President Obama reading mean tweets about himself. The husband who surprised his wife by turning their home into a giant ball pit. The "nae nae" dance.
These are the videos that made Americans laugh, gawk and shake a leg in 2015.
And what about the rest of the world? It's much of the same — but with a global twist.
Thanks to YouTube Rewind, an official list of the year's most popular videos on YouTube, we know that in 2015, the Senegalese had their own dance craze: the "na goore." In Indonesia, Korean makeup was all the rage. And in South Africa, citizens were shocked by an eyewitness video of fake police attempting to hijack a woman's car.
Earlier this month, YouTube Rewind put together top 10 lists for more than 40 countries and regions, including one big global video that mashes up the year's biggest memes, songs and viral moments.
"Trending videos are a reflection of the things that matter to us culturally," says Kevin Allocca, head of culture and trends at YouTube. "When I started out five years ago, viral videos were part of pop culture, but everyone knew they were part of an internet phenomenon. Now, it just feels like pop culture. The lines have blurred together in strange ways."
To come up with the lists, Allocca and his team rank videos by a mix of criteria like local viewership, shares, comments, likes and time spent watching the video.
Here's some of our favorite videos from YouTube Rewind. What do they say about the countries of origin? We'll leave that up to you.
Senegal
A knee-twistin' dance craze called "na goore" shook Senegal. A quick search on YouTube shows that in the past year, more than 1,500 videos have been uploaded by people inspired to do the dance.
Uganda
Comedians in Uganda do the "Mariaroza," another dance craze. This video got 3.8 million views, and one commenter loved it so much he wished he could "like" it 1,000 times.
South Africa
A group of fake policemen attempted to hijack a woman's car in Pretoria — and an eyewitness gets the whole thing on tape. The video was reposted by the Rekord Pretoria, a local news outlet, and garnered 1.2 million views.
Nigeria
A local news show interviews people on the street about tattoos. Lagosians have mixed feelings — some think it's fashion-forward, others think it's indecent.
The Middle East
In this video from Saudi Arabia (yes, it's a high income country but the video was popular throughout the Middle East), two teens dare each other to eat barf and toothpaste-flavored jelly beans — and get 1.8 million views.
India
What if the participants in Indian weddings were all honest with each other? The All India Bakchod comedy collective goes through the whole routine, from meeting the future in-laws to the wedding speeches.
The Philippines
This tear-jerker of a Nestle ad — centered on a grandmother's love — was watched by 11.2 million people.
Indonesia
A Korean teen teaches Indonesian girls how to wear Korean makeup — and it's a hit. Her first video has 1.6 million views, encouraging her to do half a dozen more throughout the year.
Share your thoughts: What was the most popular video in your country? Tell us in a comment below.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. 9(MDAxODg3MTg0MDEyMTg2NTY3OTI5YTI3ZA004))
