I was taught that 2 connected is an operation on the parentheses.
so 2(2+2) = (2(2+2))
Is that wrong?
It's a matter of context. Written as above, by itself, that's correct.
What causes a difference in how you evaluate the overall expression is the "slash" that precedes the multiplication.
If you interpret the slash as a fraction line (making the 8 the numerator and everything else the denominator), then as you state, the multiplication binds to the parenthesized (2+2), because it's all in the denominator, and the answer is 1.
But if you interpret the slash as a division operation, no fraction involved, then the evaluation proceeds left-to-right, the division happens BEFORE the multiplication, and the answer is 16.
The latter interpretation is the accepted standard.
The problem as it went viral was intentionally written poorly, so as to encourage ambiguity and multiple interpretations.