Ever wondered what the people behind your favourite memes are doing now? Look no further, as we’ve identified the five most popular memes, and discovered what they’re doing now.
Looking back, 2012 often feels like the internet’s peak. Sites such as Tumblr and Reddit encouraged the proliferation of memes that were shared far and wide, turning innocent photos into hilarious trends.
Whether kid or adult, no one was safe from the internet’s quips. No one understands better than Chloe Clem, a.k.a ‘Side-Eye Chloe’.
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The meme originated from a video of Chloe’s parents surprising their children – revealing that their car journey would actually end at Disneyland. The video, uploaded to YouTube in 2011, titled “Lily’s Disneyland Surprise… AGAIN!” features a surprising twist.
(Image: YouTube/TheClemFam, IG/chloeclem)
Whilst older sister, Lily, breaks into tears of joy the camera quickly pans to show unimpressed toddler, Chloe, reacting to the exciting news with apathy. This famous expression led to the video going viral in 2012 – racking up over 20 million views.
GIFS and screenshots of the young girl becoming a popular reaction picture, the toddler was photoshopped into various celebrities, and even became an NFT.
Now 13 years old and almost unrecognisable, Chloe continues to post about her viral past, and now creates content for an account run by her mother. The Clem Family YouTube account also regularly posts videos including Chloe, currently boasting 281K subscribers.
(Image: Flickr/LaneyGriner, IG/Laney Robertson Griner)
Another young meme came in the form of an adorable baby. Dubbed by the internet as Success Kid, Sam Griner went viral in 2011 for his hilarious beach behaviour.
The photo depicts young Sam trying to eat a fistful of sand with a determined expression on his face. Originally posted to Flickr in 2007 by Sam’s mum, Laney, the photo gained traction after someone added a caption reading: “I hate sandcastles.”
The meme then evolved to be one representing self-congratulation, and Sam found himself plastered all over the internet, as well as appearing in an ad for Coca Cola. Now 18, Sam has chosen to steer clear of the limelight, and not much is known about his life.
(Image: YouTube/laina, IG/laina)
You may remember Laina Morris for the meme ‘Overly Attached Girlfriend’. After going viral on YouTube for the character in 2012, Laina continued to make viral videos as the character.
Now 33, Laina does slip into her alter ego from time to time, but focuses more on creating alternative comedy. Her Instagram account @Laina has close to 400,000 followers.
Bad Luck Brian went viral after being posted to Reddit in 2012. The picture depicts teenager Kyle Craven donning a red sweater and goofy smile. Often featuring as an image macro style of meme, the image is usually accompanied by captions describing unlucky and embarrassing events.
(Image: BadLuckBrian.com, Twitter/solidbadluck)
Like his viral peers, Kyle tried to capitalise on his fame through YouTube videos, but unfortunately did not make it big.
The final memester was already a very famous person – but found herself catapulted into stardom after an on-screen confrontation. Reality star Taylor Armstrong, a Beverly Hills Real Housewife, was confronting her classmate when the camera panned to her cat, Smudge.
When spliced together, the two frames seemed like Taylor was shouting at her cat – a hilarious visual that led to the pair receiving Meme of the Year award at the 12th Shorty awards in 2020. Nowadays, Taylor remains a TV personality and internet star, and regularly posts content of famous feline, Smudge.
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