When it comes to the images that define "The Internet", the best place to look is on Imgur. They have released what they have defined as the "top 13 images to rule them all", a collection of pictures that represent a huge impact on the current zeitgeist.
So what is Imgur if you are not already a card carrying Imgurian? Basically Imgur came about as a simple tool to upload and share links to images on Reddit, the unofficial "front page of the Internet".
So what is Reddit? The site is essentially an old fashioned bulletin board system that has become insanely popular. Users can post text or links to images, and then other users vote these posts up or down to determine their position. The front page tends therefore to bubble up the cultural pulse of the Internet as it is happening.
Back to Imgur. A funny thing started to happen to it last year - it began to drive more traffic than its big brother Reddit. From September 2013 it started pulling in about 100 million unique visitors per month, about 27 million more than Reddit, and as of now is the 26th most visited site in America (35th for my Australian friends).
Even more crazy in the world of todays startups, it has taken zero funding, but has been profitable from about the first year in market. It also continues to expand, introducing tools like its MEME Generator - pretty much any MEME you see shared on other social channels was probably brought into the world by Imgurians.
Jumping back to the start of this post, the 13 images chosen by the Imgur team were all viewed over 1 million times, shared widely on all social networks, and defined the culture of the Internet during this time period.
Check them out below, or visit their site to get full descriptions for each:
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Nice work OP's!