5 Internet Trends We’re All Embarrassed We Participated In

1. The Ice Bucket Challenge That Most of Us Did Without Donating

Remember when dumping a freezing bucket of ice water on yourself became the ultimate social media flex? In 2014, you could not scroll for five seconds without seeing someone shrieking oh my god it is so cold while their friend dumped a bucket over their head and filmed it on a potato quality phone camera.

Yes, it was technically for ALS awareness, and it raised a lot of money, which was great. But let’s be real, a lot of us just wanted to go viral, tag our friends, and feel like we did something noble without actually donating.

People took it way too far too. Someone would use an entire trash can, while someone else would pull out the garden hose for maximum suffering points. We pretended it was a heroic act when in reality we were just standing in our driveways, dripping wet and screaming I challenge Sarah, Jason, and my mom while neighbors peeked through their curtains.

And now, every August, Facebook loves reminding us with those memories. It is a full body cringe every time that blurry video of us shrieking in our driveway pops up.

2. The Harlem Shake A Beautiful Chaotic Mess

There was a beautiful few weeks in 2013 when the internet collectively decided hey what if we all just lost our minds for 15 seconds. Thus, the Harlem Shake craze was born.

You would have a room of people pretending to be normal while one person in a weird mask or helmet wiggled in the corner. Then boom, bass drop, and everyone exploded into flailing limbs, twerking, or riding broomsticks like demented cowboys.

It did not matter if you were in an office, classroom, or your parents’ kitchen, you had to do it. Your boss probably danced in a banana costume, and that quiet kid from math class suddenly backflipped in the background, making you question if you ever truly knew them.

The funniest part, it was not even the real Harlem Shake. We took a local dance, attached it to a random song, and made it into a global excuse to act like lunatics for internet clout. And just like that, the trend disappeared, leaving behind shaky low quality videos buried deep in your Facebook timeline, ready to resurface at the worst possible moment.

3. Planking Because We Had Nothing Better to Do

If you were around in 2011, you definitely saw or were someone lying face down, stiff as a board, on top of random objects. Planking was the trend where we decided that lying motionless in weird places was comedic gold, and for some reason it actually was until it wasn’t.

We planked on sidewalks, on benches, across shopping carts, and if you were really committed, you would plank on dangerous ledges like a chaotic daredevil. We risked splinters, injury, and public humiliation, all for a blurry Facebook photo captioned planking lol.

Looking back, it is hilariously dumb. We basically made ourselves look dead in public, and people would walk by probably thinking should I call someone. But no, you were just committed to the aesthetic of lying on a playground slide while your friend snapped a photo.

At least it was a low effort trend though. Unlike the Harlem Shake, you did not need props, music, or a group of friends, just yourself, the floor, and zero shame.

4. Posting Song Lyrics as Statuses We Thought We Were So Deep

There was a time when Facebook statuses were flooded with cryptic song lyrics, and we were convinced we were being mysterious and profound. You would post something like

You only need the light when it is burning low

Or

Just gonna stand there and watch me burn

You knew exactly who you were aiming it at too, your middle school crush who had no clue you existed. You would wait, checking every five minutes to see if they liked it, convinced that if they did, it meant something.

Sometimes people would comment are you okay and you would reply with a casual yeah just love this song while secretly hoping they would decode your heartbreak like it was a hidden message in a treasure map.

It was the ultimate passive aggressive broadcast system. Instead of texting your crush I like you you would just post I am not a princess this is not a fairytale and hope they got the hint. Newsflash, they did not.

5. Like for TBH and Rate Posts A Public Validation Circus

If you did not post a like for a TBH on Facebook, were you even alive in 2010? This was the ultimate teenage validation system disguised as a fun game. You would post

Like for a TBH

And then spend the next two hours crafting the most generic compliments possible for every person who liked your post

TBH you are cool we should talk more

Or the ultimate

TBH idk you that well but you seem chill

Then came the rate date hate posts where you would rate your friends on a scale of 1 to 10 based on how much you liked them or how cute you thought they were, turning your notifications into a live anxiety machine.

The entire point was secretly hoping your crush would like your post so you could finally say TBH I think you are really cute while dying inside. If they rated you back as an 8 you would be on cloud nine for a week. If they hit you with a 6 you would question your entire existence.

It was social media at its rawest and most chaotic. A public stage for teenage validation that makes us all want to hide under a blanket whenever the memories pop up on our timelines.

Let’s Never Do This Again

The internet is amazing at coming up with new ways for us to embarrass ourselves in front of the entire world, and we all fell for these trends because they were fun while they lasted. But let’s be real, we are all thankful these moments are buried under years of new content, memes, and updates.

And if your Ice Bucket Challenge video ever resurfaces during a family gathering, just remember we were all there, we all screamed, and we all regret the hair we ruined that day. If your Harlem Shake video pops up, laugh it off. You were young, bored, and living your best chaotic life.

Because if the internet has taught us anything, it is that we are all in this cringe together and we will probably do it again the next time a new trend comes along.