Best thing ever

best_thing_ever is a LiveJournal community. As of July 8, 2007, it has 2,614 members 1. Members can vote every week to choose their favorite of a list of items. These items are either thought up by one of the moderators, or can be submitted by members. Four times per year, the winners from the votes that quarter are put up against one another to determine which is best among them. At the end of each year, these winners compete against themselves in quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals, to determine what is the best thing ever (so far). So far, the community has been active for almost three years, with many separate polls to determine what is the best thing ever. Currently, Free Will is the champion from year 1, and Oxygen is the champion from year 2.

This community was "spotlighted" at Livejournal on June 6th, 2006 2, which caused a large surge in membership. The number of voters per poll and the amount of discussion generated increased greatly, leading to more statistically meaningful results.

A criticism of the community is that the things being voted on are quite often not real; they include things such as infinite muffin generators and superpowers, as well as very unlikely hypothetical situations. It is often stated that a community focused on determining the "best thing ever" should be voting on things that exist in the real universe. Conversely, many members are vocal about their dislike of "boring" choices - those things obviously necessary for life and/or comfort, but banal or in other ways unspectacular.

The community is in no way related to the band The Best Thing Ever.

Year 1

 * 1) Bacon > Moral Absolutes
 * 2) Prehensile Tails > Metroid
 * 3) Easter Island > Giant Flaming Meteorites
 * 4) Ninjas > Vanilla Ice Cream
 * 5) A Huge Treasure Chest Full of Sacagawea Dollars > Flirting
 * 6) Billie Holiday < Free Candy
 * 7) Army of Darkness < The Princess Bride
 * 8) Kids in the Hall < Cute, Fuzzy, Adorable Kittens
 * 9) Laughter > Booty
 * 10) John Lennon < Aurora Borealis
 * 11) First Quarter Round 1 Winner: Laughter
 * 12) First Quarter Round 2 Winner: Cute, Fuzzy, Adorable Kittens
 * 13) Pi > Pie
 * 14) A Nice Hot Soak In The Tub > A Nice Hot Soak In The Tub with David Bowie > David Bowie
 * 15) An Awesome Back Massage > Pizza Party
 * 16) Johnny Depp > Elijah Wood
 * 17) Monty Python > Bohemian Rhapsody
 * 18) Flying Car > Flying Nun
 * 19) Sex > Never Having to Work Again For the Rest of Your Life
 * 20) Fire > Pants with Pockets > The Wheel > Sliced Bread
 * 21) Summer > Winter
 * 22) The Muppets < The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
 * 23) Second Quarter Round 1 Winner: Fire
 * 24) Second Quarter Round 2 Winner: Sex
 * 25) New Fanged Technology < Baby Sea Turtles
 * 26) William Shakespeare > William Shatner
 * 27) Honesty > The Internet
 * 28) Dancing < Down Comforters
 * 29) Stonehenge > Attaching Rockets to Things
 * 30) Elvis Presley < Indiana Jones
 * 31) Big Hugs > A Pony
 * 32) Free Will > Your Mom
 * 33) Tropical Paradise < Being Able to Destroy All Challengers With Your Mighty Kung-Fu
 * 34) Cake > Death
 * 35) Third Quarter Round 1 Winner: Big Hugs
 * 36) Third Quarter Round 2 Winner: Free Will
 * 37) The World's Greatest Chefs Compete to See Who Can Make You the Tastiest Breakfast > The Complete Works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
 * 38) Babies < Lack of Babies
 * 39) You're Given a Car That Gets 400 Miles to the Gallon and in the Glove Box You Find a Deed to the Moon > Receiving the Congressional Medal of Awesome
 * 40) Leonardo da Vinci > Dr. Seuss
 * 41) Dance Dance Revolution > Mr. T
 * 42) The Winner of Week 41 Poll > 128 Hot Katies
 * 43) A Writ From Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Declaring You Unticketable For Speeding and Parking Violations > An iPod Signed by The Pope of Your Choice
 * 44) Caffeine < Outer Space
 * 45) Fresh Fruit > This Picture of a Baby Pangolin > Eerily Accurate Fortune Cookie Fortunes > Ralph Nader > Baseball
 * 46) Intelligence < Dreams
 * 47) Spring < Autumn
 * 48) Fourth Quarter Round 1 Winner: You're Given a Car That Gets 400 Miles to the Gallon and in the Glove Box You Find a Deed to the Moon
 * 49) Fourth Quarter Round 2 Winner: Dreams

Quarterfinals

 * Free Will > Dreams
 * Cute, Fuzzy, Adorable Kittens < Laughter
 * You're Given a Car That Gets 400 Miles to the Gallon and in the Glove Box You Find a Deed to the Moon > Sex
 * Big Hugs > Fire

Semifinals

 * Free Will > Laughter
 * You're Given a Car That Gets 400 Miles to the Gallon and in the Glove Box You Find a Deed to the Moon > Big Hugs

Finals
Free Will > You're Given a Car That Gets 400 Miles to the Gallon and in the Glove Box You Find a Deed to the Moon

Year One Victor: [Free Will]

Year 2

 * 1) Mercury < Helium
 * 2) Slight-of-hand < Vikings
 * 3) Having Loved and Lost > Having Never Loved at All
 * 4) Surprise Parties < Immunity to Poison
 * 5) Being in the Right Place at the Right Time > Telekinesis
 * 6) Weddings < Pirates < You're Getting Married and Pirates Bust In and There's a Huge Fight and You Grab a Sword and Beat Them and Totally Save the Day
 * 7) Sunsets > Socrates
 * 8) Huge Fluffy Towels > Putting Your Brain Inside a Robot Body
 * 9) Simon & Garfunkel > Rocky & Bullwinkle
 * 10) Alcohol < Unsurpassed Skill at Witty Comebacks
 * 11) First Quarter Round 1 Winner: You're Getting Married and Pirates Bust In and There's a Huge Fight and You Grab a Sword and Beat Them and Totally Save the Day
 * 12) First Quarter Round 2 Winner: Being in the Right Place at the Right Time
 * 13) Having a Small but Loyal Group of Adoring Fans < Having a Giant Robot
 * 14) You Meet a Time Traveler and They Offer to Go Back and Undo the Creation of an Annoying Internet Meme of Your Choice < You Meet a Time Traveler and They Offer to Go Back and Undo the Cancellation of a TV Show of Your Choice
 * 15) A lifetime supply of the world's awesomest hot chocolate > A lifetime supply of the world's awesomest tea > A lifetime supply of the world's awesomest coffee > Gratuitous overuse of the adjective "Awesome"
 * 16) Godzilla < Wikipedia
 * 17) Dogs > Light Sabers
 * 18) Actual Irony, As Opposed to All Those Things Everyone Says Are Ironic But Really Aren't < Ancient Ruins
 * 19) Peace on Earth > Good Will Towards Men > Penny Arcade
 * 20) Incredibly Comfortable Silences > Having Fresh Warm Laundry Dumped On You
 * 21) Written Language > Birth Control
 * 22) Eye Glasses < Anesthesia
 * 23) Second Quarter Elimination Winners
 * 24) Peace on Earth
 * 25) Written Language
 * 26) Magnetism > Hypnotism
 * 27) Absurdity > Massive Thunderstorms
 * 28) Jackie Chan > Chuck Norris > The Crocodile Hunter > Vin Diesel
 * 29) Oxygen > Gravity
 * 30) Amelia Earhart > Muhammad Ali
 * 31) Dirty Dancing < Firefighters
 * 32) Youth < Experience
 * 33) Madagascar < Sliding Across a Waxed Wooden Floor in Your Socks
 * 34) Wireless Communication < Personal Hygiene
 * 35) Phenomenal Hand-Eye Coordination < Selective Photographic Memory
 * 36) Third Quarter Elimination Winners
 * 37) Oxygen
 * 38) Absurdity
 * 39) Mastery of Musical Instruments < The Body's Ability to Heal
 * 40) Forgiveness < Sense of Touch
 * 41) Saturn > Mars = Planet X > Jupiter > Venus = Uranus > Neptune > Mercury > Pluto
 * 42) The Statistical Favorite < The Underdog
 * 43) Winning Every Coin Flip < Telepathic Control of the Undead
 * 44) Adventures in Far-Off Lands > Having No Need to Sleep
 * 45) Sweden < Those Fish that Glow
 * 46) Knowing the Meaning of Life > The Best Sandwich Ever Made
 * 47) Snakes < A Plane
 * 48) There's a Big Emergency and it Looks Like All Hope is Lost and Suddenly you Develop Amazing Super Powers > You're on the Way to Work and you Find a Flyer Redeemable for a Free Pet Alien
 * 49) Fourth Quarter Elimination Winners
 * 50) The Body's Ability to Heal
 * 51) There's a Big Emergency and it Looks Like All Hope is Lost and Suddenly you Develop Amazing Super Powers

Quarterfinals

 * You're Getting Married and Pirates Bust In and There's a Huge Fight and You Grab a Sword and Beat Them and Totally Save the Day < There's A Big Emergency and it Looks Like All Hope is Lost and Suddenly you Develop Amazing Super Powers
 * Oxygen > Peace on Earth
 * Written Language < The Body's Ability to Heal
 * Absurdity < Being in the Right Place at the Right Time

