1. The ChatGPT craze: Although the tech came out in November last year, by mid-January everyone and their nani was extolling the GPT craze. Pakistani marketing as a whole got a bit of a rude awakening, lest some super smart AI programme outshines us in generating pointless drivel. Pity I can’t use it to write this.

2. Internet disruptions amidst Immy K’s arrest: Probably the closest we will come to literally breaking the internet, the month of May brought up internet disruptions throughout the country, affecting some 125 million folks and embarrassing us on the world stage.

3. Barbie/Oppenheimer crossover: If ever there was a way to neatly put unique, complex individuals into one-size-fits-all boxes, this was it. You are either a Barbie fan or an Oppenheimer fan. And you will post about it because #trends.

4. Aliens exist: I don’t exactly know why, but the internet world suddenly became really interested in extraterrestrials come September. It was a crazy nexus of conspiracy nuts and media outlets fanning the fire. Even brands got into it. Luckily, in Pakistan we don’t have UFOs, only churails with reversed feet – and they are not very internet-savvy.

5. Resurging Palestine-Israel Conflict: This one is a sensitive issue and divides the internet worldwide. Disappointingly, reports of giant media platforms systematically censoring voices meant that many parts of the internet were surgically amputated in this conflict.

Umair Kazi is Partner, Ishtehari. umair@ishtehari.com