9 people the internet made famous in 2016
In 2016, the internet gave us dancing teenagers, sad grandparents, Star Wars masks, red crewneck sweaters and more white Vans than we could count.
From Chewbacca Mom to Ken Bone, for better or for worse, this year gave us a fresh batch of internet celebrities to keep track of or, more likely, forget about until right now.
1. The "Damn, Daniel!" dudes
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Joshua Holz and Daniel Lara are the teens who made it impossible to wear white Vans without someone pointing to your shoes and shouting "Damn, Daniel!"
Thanks to their video, posted to Twitter back in February, the pair ended up on Ellen DeGeneres's couch where Lara received a lifetime supply of white Vans sneakers, many of which he donated.
Nowadays Holz and Lara are focused on their budding entertainment careers. As they told Cosmopolitan, Lara's interesting in modeling and theater, while Holz is more focused on video shooting and editing. They've still got plenty of time for homework and swim practice, though.
2. Chewbacca Mom
Candace Payne shrieked her way to internet stardom thanks to an electric Chewbacca mask and the power of Facebook Live.
Now at 164.5 million views, her livestream lead to the nickname Chewbacca Mom, hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of perks and, most recently, a deal with TLC for two digital series. It pays to be Chewbacca Mom.
3. The teens behind the #RunningManChallenge
If you regularly have Ghost Town DJs' 1995 song "My Boo" stuck in your head, you have Kevin Vincent and Jeremiah Hall to thank. The high school students from Hillside, New Jersey, pioneered this year's Running Man Challenge, a meme that took off after a version made by two Maryland University basketball players went viral.
The meme blew up from there and lead Vincent and Hall all the way to LA for an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and a check for $10,000. The pair also took over Ellen's Snapchat for live coverage from the VMAs. They even have their own website dedicated to the Running Man Challenge.
4. Sad Papaw
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After five of Kenneth Harmon's six grandchildren failed to show up for family dinner in March, the lone attendee -- his granddaughter Kelsey -- snapped a photo of Kenneth looking deeply rejected.
The photo quickly picked up steam around the internet and gave way to Kenneth's new nickname, Sad Papaw.
Thousands of retweets later, the internet was clamoring to help cheer up papaw. That's when Kelsey announced that her grandfather would hold a burger cookout for anyone who wanted to attend. Naturally, kind people came out on droves to hang out with Kenneth, snag a "Sad Pawpaw" t-shirt and try one of his burgers.
The lesson here: If you want to make your grandpa famous, just let him down publicly.
5. Boomer Phelps
If there's anyone who managed to momentarily overshadow Michael Phelps at the Rio Olympics, it was his son Boomer Phelps seated poolside in the arms of his mom Nicole Johnson. (Sorry, Ryan Lochte.)
While Phelps entered retirement following his return from Rio, his infant son Boomer continues to make a name for himself on Instagram. At 7-months-old, Boomer has amassed an impressive following to the tune of 770,000 followers and counting. It's pretty obvious why.
6. James Charles, Covergirl's first male model
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Seventeen-year-old James Charles already had a prominent YouTube following when his delightful senior photos blew up on Twitter.
More than 37,000 retweets later, Charles snagged a campaign with Covergirl to serve as the cosmetics brand's first male cover model. He even got to hang with Katy Perry in the process.
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7. Ken Bone
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At first, we loved Ken Bone. The second Bone stood to ask a question during the presidential debate on Oct. 9, the internet was smitten. That name! His red sweater! Those rosy cheeks! Even Snoop Dogg wanted to smoke with him.
Then Bone made the fatal error of publicly sharing his Reddit username for an AMA that was supposed to bolster his celebrity. Instead, it revealed a seedier side of Bone we'd yet to see but should have known was coming. Nothing is pure.
Topics Memes
