#YOLO

#YOLO

It's everywhere. Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and actual real life conversations. But what does it mean? Where did it all start? How did it go viral? And WHY THE FREAK IS IT SO ANNOYING?!?!?!?!?!

Yup my faithful Companions I'm back and I'm ranting!

So the newest "word trend" is #YOLO for all you social network noobs out there this means You Only Live Once. Everyone seems to think that the almighty Drake came up with this little phrase. FALSE!!! I Heather am here to dispel this thinking and tell you the history of YOLO. So here we go...

2004-2010

-The earliest known use of the acronym is attributed to Adam Mesh from the NBC reality show The Average Joe. Mesh launched the “You Only Live Once” clothing line on March 20th, 2004.

-The first Urban Dictionary definition was submitted by user Colin on April 6th, 2004.

-The promotion website for San Francisco’s nightlife event YoloSF was launched on November 10th, 2005.

-In July of 2006, the American indie rock band The Strokes launched a promotional campaign called “Operation YOLO” prompting fans to request their 2006 single “You Only Live Once” on radio stations.

-The life coaching site YOLO Coaching was registered on June 1st, 2007.

-On March 14th, 2008, YouTuber JCVdude uploaded a video titled “YOLO ‘you only live once’ JCV" outlining his philosophy of living life to the fullest.

-On October 4th, 2009, the weather forecast site Weather Underground blogger Beachfoxx published a post titled “Friends……YOLO – You Only Live Once.”

-On July 27th, 2010, an infant bodysuit with the words “YOLO You Only Live Once” screen printed on the front was submitted to the online retailer Cafe Press.

2011-2012

-On December 16th, 2011, The Huffington Post published a photo of the American actor Zac Efron with “YOLO” tattooed on his right hand.

-The acronym was used in the 2011 hip hop single “The Motto” by Canadian recording artist Drake featuring Lil Wayne. On October 23rd, 2011, Drake posted a tweet using the word accompanied by a photo of him standing on a balcony. The Twitter analytics site Trendistic reports that tweets with the keyword “yolo” picked up on October 24th, one day after Drake tweeted the balcony photo.

-Drake’s song was officially released the next month on November 29th, followed by the official music video on February 10th, 2012. The video accumulated over 450,000 views in 21 days

-On November 29th, 2011, YouTuber iBeChucks uploaded a video complaining about the use of the word soon after the release of Drake’s song. On February 29th, 2012, YouTuber ThisIsACommentary uploaded a video titled “Yolo These Days” in which he criticized the word’s sudden rise in popularity and compared it to the word swag.

-A Facebook page for the acronym has 4,694 likes as of May 7th, 2012.

So there you have it my companions, the history of "YOLO." Yes Drake made it popular but it didn't start with him. I mean c'mon, Drake is nothing more than wheelchair Jimmy from Degrassi! He's got so much street cred all the 8 year olds down the street are trembling in their beyblade light-up shoes!

As of now many teens and young adults are using this saying as an excuse to do stupid/illegal things.

And another thing I’ve noticed that some people when ever a person says YOLO they taunt/scream back "NO! Hakuna Matata!!" I'm sorry if the person yelling this is you but really?! I mean c'mon they have two totally different meanings!

YOLO- you only live once, seize the moment, what time is better than the present to do this?

Hakuna Matata- no worries, chill, relax, take it easy, let life flow.

There. Done. I think that’s enough history/ranting for the day so have a great week my companions until next Monday!

Sources used:

-Knowyourmeme.com/memes/yolo

-urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=yolo&defid=598084

-alexanderinteractive.com/news/2004/03/20/yolo-clothing-launches-online-store

-facebook.com/wedoitforthefans

-yolocoaching.com/

-yolosf.com

-wunderground.com/blog/Beachfoxx/comment.html?entrynum=114

-cafepress.com/mf/56419190/yolo-you-only-live-once_bodysuit