Behind the Memes: 10 Ordinary People Who Went Viral Overnight

The Internet can be a cruel place. For some lucky (or unlucky, depending on how you look at it) people, they went from normal browsers like everyone else to online celebrities—memes, to be exact.

Ever heard of Scumbag Steve? His real name is Blake Boston. Overly Attached Girlfriend is actually Laina Morris, now the star of her own hilarious YouTube channel. Even the Successful Black Man is successful in real life.

And while almost none of these people are trending topics or Reddit front-pagers anymore, they all enjoyed their 15 minutes of fame in the Internet spotlight. Check out how frequently their names are searched on Google—all decline after a huge initial spike. (What did we say about the Internet being a cruel place?) The thing is, none of them set out to be famous. For most of them, it just kind of happened—one funny YouTube upload or unfortunate grade-school photo, and the rest is history.

Over the years, these viral stars have spoken out about what it’s like to become the center of the Internet’s attention (if only for a moment), what they actually do in real life, and what, if anything, they want to do with their Internet fame. Here are the stories of 10 people who woke up one day, Internet famous.

Where is he now: Wishing he was known for his rap career instead of this meme

Blake Boston probably had no idea that a photo his mom took of him would turn him into the Internet’s favorite punching bag. But that’s exactly what happened. The Scumbag Steve meme features hilarious two-liner jokes about “that guy”—you know, the one who steals your weed, shows up at a party empty-handed, etc. Blake, on the other hand, is apparently a nice guy. Scumbag Steve went viral after Blake’s friend posted that now-infamous photo on Reddit. In an interview with Know Your Meme, Blake said no one really recognizes him now that he’s older. Probably even fewer people recognize him as rapper Weezy B, member of the rap group Beantown Mafia.

What he looks like now:

Where is she now: Still reaping the benefits of being ridiculously clingy

Laina Morris has her own Wikipedia page. That’s because she went viral on Reddit just 48 hours after uploading a parody of Justin Bieber’s "Girlfriend" to YouTube. Almost instantly, she became a symbol for clinginess. (Listen to her lyrics to understand: “If I was your girlfriend / I’d never let you leave / Without a small recording device / Taped to your sleeve.”)

Naturally, a meme was born, and Morris became Overly Attached Girlfriend. She hasn’t let her notoriety hold her back, though—the starlet now tweets and uploads skits to YouTube. Her Facebook page reads, “I make YouTube videos because I’m weird. Or maybe it’s the other way around.” Work it, girl.

What she looks now:

Where is he now: Rocking out on the hand chimes and having run-ins with Seth Rogen

The first instance of Bad Luck Brian never actually took off (the post originally got less than 5 upvotes on Reddit). But it didn’t take long for iterations of Kyle Craven’s seventh grade class photo to go viral, making him Internet famous in 2012.

Reading some of these memes, you can’t help but feel sorry for Bad Luck Brian, who regularly embarrasses himself unwittingly in very public ways. But the real Kyle revealed in a widely read AMA that he has had a pretty good life. Seth Rogen once recognized him, and he play the hand chimes (which, of course, became a meme in itself).

What he looks like now:

Where is she now: In a much better place

Meagan McCullough was arrested in 2010 for driving under the influence. Two years later, her face appeared on a blog post of attractive women’s mugshots. A few months later, Meagan’s photo was uploaded to Reddit with the caption, “Wanted: In 50 States.” The rest is Internet history.

Meagan now goes by her maiden name Simmons, and has called her meme a “wake up call,” that encouraged her to get her life together. According to an interview Meagan gave the Daily Mail, as of 2013, she works as a medical assistant and is raising four kids.

What she looks like now:

Where she is now: Breaking your heart because she's not single

A University of Arizona student was turned into a GIF when she caught an ESPN camera filming her at a football game and mouthed the words “STOP!” to the camera. The student, cleverly named “The Stop Girl” by the Internet, even has a whole subreddit dedicated to her. BuzzFeed writer Ryan Broderick said the mystery around her meme was part of the appeal: “‘Who is this girl? Where is she from?’ No one knows who she is,” he told ESPN.

In 2013, The Stop Girl revealed her true identity in an interview with ESPN. Her name is Sarah, though she declined to give her last name, and she crushes hearts by the end of the interview by adding, “I do have a boyfriend.”

What she looks like now:

Where is he now: Graduated

Oh, the pains of being a college freshman. Griffin Kiritsy’s social eagerness was immortalized after a reporter took his photo for a Reader Digest piece. The shot of his bright-eyed, bushy-tailed face was briefly a stock photo before it was uploaded to Reddit with the caption, “First Day of College: ‘I Fucking Love Ultimate Frisbee!’” Griffin eventually outted himself on his blog (which has now been deleted, but we found an archived version of it) where he hilariously admits that in the photo, “I look like a fuckin………… freshman.”

What he looks like now:

Where is she now: Making more money than you selling romance novels

Forget the cool moms. No one knows how or why best-selling novelist Carly Phillips became a meme, but her author photo is now known for grounding you and letting you watch PG-13 movies until you’re 17.

What she looks like now:

Where is he now: Still making our hearts melt

Some guys have all the luck—and get Internet famous for being disarmingly good-looking. Zeddie Little (what a name) became a meme after he was photographed looking basically like a model while he ran a 10K race. Reporters looked high and low for the 25-year-old—the Daily Mail eventually got in touch with his father, who told them Zeddie was in a committed five-year relationship and passionate about a career in public relations.

If that wasn’t enough, Little went on Good Morning America and revealed he had just waved to a friend moments before the photo was taken, which is how he managed to look so darn cheerful. You’re melting our hearts, Little! But let’s not go overboard, Internet.

What he looks like now:

Where is he now: Putting his celebrity status to a good cause

Out of nowhere in August, University of Pennsylvania sophomore Chaz Smith went viral on Vine for his wacky celebration of a watermelon. “It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my life!” he says. “It’s a watermelon, inside of a watermelon!” Chaz admits he got lucky with his Internet stardom—his Vine has gotten 6,120,144 loops as of writing this article.

At school, Chaz is a student leader and passionate about educating his peers about sexual assault and how to prevent it. He told his student newspaper that he’s also going to a Vine meet-up this month and plans to ramp up his Vine activity once again: “I wanna make sure I’m just a little bit relevant again before I meet anybody.”

What he looks like now:

Where is he now: Drinking coffee and still judging you

Perhaps the most biting of the memes on this list, Hipster Barista pairs laughable quotes about being a hipster with one tattooed barista’s scowling face. In real life, Dustin Mattson runs Atlanta coffee shop Octane Coffee, and was written about in Eater Atlanta.

Hipster Barista can be a grump—but, to be honest, so can Dustin. In response to his ascent to fame, he tweeted, “Yeah it’s real representative of what I do feed my family.” And In his Eater interview, he lamented that we don’t take specialty coffee more seriously. At least the meme gave him a soapbox…

What he looks like now: