Political spin is an age-old art form. Traditionally, it is performed during debates, in town hall meetings, and on primetime television. Its most celebrated practitioners tended to be political pundits, campaign flacks, and, of course, the candidates.

But the digital age is radically remaking this time-honored craft. The spin itself remains the same, but is happening in places like Facebook and Twitter. And the people doing the spinning aren't the campaigns, their teams, or their opponents, but ordinary Americans who can command an audience with a click. The shift makes it nearly impossible for campaigns to exert control over their narratives like they once did. But it's also made this election season a little more transparent—and far more entertaining.

Here's a look at some of the most memorable examples of the social media masses seizing upon their newfound power this past year.

Chris Christie's "Hugs That I Remember"

During the first Republican primary debate, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Kentucky Senator Rand Paul got into a heated debate about the National Security Agency's bulk data collection program. Paul said he didn't trust President Obama with that data, then ridiculed Christie for giving Obama a "a big hug" in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

Christie tried to turn the comment on his head by invoking September 11th: “You know, Senator Paul, the hugs that I remember are the ones I gave to the families who lost their people on September 11th.” In any other age, it would have been a poignant standout moment for Christie. But not on the Internet.

The Ben Carson Rap That Should Not Exist

The country reached peak Ben Carson around early November. Who can forget Carson's claim that the pyramids were actually built to serve as grain silos for Joseph? Or his defense of earlier claims that he had been offered a scholarship to West Point?

None of that could have prepared us for the old school hip-hop radio ad the Carson campaign released in a bid to reach young minority voters. If the campaign had targeted it to a few select markets, it might have flown under the radar. Instead, someone uploaded it to SoundCloud for all the world to mock.

Hillary Clinton rolled out her college affordability plan, New College Compact, in August, and her team obviously wanted to get the attention of college-age voters. Her campaign took to Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram and asked people to share how they feel about college debt, but with a twist: It asked #millennials to express their feelings in three emojis or less.

Of course it backfired. Apparently, college kids are perfectly capable of using their words to talk about important issues, and they don't much like being talked down to. What might have otherwise been an opportunity to connect with young voters turned into yet another example of how politicians are—unsuccessfully—pandering to younger voters.

Jeb Bush launched his comeback campaign this fall with a new and improved slogan: Jeb Can Fix It. It's a perfectly benign statement, one that may have served Bush well in past campaigns. But the Twitterverse soon associated #JebCanFixIt with all of Bush's—and more specifically, George W. Bush's—mistakes. It started trending on Twitter, but not for the reasons the campaign may have hoped.

Redditors Convince Americans to #FeeltheBern

The social media spinners aren't always trying to bring candidates down. They also use their power to build candidates up. Bernie Sanders' massive following on Reddit is the best illustration of that fact this election season.

The founders of the Bernie Sanders for President subreddit launched the community well before Sanders even announced his candidacy. Since then, they've turned the subreddit into its own little spin room, where its more than 137,000 members help each other break down Sanders' proposals and build tools to disseminate the information. They have arguably played just as important a role in making Sanders a viable candidate this election season as the Sanders campaign has itself.