Webby Awards announces this year’s meme nominees

By Francis Bea May 15, 2013

webby awards meme of the year — Image used with permission by copyright holder

It’s that time of the year, when the Oscars for digital luminaries takes place in New York City. The Webby Awards have been announcing the nominees for its categories, and today the “Meme of the Year” awards were announced after careful deliberation by the Webbys and BuzzFeed.

The four nominees are Grumpy Cat, the Harlem Shake, Goats Yelling Like Humans, and Gangnam Style. Three of the four don’t come as surprises for us – however Goats Yelling Like Humans was a pick we wouldn’t have expected considering that the meme was first published all the way back in 2007 and reached its apex in 2011.

The Executive Director of the Webby Awards David-Michael Davies explains to Digital Trends that its team worked with, “meme experts over at Buzzfeed to choose the meme nominees.” The main criteria? That people seemed to really attach to these memes. “I know that sounds simplistic, but what is a meme if not liked? Even if you hate it, you have to kind of like it to tell someone else about it.”

The winner is fittingly decided by you the audience. You can contribute your voice via a vote for your favorite “Meme of the Year.” You’ll have until May 17 to vote for a winner.

The awards show is taking place on May 21 and on-demand the day after, with Patton Oswalt hosting and cameos by Jerry Seinfeld, Kevin Spacey, Grimes, and Frank Ocean.

So how do you award a meme? Davies had this to say:

“It is a silly and ridiculous challenge that we take very seriously. Last year we had the creator of Nyan Cat come and accept the Webby and then Scumbag Steve ran up on stage and stole it from him. We were very conceptual, true to our passions there. I’m not sure it really actually, you know, worked on stage, but hey it was the first year. It’s all still coming together for this year. I’m hoping this year our high concept blends a bitter better with actual entertainment factor. We’ll see.”

We asked Davies who he’s putting his money on, and his bet is on Grumpy Cat taking it all (ours too!), but even he’ll have to wait until your votes are in before declaring the winner.

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Francis got his first taste of the tech industry in a failed attempt at a startup during his time as a student at the…

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