Top 10 Web Moments of 2015

Propelled by its $66B in 2014 revenues, Google started off the year with a market cap of $400B. Throughout the year, the Mountain View Internet behemoth continued its dominance in search and advertising, and its YouTube subsidiary - the undisputed leader in web video - celebrated its 10 year anniversary. To demonstrate its wide reaching tentacles and ever-expanding ambition, it rebranded itself as Alphabet with each subsidiary having its own leadership structure; while Google remains the largest unit, the company hopes its bets on mobile, cloud computing, driverless cars and other areas will pay off. Apparently big business really is easy as ABC.

As if the first trailer, which debuted late 2014, didn’t generate enough hype and anticipation, the second teaser trailer for “Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens” was unlike anything ever seen before. Guinness World Records officially recognised the 1:59 clip as the ‘most viewed movie trailer on YouTube in 24 hours’ after it clocked a colossal 30.65 million views in the space of a day, following its April release. We could make a gag about the ‘force being strong with this film’, but we’re better than that. Aren’t we?

There's nothing like a good optical illusion! While the cat confused, this one was described by the Washington Post as the ‘drama that divided a planet’. This dress turned millions of heads in February, because no one was quite sure what color it was. White and gold, or blue and black? As social media mused over the supposedly simple question, scientists gave their opinion on why we all saw differently, photographers gave theirs, celebrities theirs, and psychologists as well. Some commentators even suggested that the photo could trigger an existential crisis. This really was unforgettable fashion.

The first single released from Adele’s third studio album, “25”, “Hello” was the first we’d heard from the English singer since she provided the soundtrack for the 2012 Bond movie, “Skyfall”. As such, it smashed web records upon release. The video racked up over 27.7 million views within 24 hours; a new Vevo record. After 5 days, it surpassed Miley Cyrus’s “Wrecking Ball” as the quickest clip to clock 100 million views. It also amassed 1.6 million hits in a single hour –another record. Adele rewrote history just by saying hi. Not bad.

Spotify had been the undisputed market leader for subscription-based music services, but in 2015 their dominance became threatened. Released on June 30th, by late October Apple Music had already collected a paying user-base one third the size of Spotify’s. With over 8 million users making use of a 3-month free trial period by that same month, their market share is still set to rise. Tidal – backed by Jay-Z – also tried to make waves in 2015, but largely failed. A further challenger, Rdio, filed for bankruptcy in November. Heading into 2016, music-streaming might be a two-horse race.

It was all change at social-networking giant Reddit in 2015, following high-profile firings, protests and resignations. Ellen Pao, CEO of the company since November 2014, stood down halfway through 2015 amid controversy. Pao’s move in June to ban five subreddits for harassment prompted accusations of censorship. Her decision to fire Reddit’s popular ‘director of talent’, Victoria Taylor, heaped more pressure onto her position. A petition calling for Pao to step down quickly attracted over 200,000 signatures; on July 10th she did exactly that. For Reddit, this was perhaps a year to forget.

The social media landscape looked a lot different at the end of 2015 compared to how it appeared at the start, with Facebook, and Facebook’s various acquisitions, striding ahead of major rival, Twitter. Facebook itself has continued to perform strongly, but Instagram – which was bought by Facebook in 2012 – has made the most progress. The photo-sharing app announced in September that it had over 400 million users, 80 million more than Twitter. WhatsApp, another Facebook-owned service, also recorded its 900 millionth user. The war isn’t over, but for Facebook, battles have been won.

For many ‘the cloud’ is a mysterious, slightly confusing, technological term that’s still a little difficult to come to grips with. But, in 2015 it descended upon our web lives, regardless. Cloud computing allows for multiple devices to access a shared file storage facility, and provides an individual machine with extra storage space beyond its usual capabilities. Apple is famous for its iCloud system, but 2015 saw more and more services establishing themselves as providers of extra cyber-space. The proverbial ‘silver lining’ is now made of megabytes!

Gone are the days when one hailed a random cab from the side of the street, or sat in unexpected traffic once they’d been picked up. 2015 saw traditional industries and physical services adapt to the Internet in a big way. From traffic control to bridge building, streetlights to sand dunes; anything and everything got ‘smarter’. IoT, principally explained as machine-to-machine communication and data collection, has inspired a new ‘worldwide web’ that transcends the now-traditional computer screen. Californian cab company, Uber, is especially famous and popular, but ‘uberification’ – the rise of user-to-user-services - is the buzzword for aspiring business all over.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
- Shia LaBeouf’s Intense Motivational Speech [aka ‘Just Do It’]
- ‘Hotline Bling’ Vines
- ‘It’s John Cena’ Vines
- #Don’tJudgeChallenge

2015, more than any other year, saw a mobile Internet boom. Smartphones, tablets and ultra-portable laptops now account for an overwhelming majority of web use. By early 2015, the amount of mobile devices had surpassed the amount of people in the world for the first time ever. And with the number of gadgets multiplying 5 times faster than the human population, reliance upon portable internet is only set to increase. In February, The Economist dubbed this generation as the ‘Phono sapiens’; an accurate description, our ‘mobile universe’ is the reason why a ‘Web Moments’ countdown can exist in the first place!

Do you agree with our list? Which web moment of 2015 stood out the most to you? For more web-inspired top 10s published daily, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.