The Best Memes of 2021

This year felt like simultaneously the longest, yet shortest year of all time. It almost feels like the Bernie Sanders, Oprah Winfrey, WandaVision, and The Weeknd memes all went viral years ago, but they really took off at the start of 2021. Those standout memes were the beginning of a series of laugh-out-loud viral trends that made another year in a pandemic a little easier to deal with. Celebrities like Jay-Z, Kim Kardashian, and Omarion also got the meme treatment and became fan-favorites during the second half of 2021, while TV shows like Squid Games and You made the experience of watching TV as a community even better.  

TV shows, politics, celebrity interviews, and movies have always been the main source of inspiration for some of the most popular memes, while other trends this year originated from social media users themselves. People got really creative this year and gave us moments like The Milk Crate Challenge, the hilarious “Why you being weird to me?” clip, and the viral Sidetalk NYC “bing bong” videos. Although they don’t technically qualify as memes, they proved that the internet will always provide endless entertainment. The many memes that were created this year will go down in history and will continue to be part of the online conversation for years to come. Memes are now an integral part of our culture and have shaped how we communicate with others on and offline while making our social media experiences even better. 2021 provided plenty of hilarious viral memes people couldn’t get enough of and couldn’t stop sharing. Take a look at our choices for the best memes of 2021, and see if your favorites made the list.