ten percent. The meme content that ensued was pure gold. 

Another notable moment was when famous politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez played "Among Us", the hit online multiplayer game, with big streamers like DisguisedToast and Corpse. I never imagined that online video game streaming would become a way to lobby for votes.

The Binod meme that became a viral sensation back in August was truly hilarious too, especially when big corporates like Paytm and Netflix jumped on the trend and referenced it in their online campaigns.

It’s a little ironic but a moment that stood out to me on the Internet was when Google’s apps crashed. It was almost as if the universe was telling us it had had enough of this online business. 

It was in the middle of a workday, I was creating a content calendar for the next month, so it was a little abrupt. But I was happy to go offline. My colleagues tagged our boss on the main group and cheekily asked if we could consider it a holiday.

I’d say it is the song “Zero O’Clock” by the Korean pop group BTS. 

BTS was definitely the best thing I discovered this year. I’m not even lying when I say that they’re the only ones who've helped me stay sane this year. Their comforting music, shows, movies, documentaries and performances have brought me more joy than most people. I knew they existed since 2016 but disregarded and demeaned their work due to preconceived notions and problematic behaviour on my side, but when I truly indulged myself in learning everything about them, I realised I was so wrong. Moreover, I also learnt a lot about racism, xenophobia, toxic masculinity, homophobia and more because of the treatment they receive as public figures. Stanning them this year has truly made me a better individual overall.

As a budding content creator who really stepped up her game this year, seeing the explosion of creators during this quarantine has been crazy as well. A lot of people discovered various sides of themselves and chose to post it on social media, me being one of them. 

For me it’s all the memes and videos that came out of the Bollywood drug controversy, like "mujhe drugs do" and Arnab (Goswami) challenging Udhav Thackeray. That gave me second hand embarrassment. 

Also, all the quarantine TikToks and then Reels were so relatable. I realised that this year, people like you and me became content creators online. And the pandemic let everyone shed their perfectly curated social media image and share their honest feelings. Whether it was a Reel about staying in pajamas all day or day drinking or failed plans or how introverts are having a ball, I could relate to all of them because it was coming directly from people on a democratised platform like TikTok or Instagram. 

Something that really intrigued me was Moose Jattana's videos. She’s a Punjabi creator who lives in Australia, and I love how she talks about feminism and equality.

Another thing I liked was the cute Storyseller comics which were very fun and insightful. There were so many other creators whose content kept me occupied. I’d say the sheer volume of content got me through 2020. And in general, there was a lot of emphasis on mental health so it made it easier for me to relate to everything, and the content made me feel lighter at the end of a heavy day or week.

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