The Trending Year Review


The Trending Year

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social media this year. We examine the issues that had been trending at

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home and around the world in Review 2015.

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Tens of millions of people freaked out in a social media frenzy over

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It all started in the UK when a woman sent a photo

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of the dress she was planning to wear to her daughter's wedding.

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The bride and groom had a big difference of opinion on the colour.

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So it was posted on the site Tumblr to let the internet decide.

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It went viral because people were just fascinated by it.

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What was interesting is that traditional media organisations also

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had a role, so BuzzFeed was the first blog to pick it up.

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Their post got 39 million views, I think, in the end,

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so much that their servers were slightly overloaded by it.

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Our post got more than a couple of million, so we were a real part

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Millions argued about what colour this dress really was.

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Celebrities had public meltdowns, joining Team White and Gold,

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So why do people see different colours?

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Blue light is absorbed differently in different eyes, so what we end up

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with in terms of retinal signals will vary significantly

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for these particular stripes from person to person.

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The dress might seem like silly to some, and a scientific anomaly

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to others, but to the people who took the original image it

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They have actually you know, done some...

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They have been using it to promote their business.

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They have been using it - they had conferences and shown how,

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with algorithms and everything else, how they actually made it go viral.

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But nobody ever came to us, and...

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We never even got a credit or anything.

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Well, we were really annoyed at BuzzFeed, because basically

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they have taken our property, and profited off it.

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Without even giving us a credit, a thank you.

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So in some way there's is a melancholy twist to them.

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They have now hired a solicitor to protect their

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The blog BuzzFeed say they respect intellectual property,

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they told us, and they act promptly to make sure it is respected.

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and ordinary people like Paul James and Cecelia Bleasdale are having

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to navigate this funny world of the viral web.

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So the dress was a curious illustration of how

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It also shows the power of media organisations in making something go

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Politicians around the world have largely embraced social media,

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but there are times when they probably wished

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Like when Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe was the butt

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of internet jokes after he took a tumble outside Harare airport.

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His security personnel reportedly asked photographers

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel reduced a Palestinian refugee

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to tears during a live TV discussion.

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Her attempt to comfort the girl resulted in a trending hashtag.

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Former British Labour leader Ed Miliband gained fans

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all round the world and became a sex symbol after his face

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was photoshopped on to images of celebrities.

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And the US Republican Presidential hopeful Donald Trump managed

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Your Twitter account has several disparaging comments

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You have to see this guy - oh, I don't know what I said,

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Donald J Trump is calling for a total and complete shut down

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of Muslims entering the United States until our

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country's representatives can figure out what the hell is going on.

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The Kardashians are one of the most famous families in the world.

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Rarely a day passes that one of them isn't featured on a gossip column

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Last year, Kim Kardashian tried to break the internet

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This year, it was all about Caitlin Jenner.

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Caitlin Jenner used to be known as Bruce Jenner,

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a US Olympic athlete and stepdad to the Kardashian siblings.

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In June, she unveiled her new identity on the cover

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of Vanity Fair, saying she is transgender and identifies

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Minutes after activating her Twitter account, the hashtag #CallMeCaitlin

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The response on social media was overwhelmingly positive.

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But some people wondered if Caitlin Jenner reflected

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the reality facing ordinary transwomen.

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The Vanity Fair shoot was hailed a pivotal moment

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But before the world had even met Caitlin Jenner,

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there was already a surge of activity around transgender

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For example, parents of transgender kids used social networks to come

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out about their children's gender identity.

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She had always asked for the pretty dresses at the store.

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We thought we have a slightly feminine boy, so what?

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It was a change of thought of, OK, there might be something more

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going on here when she came and talked to me.

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She came to me one night and she said, "You know,

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I know I have a boy body and I know I am a boy,

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but I don't really think I'm a boy on the inside."

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She grew her hair out and found a play group,

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I think videos like that have both a positive and negative effect.

