10 Weird Social Media Trends

Weird social media trends seem to pop up every day now. Some are forgotten within hours, others [...]

By Daniel S. Levine

Weird social media trends seem to pop up every day now. Some are forgotten within hours, others seem to live on in the depths of the internet and live on as memes. Some are harmless, others are dangerous to your health.

Social media trends can originate on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Reddit and other platforms. Billions of people worldwide use these sites.

However, there are fewer people in North America using Facebook. In the company's latest earnings report, the company said 184 million Americans and Canadians used Facebook on average each day in the fourth fiscal quarter of 2017. That was down from 185 million in the previous quarter, reports CNBC. It was the first time the company posted a quarterly decline.

Here is a look at 10 weird social media trends.

Tide Pods

Late last year, teenagers started eating Tide Pods, the square laundry detergent packs made by Proctor & Gamble. It did not matter that they are dangerous to your health, people kept eating them and posting YouTube videos. YouTube and Instagram started taking down videos and photos that promoted the challenge, and Proctor & Gamble had to issue a statement telling people to stop eating it. They even recruited Rob Gronkowski to star in a viral PSA.

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Pimple Popping

Dr. Sandra Lee, a real dermatologist, turned her expertise into a social media phenomenon. She posts videos of her and her team popping patients' pimples or removing cysts. The videos are gross, but she uses them for educational purposes. Known as Dr. Pimple Popper, she has over 3.3 million YouTube subscribers.

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Neknominate

"Neknominate" was a dangerous trend in 2014, and it's believed that it started in Australia. It starts with a person filming themselves drinking large quantities of alcohol, then challenging friends to do the same within 24 hours. CNN reported in February 2014 that at least five men under 30 died after participating.

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#HoldACokeWithYourBoobsChallenge

In the wake of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, which raised awareness for ALS, several spoofs popped up. One of them was the #HoldACokeWithYourBoobsChallenge, which was exactly as it sounds. Some thought it was actually meant to raise money for breast cancer, but it was all a spoof launched by a talent agency scout and an adult film star.

Sadia Choudhury, spokeswoman for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, slammed the parody.

"Breast cancer is a serious global health issue that impacts millions of women and men around the world and we believe that breast cancer should not be trivialized," Choudhury told the New York Daily News. "It's something millions of people suffer from every day, and to trivialize it in such a blatant way is terrible."

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The Fire Challenge

The Fire Challenge was another dangerous and weird social media trend dating back to 2012, according to Know Your Meme. It was a dare game, where a participant puts flammable liquids on themselves and lights themselves on fire. Then, they dare someone else to do it. One of the first videos of the challenge features a man lighting his chest hair on fire. It has over 560,000 views.

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Planking

While planking is a real exercise that can help your body, it became a social media trend in 2011. People took pictures of themselves laying flat on the ground after a picture of a rugby player with his face in the grass went viral in 2011.

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Harlem Shake

Can you believe the "Harlem Shake" meme is over five years old now? The meme started in February 2013, when people started posting videos of themselves dancing to the track produced by Baauer. The trend became so popular that even the Norwegian Army posted a video.

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Kylie Jenner Lip Challenge

The Kylie Jenner Lip Challenge took over the internet in 2014 and 2015. It's not clear how the challenge started, but it involved teens trying to enlarge their lips by suction to look like Jenner. The model, who is now a mother herself, thought the trend was weird. "How long are we gonna talk about this lip thing [laugh my a— off]," she tweeted in 2014.



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The Dress

Feb. 26, 2015: the day the world was taken over by "The Dress." It was also the same day two llamas were running wild in Arizona, but "The Dress" is all we're concerned with here. "The Dress" was a photo of a dress some saw as blue and black. But others saw it as white and gold. The whole thing seemed silly, but scientists were fascinated by what it told them about our vision.

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Alex from Target

"Alex From Target" began in November 2014, when a Twitter user posted a picture of Alex Christopher LaBeouf as he was bagging items behind the register. The photo of the good-looking kid went viral and stayed on the Twitter trending board for a whole day. LaBeouf became so famous he appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Target's official Twitter account even got in on the trend.

The trend took a weird turn when a Los Angeles start-up company called Breakr claimed to be behind "Alex From Target," but LaBeouf denied it.

In October 2017, LaBeouf posted a YouTube video, catching everyone up on his life.

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