--- title: Best Viral Videos 2016 description: From Daniel's infamous shoes to Chewbacca Mom's infectious laugh, here are the viral videos that ruled the internet this year. canonical: https://time.com/4602738/best-viral-videos-2016/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-12-16T22:47:48.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:39:30.021Z og:title: Here Are the Best Viral Videos of 2016 og:description: From Daniel's infamous shoes to Chewbacca Mom's infectious laugh. og:url: https://time.com/4602738/best-viral-videos-2016/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0e8113ac1676069c/6988948e8e06016d8b466046/chewbacca-mom.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Celebrity Sightings in New York City - May 23, 2016 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here Are the Best Viral Videos of 2016 twitter:description: From Daniel's infamous shoes to Chewbacca Mom's infectious laugh. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0e8113ac1676069c/6988948e8e06016d8b466046/chewbacca-mom.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Watch the Best Viral Videos of 2016  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Dec 16, 2016 10:47 PM UTC  Candace Payne, "Chewbacca mom", leaves the "Good Morning America" taping at the ABC Times Square Studios in New York City on May 23, 2016. Candace Payne, "Chewbacca mom", leaves the "Good Morning America" taping at the ABC Times Square Studios in New York City on May 23, 2016.Ray Tamarra—GC Images/Getty Images  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Dec 16, 2016 10:47 PM UTC Viral videos continued to [dominate the Internet’s cultural consciousness](http://time.com/4566823/top-10-things-the-internet-couldnt-stop-talking-about/) this year. Thanks to teens like Daniel (yes, the one [with the white Vans](http://time.com/4232465/damn-daniel-viral-twitter-video-white-vans/?iid=sr-link2)) and the brilliant young minds behind the [inescapable Mannequin Challenge](http://time.com/4565174/mannequin-challenge-ranking/?iid=sr-link1), people were hooked on these mini-masterpieces. And they were everywhere. Below, take a trip down memory lane with this compilation of the best viral videos of 2016\. From [Chewbacca Mom’s infectious laugh](http://time.com/4343234/chewbacca-mask-woman/?iid=sr-link5) to the curious case of the water bottle flip, chances are, you’ve seen—or tweeted about—these ubiquitous clips, and they weaseled their way into your conversations and vocabulary. That’s just how the zeitgeist works. Watch above. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4602738/best-viral-videos-2016/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4602738/best-viral-videos-2016/"},"headline":"Watch the Best Viral Videos of 2016","datePublished":"2016-12-16T22:47:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:39:30.021Z","description":"It was a wild ride","url":"https://time.com/4602738/best-viral-videos-2016/","keywords":["Newsfeed","viral"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0e8113ac1676069c/6988948e8e06016d8b466046/chewbacca-mom.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0e8113ac1676069c/6988948e8e06016d8b466046/chewbacca-mom.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Celebrity Sightings in New York City - May 23, 2016","caption":"Candace Payne, \"Chewbacca mom\", leaves the \"Good Morning America\" taping at the ABC Times Square Studios in New York City on May 23, 2016.","creditText":"Ray Tamarra—GC Images/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4602738/best-viral-videos-2016/","name":"Watch the Best Viral Videos of 2016"}}]}] ```