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I think they are really wonderful for families who are looking

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for other families like them, but on the other hand I do worry

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a little bit about putting, especially the videos and pictures

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out publicly of the child, because there might come a point

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It is really important that, certainly for young transpeople,

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they are seeing other transpeople like them, out there online,

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The internet had already become space for meaningful transgender

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What Caitlin Jenner did was consolidate those conversations

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The refugee crisis was a story that dominated the news and social media

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But there was one image that made the world really take notice.

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A photograph of the three-year-old Syrian boy Aylan Kurdi,

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washed up on a beach, sparked international outrage.

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The little boy had been on the treacherous journey

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from Turkey to Greece with his family, when the boat capsized.

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Photographs of his body being recovered led to an emotional

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Internet users asked if it was right to share the images.

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We heard thousands of stories, we saw thousands of

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It was something about that picture, almost God put the light on that

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Aylan Kurdi gave a face to the refugee crisis.

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The photos of his little body washed ashore brought home

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the reality of the situation facing many refugees.

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At the time, it seemed like the world could no longer turn

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But did all the outrage online actually make a difference?

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In the UK, a petition calling on the Government to accept more

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asylum seekers saw a rapid surge in signatures.

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Germany also made it known that refugees were welcome.

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And people shared happy pictures of refugees.

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But there was still moments of outcry, like when this

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camerawoman tripped up refugees along the Hungarian border.

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And some refugees ended up saying things that surprised people.

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Don't come to Sweden - or at least think carefully

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So why do so many Syrians come to Sweden?

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If you Google "asylum" in Arabic, Sweden comes up on the top.

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When I come to Sweden I get this house.

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Just because you have relocated to a new place doesn't automatically

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mean you like it or consider it home.

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The year started and ended with tragedy in Paris.

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In January, 17 people were killed after an attack at the offices

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of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo.

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The incident inspired one of the world's most recognisable

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I did these three words simply because I think I was deeply shocked

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of what happened, but I wasn't frightened.

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I was trying to express something that was my feeling,

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I didn't want to make any buzz or anything.

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Millions used the slogan on social media.

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Je Suis Charlie became one of the fastest growing hashtags

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Those who hadn't heard of Charlie Hebdo before,

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It is something so personal, Je Suis Charlie.

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Something I wrote for me, to express to a few of my friends,

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This is what is kind of scary, and this is at that point

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where I understood, well, I tried to understand

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It wasn't long before the global solidarity fragmented

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People began to reflect on what Je Suis Charlie meant.

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Some didn't like the idea of honouring a newspaper

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which prides itself on being mean and nasty.

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New hashtags emerged, replacing the name Charlie with,

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for example, Ahmed, the Muslim policeman who was also killed

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The phrase Je Suis had become a meme.

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Throughout year, it was applied to other trending stories.

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It would eventually be used again, when terror struck

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On Friday 13th November, 130 people were killed in a series

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of co-ordinated attacks around Paris.

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Eyewitnesses logged on to their social networks to warn

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others about what was happening, and in the aftermath social media

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was where they went to try to make sense of it all.

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Social media was a place where a lot of people went to,

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to express support, solidarity, the first to use the hashtag pray

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for Paris, and then the hashtag spray for Paris, where they shared

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pictures of graffiti, again expressing solidarity.

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A lot of people also changed their Facebook profile

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to the colours of the French flag - blue, white, red.

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A few metres away from here, a pianist played a song,

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Imagine by John Lennon, and a video of that moment

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was posted online and has been viewed by millions.

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Recently, when we had those terror attacks in Paris on 13th November,

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quite quickly there was those hashtag called pray for Paris.

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It didn't come from Paris, it came from the United States.

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We really thought it has nothing to do with God whatsoever.

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It has to do with, at one point we have to feel united.

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But on the contrary, we don't want to have anything

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I think it has nothing to do with religion.

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It has only to do with people, just crazy people, doing crazy stuff.

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Now to something completely meaningless that has captivated

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A mystery word has taken the Chinese internet by storm.

