Every weekday, PR Daily associate editor Alan Pearcy highlights the day’s most compelling stories and amusing marginalia on the Web in this, #TheDailySpin.

Much like Billy Crystal Harry Burns, I’m not well versed in the lyrics of “Auld Lang Syne.”

“Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind?”

You tell me.

What won’t be forgotten—at least not if online media have their say in the matter—are this year’s best ________ (you fill in the blank).

In honor of our last #TheDailySpin column for 2012, we reflect on the past 365 366 days (leap year) by way of our many friends on the Web and 12 of their respective “best of” lists. Enjoy.

1. Books

Still unsure what to get that last hard-to-shop-for special someone on your holiday gift list? I’d bet you could find something on NPR’s comprehensive pick of 2012’s best books. If your year-ending shopping excursions have placed any extra stress in this final stretch, pay particular attention to its 10 selected works to help you recover from a tense year. Not to be outdone, New Yorker also offers its suggestions.

2. Media bloopers

While TV sports announcers are clearly in a category all their own, nothing beats the local news anchor when it comes to televised gaffes. Australia’s 9news look at the best TV news bloopers of 2012 from around the globe. After being traumatized for life, “Drew the Farm Kid” certainly earned his appearance:



3. Autocorrects

Siri might be able to help Zooey Deschanel order tomato soup, but that doesn’t mean the iPhone’s personal assistant will safeguard against those inevitable autocorrect fails. Thank God, otherwise BuzzFeed wouldn’t have been able to compile its collection of the 25 funniest autocorrects in 2012.

RELATED: 4 ways texting is killing our communication skills

4. Music

By year’s end, there was no escaping Psy’s “Gangnam Style,” which all but secured its place in DJ Earworm’s annual “United State of Pop” mashup. Although not technically a list of the so-called best music from the last 12 months, it does contain 25 of the most popular songs to hit the radio airwaves in 2012.



5. Viral videos

DJ Earworm’s mashup might be quickly climbing in views, but it’ll be hard-pressed to overtake any of the YouTube charters chronicled in Videogum’s fifth yearly “Best Viral Videos” montage.

RELATED: 4 media relations tips from YouTube’s most popular video ever

6. Movies

Movies require a much larger time commitment than most of the videos we watch on YouTube. Dare you venture to a theater this holiday or rent a DVD, The Onion’s A.V. Club would suggest any of its 20 best movies from 2012. It would equally recommend avoiding anything from its selection of the year’s 20 worst films.

7. Celebrity scandals

Whether critics’ film reviews were positive, a number of high-profile public figures and Hollywood elite found themselves in the tabloids for what they did off-screen. From Prince Harry partying it up in Las Vegas to “half of a man” ripping on his own show, The Huffington Post highlights 2012’s top celebrity scandals.

8. Images

Photos snapped of Harry’s crown jewels might have made waves in 2012 for the royal family, but the queen can breath a sigh of relief knowing that the pics weren’t enough to define the year that was, at least not according to Funny or Die. It selected the 18 images that not only sum up 2012, but also have the potential to live on.

9. Memes

What worth hath the perfect image without providing ample fun that everyone can enjoy—including the president? From Olympic gymnast McKayla Maroney’s “not impressed” face to texts from “Madam Secretary” Hillary Clinton and the onset of “Call Me Maybe” parodies that overtook the Web in 2012, Wired offers the year’s 10 best memes.

10. GIFs

Although I shouldn’t speak for everyone, considering the GIF’s surge in popularity in 2012—including being named word of the year by the Oxford University Press—I think its safe to say we all prefer our online graphics animated. But which animated graphics did we prefer most this year? Uproxx has its best 25. Meanwhile, Business Insider picked 2012’s 21 best GIFs in sports.

RELATED: Video: A short history of the GIF

11. London Games

There can’t be mention of sports in 2012 without speak of the Summer Olympics. NBC gives us a look back at the best moments from its coverage of the London Games.

RELATED: 10 best and worst moments form London Games: Crisis PR edition

12. Last-minute NYE destinations

If you’re still without plans for ringing in 2013, Forbes has picked the best last-minute New Year’s Eve destinations to spend your last minutes of 2012.

On that note, I can’t think of a better way to close out #TheDailySpin for 2012 than letting President Obama croon us with a classic holiday carol. Sure, it might be spliced and dubbed together, but it’s certainly one of the best versions of “Deck the Halls” I’ve ever heard. Happy Holidays, y’all.



#TheDailySpin is going on hiatus for the holidays, but will return with more of our treasured musings in the New Year. See you in 2013, PR Daily readers, and thanks for a great year.

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