Hard to believe that 2024 has already reared around the corner, as 2014 felt like yesterday’s recollection. If you need a brain refresher: 2014 was the year of the ALS Ice Bucket challenge storming the internet, the cursed Kimye and Brangelina marriages, and the dreadful U2 album that got uploaded to everyone’s music store against our will. Simpler times in blissful childhood that we wish we could revert back to,
dolls craze
Fashionista Zoe reflects back on the most spooky glamorous toy on the market: I was incredibly obsessed with Monster High. It was actually my entire life. Every time we would enter a Walmart or Target, I would race to the toy aisle in hopes that my mom would hopefully buy a doll for me. I think I had every single movie.
Boy bands
All things art and music lover, Allison, unlocks a legendary memory we all forgot: The first thing that pops into my head when I think of 2014 is how obsessed I was with the song “She Look’s So Perfect” by 5SOS. It felt like such a “big kid” song for 12 year old me and I really ran with that.
new diseases
Abigail touches into news reporting and international matters, remembering the time pre-pandemic: I don’t think its a favorite memory but I remember Ebola being a huge thing and my friend showed me a book about it. It was kinda weird because that was the first virus that seemed like a big deal before COVID.
Instagram Filters
Natalea, Instagram curator queen, reminds us about the silly, amusing retro filters on social media back in the day: I don’t have a specific memory, more of a trend. I love the editing and filters of photos! I think it was so cute and fun.
pop singer boom
Gabby, and every hardcore Swifite, remembers 2014 for its release of a stellar album of a new age: My favorite memory of 2014 would be that it was the year I started listening to Taylor Swift because of her ‘1989′ album that came out that October. I was attached to this album for the whole school year and still listen to it today.
computer games rise
Cooper, connoisseur of electronic gaming, reminisces about the early 2000s desktop and gaming consoles: I was super into video games, I remember spending hours and hours playing on my hand me down laptop, asking my mom to buy me the newest game once a week.
teen tv love triangles
Gabby also recollects the early 2000s teen drama television mania, where buff and dashing 30 year olds would play teenagers and we believed them wholeheartedly: This was also a memorable year because it was when I first started watching the best TV show to ever exist-The Vampire Diaries – as I literally still watch it anytime I want to feel something… iykyk.
memes
And chronically online Brooke mentions the boom of the meme era online: Ellen Oscars Selfie, Alex from Target, and Kermit Sipping Tea meme! 2014 was the first year in which every month could be summed up by a correlated trending meme that went popular that month and was recapped in the end of the year. For the past decade, annually at New Years Eve, we reflect back on that year’s meme/funny trend catalog that uniquely defined what kind of things we experienced that particular year.