The year kicked off with Bean Dad, musician John Roderick, whose moniker was awarded by the frothing mouth of the internet after he tweeted an (admittedly overwrought) thread about the hours he spent allowing his young daughter to struggle with a can opener instead of just showing her how to use it. Just in case anyone is wondering what this whole 'bean dad' this is about, here's the context (i screenshotted it before the acc/tweets were deleted) /8kiAFYheCb- Tsusifec January 4, 2021 Before we officially close the tab on 2021, let’s take a look at its most controversial main characters - in some case villains - and how they fared in the aftermath of their respective internet shitstorms.

Despite the endless stream, we narrowed down 19 of the most defining moments of the year, born online, ranging from the comically benign to the genuinely abhorrent.

The worst parts of YouTube, Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram seeped into our real lives, as millions spent hours poring over tweet and memes, arguing over what is and isn’t cheugy, and investigating if Armie Hammer was really a cannibal. No year is ever free of internet drama, but something about 2021 felt especially chaotic.

Photo-Illustration: Photo-Illustration: Vulture Photos by Tessica Brown/TikTok, Erika Thompson/TikTok, H3 Podcast/YouTube, Bellocqimages/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images and Kyle Dubiel/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty ImagesĮven though COVID couldn’t keep us locked inside all year, we somehow still managed to see our cursed browser histories and social-media feeds become a “We Didn’t Start the Fire” verse of Peloton drama, COVID toe, and Jen Shah memes.

Naked tik tok twotter