Top 25 Thought Catalog Articles Of 2011

10 Things 90s Kids Will Have To Explain To Their Children by Chelsea Fagan

It’s not just Thought Catalog that loves the ‘90s — “10 Things 90s Kids Will Have To Explain To Their Children” basically ravaged the internet. At an estimated 259,000 Twitter and Facebook shares, it’s the most passed-along article on our humble website. Congrats, Chelsea.

Dating A Privileged White Girl by Ryan Chang

In “Dating A Privileged White Girl,” Ryan Chang describes the vacuous behavior and affluence of a particular type of Orange County girl to a T. We love it because it’s an interesting and often bitingly funny conversation about adolescence, class, and living in a sterile suburban wasteland.

Reflections On Seeing My Ex-Lover’s Novel For Sale At The Mall by Oliver Miller

Oliver Miller is a writer with a capital W. He’s always been one of our favorite contributors, but we think “Reflections On Seeing My Ex-Lover’s Novel For Sale At The Mall” is his pièce de résistance.

How Many Cats Is Too Many Cats? by Brad Pike

This list wouldn’t be complete without a piece from one of our funniest, most original contributors. We love Brad’s article because it combines hilarity with intense cat love, which is always a recipe for success on TC.

In Defense Of Period Sex by Kat George

If anyone could sell you on the idea of period sex, it would be Kat George. Thought Catalog was doing God’s work when we ran this piece. Now, whenever your BF is like “Ew, blood,” show him this article and be like “Have fun down there. Wear a helmet.”

You Should Date An Illiterate Girl by Charles Warnke

Um, hello. Have you read Thought Catalog? Have you Googled recently? This is one of our most popular articles in the history of TC. And with good reason! It’s a fantastic piece of writing.

The Different Types Of People There Are On The Internet by Various

This was actually the first “The Different Types Of ____ There Are” article that we ever ran, a template that we admittedly lifted from a piece that ran in The Stranger. It got us off to a good start. This relatively significant catalog of internet stereotypes was written by a ton of different people we got together — notables include but are not limited Alex Blagg, Molly Young, Bebe Zeva, Leslie Arfin, Megan Boyle, and Blake Butler — and represents the first step in a concept we ran with over the course of 2011.

How To Drink At Home By Yourself by Stephanie Georgopulos

Run in two parts, we feel like Steph’s “How To Drink At Home By Yourself” series is sort of a flagship article for TC. As much as we publish stuff about dating, friends, and going out, there’s definitely a quieter side to our editorial range that this piece really captured. We love it.

The Williamsturd: A Post-Post-Feminist Phenomenon by SJ Graham

SJ Graham nailed the archetypal Brooklyn douchebag in this article and came up with a hilarious nickname for him in the process. If you live in New York, or any other urban center for that matter, read this and you’ll realize that your city has its very own Williamsturds. Asshole man-childs know no geographical boundaries.

Things You Will Never Get Back by Caitlin Stewart Truman

There was something so heartbreakingly nostalgic about this piece. We know one of TC’s specialties lies in nostalgia, but this article seems to resonate deeper than most. So much so that it spawned a few sequels from a few different writers.

One Sentence Love Story by Nick Cox

A 1,703-word sentence, “One Sentence Love Story” is breathtaking in every sense of the word. We’re so glad Nick came to us with the opportunity to publish this on our website.

No One Said It Was Easy by Bart Schaneman

As a community of writers, our content often focuses on the struggle to succeed at a creative trade. “No One Said It Was Easy” is an excellent firsthand account of the fickle nature of the publishing industry.

The Time I Almost Died by Jack Cazir

An uninsured victim of a freak accident, Jack Cazir’s “The Time I Almost Died” is equal parts visceral and stunning. It makes us want to puke — and we mean that in the best way possible.

20 Things Every 5-Something Should Know by Josh Gondelman

If you’re fed up with 20-something articles, let us interest you in some advice for the kindergarten set. Josh Gondelman’s tips for the 5-year-old demographic will make you smile — or at least, stop, drop, and roll.

How To Have A Baby by David Miller

One of our more atypical How Tos, David Miller captures the nuances of childbirth from a first-time father’s perspective. The experience of reading it is so intimate you’ll probably feel like you’ve given birth by the end of it. And it’ll feel good.

What It’s Like To Actually To Be From The Jersey Shore by Tim Donnelly

“What It’s Like To Actually Be From The Jersey Shore” is a surprisingly poignant and saddening account of growing up in the town MTV has sought to ruin from the managing editor over at Brokelyn. The theme of loss in this piece runs deeper than geographic roots; reading with tissues handy is advised.

What’s My Age Again? Blink 182: The Musical by Gaby Dunn

Later dubbed “The Blink 182sical,” TC fave Gaby Dunn goes to great lengths curating an Enema of the State musical — and based on the reactions to her vision, we’re pretty sure our readership would shut the theater down on opening night.

5 Emotions Invented By The Internet by Leigh Alexander

One of the most accurate descriptions of how we’ve seen the internet change our social lives and emotional dynamics, “5 Emotions Invented By The Internet” is as bitingly true as it is totally funny. It also caught the attention of a good amount of our peers in the media, eventually syndicated by the Boston Globe and covered by the Telegraph and Forbes, among others.

Notes From Subway by Jimmy Chen

Aside from Oliver Miller, we’re pretty sure only Jimmy Chen could make a depressing lunch break at Subway into an entertaining exploration of life far beyond the topic’s concrete scope.

Oops, I Used Too Many Drugs In The Afternoon And Now There’s Nowhere To Party! by Neal Mackey

One of the funniest, most irreverent pieces on TC in 2011, “Oops, I Used Too Many Drugs In The Afternoon And Now There’s Nowhere To Party!” by Neal Mackey describes a day long bender that reads like a cross between Bret Easton Ellis and Hunter S. Thompson.

How To Be Considerate On The Internet by Tao Lin

This is textbook stuff, Internet 101. One of the most relevant essays on modern common sense, politeness, and efficiency that we’ve had the opportunity to publish. Sweet.

Don’t Wake Up Alone On A Saturday Morning by Ryan O’Connell

This piece wasn’t as viral as Ryan’s 10484324902353 other articles, but we think it’s one of his most special. With this piece he really does strike a pitch-perfect balance between nostalgia, expectation, and sadness, and by the end of it you sort of want to go to a quiet house party and spend all night talking to the friends with whom you’ve lost touch.

Love In The Time Of Tumblr by Phil Roland

Some people complain about the lack of ‘thought’ on TC, and that’s okay, we get that, but that general complaint really does ignore great pieces like this one from Phil Roland, which we run on a pretty consistent basis. “Love In The Time Of Tumblr” is a great exploration of the gap between internet and IRL personas — a paradigm that’s become increasingly relevant to how we view the world.

Death Of A Good Job by Matthew Newton

Run in three parts, Matthew Newton’s “Death Of A Good Job,” covers the beginning of the crash of the American economy from the perspective of an individual with a family to support who loses his job while on vacation. The series provides an excellent ground-level perspective of the American financial crisis.

A Speculative List Of Jay-Z’s 99 Problems by Brandon Scott Gorrell

It’s not often that BSG writes pure humor pieces, so when he does it’s a refreshing delight! Getting the opportunity to speculate on the woes of one of the world’s richest rappers is pure writer porn, and BSG delivers on the T & A.