Social Media Trends of 2k16

There have been many BuzzFeed articles that talk about how 2016 was the worst year in the history of the Gregorian calendar. There have been an equal number of BuzzFeed articles that talk about how 2016 was not that bad after all. My article is about everything us Bangladeshis got hyped about. From ranting about fast food to elaka-r mastans, it's been an eventful year for the avid Bangladeshi social media user.

Ami Xunayed

As we bid adieu to 2016, let us pay a tribute to the famous Xunayed, who shall forever hold a special place on your Facebook timeline for years to come. This was probably the first thing to properly go viral last year. There were so many spin-offs to the main video, where our protagonist is seen beating up and shouting profanities. There were civil war edits, there were hulk edits, and the best of it all, a famous Facebook page – that shares horrible stories with equally horrible grammar – publishing a story written from Xunayed's perspective. This video became a true pop culture phenomenon. The only thing that could finally outshine "Tore ami bhai bhabsilam" was "Ho tarpor ar ki ki kormu ekta list de."

I love the internet.

Chikon pin-er charger

Let me just say, I think Facebook's live feature is the most entertaining thing on the internet, ever. Bangladeshi Facebook users having access to this feature only makes it 10 times better. During the early days of Facebook live, Tamim Iqbal was on a video to talk to his fans, where one man famously asked for a chikon pin-er charger. It achieved instant fame. So much fame that there are memes about it. There are even Mosharraf Karim memes about it. 

DSU

Desperately Seeking – Uncensored was a group that many of my acquaintances seemed to really enjoy. Facebook's own little perversion portal gave birth to so many catchphrases, relating to armpits and links. The live feature was probably put to best use, thanks to this group. But all of it had to come to an end, because one can only look at armpits for so long before the authorities interfere.

Uber 

The one defining characteristic of the average Bangladeshi Facebook user is limited knowledge with very extreme, unlimited opinions on everything. Surely, Uber was no different – some people love it, then there are those that are mad about the costs. There are even people who are extremely worried about its legality. But the only thing we should be complaining about is the utter lack of cars available in this service. What is up with that, Uber? Why are no Uber cars available in Gabtoli? 

Burger King

Every time a new international chain launches in Bangladesh, we see two groups of people emerging – one who will camp in tents in front of the restaurant and one who will bash the entire idea of fast food chains in general. Look, if people want to have burgers, they should be allowed to have burgers wherever they like. If they want to stand in queue to have burgers, they should be allowed to stand in queues. There's no point in questioning their loyalty to team 

Madchef or team Takeout. Let people have fun.

I have high expectations from 2017. May we end up with better and weirder fads, and fewer deaths.

Aanila Kishwar Tarannum started hating on everything the moment she realized why her parents put so many As in her name: because they knew her transcript would be devoid of any vowels. Find out about her relentless rants at aanila.tarannum@gmail.com.