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Pronounced duang, the character is so new it can't even be found

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It appeared millions of times in Weibo, in hundreds

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of thousands of conversations, but no-one actually

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translation, and you can't find it meanings, but there is no perfect

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You can use it as an adjective, to put emphasise on the word

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At the same time, you can use it as a verb.

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Is it a verb, is it a noun, is it an adjective?

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Jackie Chan used this word in a commercial back in 2004,

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but he didn't share it on the internet until this year.

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So 11 years later it finally took off, caused a lot of duang frenzy

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on the Chinese internet and a lot of duang use of this word in China.

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Interestingly, even the writing of this word is a combination

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So a lot of people are using it, this word duang, but nobody knows

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Even Jackie Chan himself got finally involved.

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So everyone is duanging - no-one knows why.

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Last year, millions of people threw buckets of ice water

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over their heads, and posted selfies with no make up on,

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resulting in millions of dollars being raised for charities.

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This year, the challenges were slightly more bizarre

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In China, people binged on the strong spirit Baijiu

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Like neknominate, the drinking trend attracted controversy

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because of the dangers of alcohol abuse.

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In Uzbekistan, people filmed themselves burning foreign bank

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notes, a tradition rooted in the country's historical clan

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Perhaps bizarrely of all, people started throwing inflated

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Ironic, considering the challenge doesn't look safe at all.

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Thousands tried to copy Kylie Jenner's big pout by sucking

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on bottles to make their lips swell up.

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Health experts expressed concern though, because the suction

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And millions shared "unattractive" videos of themselves,

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only to reveal their "true beauty" to make a statement

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Around the same time, the beauty blogger Em Ford made

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a video about the things people wrote about her,

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It is all about the type of comments I receive without make up

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and the comments I receive with make up.

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I just wanted to bring awareness to the type of comments,

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and show people how unrealistic the expectations are on what women

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In fact, if you don't wear make up you are called ugly,

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you are told that you don't put enough effort into your appearance,

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but if you do wear make up you are told you are fake.

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So the debate over body image raged on in 2015.

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In Australia, a TV host started the hashtag drop the plus,

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to get shops and the fashion industry to stop using

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If young girls look at girls like Stephania,

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if they are considered fat in modelling terms,

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what are those girls going to think about themselves?

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I would love to see the plus tag dropped completely

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from the modelling industry, and that as well would

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We would no longer have a plus size section in stores.

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There is a delineation of what's a "real model" and what's

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a "plus size" model, and then there is

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I was about to go to bed one night, and through the Facebook feed came

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this story about "plus size model gets accepted for this campaign",

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and I looked at the photo and I couldn't see what I perceived

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as any kind of a plus size woman at all.

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I was just like, oh my God, if this woman is plus sized,

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I wasn't expecting the whole thing to blow up and become as widespread

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I asked my little 14-year-old sister to take the photo and she just

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took it on her iPhone, and we uploaded it from there.

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There is already a numeric scale, from 0-30, maybe even beyond.

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We don't need any other terms, and we certainly don't need

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plus in relation to a woman, or a blogger, or a fashion

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And it wouldn't be a trending year without a trending soundtrack.

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In the UK, school leavers made dance videos.

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In Taiwan, millions viewed this video about foreigners

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And the Internet found a new way to call out fibbers.

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Hip-hop got a halal remix by the rapper Jae Deen.

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Sierra Leone celebrated being free from Ebola with a song and video

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featuring dancing health workers and twerking policemen.

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And this song sent the Internet into a creative frenzy.

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# You used to call me on my cell phone

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# Late night when you need my love

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The first thing I realised, it looked like he was swingeing

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something around with his hand, the way his motion was.

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I was like, it may be funny to do something

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So like I added tennis balls and everything and him playing it.

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every three seconds there were 3000 to make the video and at its peak,

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It's kind of like just the portrayal of my life story.

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I am myself Serbian, my dad was a construction worker

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and when we came here we did anything we could to

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