Semifinals

 * There's A Big Emergency and it Looks Like All Hope is Lost and Suddenly you Develop Amazing Super Powers < Oxygen
 * The Body's Ability to Heal > Being in the Right Place at the Right Time

Finals
Oxygen > The Body's Ability to Heal

Year Two Victor: [Oxygen]

Year 3

 * 1) Being Livejournal Spotlighted < Remaining All Hip and Underground
 * 2) Stuff So Big You Can See It From Space > A Charity Which Give Gills to Underprivileged Children
 * 3) A Cat Who Will Let You Nuzzle Your Face Right Into Its Belly < An Infinite Muffin Generator
 * 4) Pajamas > Magnesium
 * 5) Unintentionally Hilarious Movies > Obscure Injokes from Your Fandom of Choice
 * 6) Waking Up Suddenly with a Great Idea > Umbrellas
 * 7) Red < Blue
 * 8) Classic Television > The Luxuriant Flowing Hair Club for Scientists
 * 9) Getting to post your first poll as a maintainer of your favorite LJ community on your birthday, with a blackberry pie cooling in the kitchen < An internship working as a ninja for your favorite federal judge
 * 10) Vampires > Werewolves > Frankenstein's Monster > Mummies
 * 11) First Quarter Elimination Round 1 Winner: Unintentionally Hilarious Movies
 * 12) First Quarter Elimination Round 2 Winner: Waking Up Suddenly With a Great Idea
 * 13) The First Snowfall in Winter > Classical Music
 * 14) Playing Hide and Seek > The Zoo
 * 15) Home Cookin' < Proper Use of the Apostrophe
 * 16) Paper > Plastic
 * 17) Being the Person Whose Job it is to Pull a Huge Lever and Then Things Blow Up < Everyone Realizes You Were Right All Along
 * 18) Eggnog < This Ukulele Guy
 * 19) Giving > Receiving
 * 20) The Mars Rover Discovers Nonterrestrial Life < Being Warm and Happy in the Company of Friends
 * 21) You Live Somewhere Cold and it's Supposed to be the Dead of Winter but it's 70 Degrees Out for Some Reason < The Thrill of Discovering Cool Stuff that Nobody Else Knows About
 * 22) Lions and Tigers and Bears > Any combination of one or two of them
 * 23) Second Quarter Elimination Round 1 Winner: Being Warm and Happy in the Company of Friends
 * 24) Second Quarter Elimination Round 2 Winner: Everyone Realizes You Were Right All Along
 * 25) Gandalf > Yoda
 * 26) A Machine That Can Record Your Dreams > A Car That Can Drive You Home By Itself
 * 27) Firefly the Series > Firefly the Insect
 * 28) Flammability < Google Buys Your Website For 1.65 Billion Dollars
 * 29) Your Own Private Idaho < Having Daylight Savings Happen Whenever You Say it Does
 * 30) A Fusion-Powered Laptop Running MovieOS < Owning a Really Huge Bag of Holding
 * 31) Remakes That Are Actually Better than the Original < The Collected Products of the Golden Age of Video Gaming
 * 32) Fiction > Non-Fiction
 * 33) The Ability to Shave Just By Thinking About It Real Hard > A Little Jamaican Dude In A Suit Jacket and Bermuda Shorts Comes Up To You Every Friday and Gives You a Printed Transcript of Everything People Have Said About You During The Week When You Weren't There
 * 34) Immortality Through Song and Story > Ted Koppel Gets Accidentally Knocked Out And At the Hospital They Discover He Is Actually A Robot Being Driven By a Tiny Mouse
 * 35) Third Quarter Elimination Round 1 Winner: A Machine That Can Record Your Dreams
 * 36) Third Quarter Elimination Round 2 Winner: Google Buys Your Website For 1.65 Billion Dollars
 * 37) Napping in the Sun < Frolicking in the Rain
 * 38) Secret Agents < Secret Passages
 * 39) Clara Barton < Mother Theresa
 * 40) Goose > Duck 6 > Duck 5 > Duck 4 > Duck 3 > Duck 1 > Duck 2
 * 41) Indoor Plumbing > Making It Without A Moment to Spare
 * 42) Some Knucklehead Roars By You Doing, Like, Ninety, And Six Seconds Later He Gets Bullseyed by Highway Patrol > Barbeque
 * 43) Gene Wilder < Hugh Laurie
 * 44) Graduation < Summer Vacation
 * 45) One of your Cherished Childhood Memories Gets Adapted into a Stunningly Good Rock Opera < Being Able To See Movie-Trailer-Like Reviews of The New People You Meet
 * 46) Having a Friend Who Works at the Movie Theater > Pulsars > Limericks