WEST PALM BEACH, FL -- 2008 will be remembered as a year with an historic presidential election, a major financial collapse, the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and record high gas prices as pumps reached $4 a gallon.
There have also been many stories with far less impact, that nonetheless reached hundreds of thousands of internet users. Answers.com defines "viral", when used as a computer term, as a reoccurring practice or pattern of Internet use that moves from person to person.
Here are the top 10 viral stories from WPTV.com in 2008:
10.
Bikini girl loses teaching job: After her story appeared on WPTV.com in May, former Port St. Lucie high school teacher Tiffany Shepherd was featured on countless websites, was interviewed on CNN, appeared on the Tyra Banks Show and rejected an offer from Playboy.
Click here to view the original story.9.
'Botox Bandit' strikes Port St. Lucie: Before-and-after photos released by police helped them arrest a woman they say ran out on the bill for Botox treatments.
Click here to view the original story.8.
Mom says special needs child 'voted' out of classroom: "Like a twisted reality show, his mom says in a 14-2 vote, classmates voted the five-year-old out of the classroom."
Click here to view the original story.
7.
Nordstrom yanks questionable t-shirt: This story, from November 2008, ended up on several sites around the web, including CNN.com and Fark.com.
Click here to view the original story.6.
Local woman claims she found Virgin Mary in MRI: Just a week ago, this story made the rounds in cyberspace, as many wanted to see whether they could spot a divine image in a medical scan.
Click here to view the original story.
5.
Victim's brother punches suspect in court: A WPTV camera in the courtroom caught an emotional and violent scene at the Palm Beach County Jail.
Click here to view the original story.4.
Device promises to save 60% at the pump: WPTV reporter Jamie Holmes received hundreds of emails after his test to see whether the gas-saving device worked, and his follow-up retest. Bloggers around the web wrote about it, and many invoked a "Mythbusters" episode about this very technology.
Click here to view the original story.
3.
Viewers send in photos of Fay damage: Tropical Storm Fay was dismissed as just a "rain event" by much of the national media. Thousands of web users saw it differently after WPTV.com users from the Treasure Coast uploaded photo after photo of the widespread flooding and standing water left by Fay.
Click here to view the original story.
2.
Local home for sale includes wife: An email to WPTV and an eBay ad lead to a story on WPTV.com that appeared all over the internet, after a woman decided to include herself in the price of her Palm Beach Gardens home.
Click here to view the original story.1.
Police: 7-year-old takes car, crashes on busy street. The story of 7-year-old Latarian Milton flooded email inboxes and was featured on the Drudge Report and several other online news aggregators, after Kelley Dunn interviewed the confident child. Milton later appeared on an episode of "Judge Judy" in the wake of his internet fame.
Click here to view the original story.
