Classic Memes To Spark Nostalgia For 2012

Emmy Pratt • Senior Editor

Apr 12, 2023 11:00 AM EDT

Where were you in the year of our lord 2012? I distinctly remember that I was in an English exam the minute that the world was supposed to end. Luckily, it did not, and I didn't read John Steinbeck for nothing.

For me, 2012 was the year my world went online. It was the first year I had unrestricted internet access, and I was getting exposed to more information than I could properly take in. I would spend hours scrolling through meme websites, looking at different variations of the same image macros. I got a Tumblr account and experienced my first bout of social media addiction. The internet felt more wholesome back then, and sometimes I wish I could be 2012 Lena Dunham tweeting to her 26 followers on Girls. Even though this bygone era of online culture has gone by, there's no reason we can't look back at the memes of 2012 (and its surrounding years) with happy hindsight.