YouTube has had a splendid 2012. Users watched an average of 4 billion hours of videos per month. The Associated Press and the Phil De Franco channels hit a billion views. Millions of people from over 200 countries tuned in to YouTube politics to view the US elections, the Weather Channel live-streamed its coverage of Hurricane Sandy for more than 70 hours and many more remarkable events were broadcast on the platform.

In celebration of an entertaining year online, here are our top 3 YouTube virals. These are the ones we think made particular impact over the countless others uploaded in 2012:

Gangnam Style - Psy

This year, and for the first time ever, Korean pop music dominated the world with pop and rap sensation Psy’s ‘Gangnam Style’. The video racked up almost a billion views only six months after it hit the web. Dubbed YouTube’s 2012 top trending video globally and the most watched YouTube video of all-time, ‘Gangnam style’ has been viewed over 989 million times, 'Liked' by over 6 million viewers and is poised to reach a record 1 billion views before Christmas Day.  

We know you've seen it, but why not watch it again anyway?:

Somebody That I Used To Know - Walk Off The Earth

Walk off the Earth's cover of Gotye's ‘Somebody That I Used To Know’ follows ‘Gangnam Style’ and has been dubbed the biggest cover video for 2012 by YouTube. Published on the 5 January, the video has hit over 140 million views, 1,292,528 ‘Likes’ and 230,233 comments.

Check it out:

Nike Football - My Time is Now

At the top of YouTube’s 2012 ads leaderboard is Nike Football’s ‘My Time is Now’ ad. It features football royalty, amongst which are Cristiano Ronaldo and Andre Iniesta. They battle it out with young impatient players ready to throw out the rule book in order to make a mark in football’s elite ranks. The video first hit the web on 18 May and has since garnered over 21 Million views, 87,791 'Likes' and 21, 128* comments.

Watch the ad:

Which videos made it to your personal top 3 in 2012? Let us know in the ‘Make a comment’ block below.

*Note: all numbers in this article are accurate at the time of writing, but are subject to change.