Top 10 Trends We Did NOT See Coming
#10: TikTok
Top 10 Fashion & Beauty Trends That Started on TikTok
Launched in 2017, but only gaining popularity a year later, this app for creating and sharing lip-sync videos seemingly came out of nowhere. But the fact that it combined music, comedy and talent in such a snappy little package and encouraged creativity among its users allowed it to quickly explode globally. Helping to spread positivity at a time when the world really needs it, TikTok also attracted the attention of celebrities, helped launch musical artists into the mainstream and continues to spawn viral memes to this day. Considering that the app has its own trends within it, such as Duets, it’s no longer a surprise that TikTok, along with sister app Douyin for China, has been downloaded a billion times around the world.
#9: Tide Pod Challenge
Tide Pod Challenge! 3 Need to Know Facts!
If you’ve been living under a rock, this internet challenge became all the rage in the early 2018 following social media posts in late 2017 that discussed how supposedly tasty Tide Pods looked. Now, the main reason we didn’t see the challenge coming was because… well, Tide Pods are used for WASHING CLOTHES, NOT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION. However, a couple, okay, a lot of teenagers got the bright idea of filming themselves eating the laundry detergent, posting the videos online and daring others to do it too. While the meme may have started off as a joke, social media platforms and Tide themselves realized it had been taken too far, and took steps to warn people of the danger.
#8: Going Gluten-Free by Choice
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Every few years, a new diet craze sweeps popular culture, but one of the most unexpected has to be the gluten-free diet. For the record, we’re not talking about people with celiac disease or a gluten sensitivity. But as awareness of the dangers posed by gluten to people with the condition increased and more food became available that catered to them, the health conscious latched on to gluten as the new thing to cut out of their diets to become healthier. However, not everyone can or should go entirely gluten free, making it another diet fad that can do as much harm as good. In others, do your research and ask your doctor before undergoing any massive diet changes, people!
#7: Thrift Shopping Being Cool
Conventional wisdom in capitalist culture says that expensive products are better than those bought for a lesser price. For a long time, coupon-clippers and other thrifty people were looked down on as cheap. These days though, thrift shopping is both fashionable and a necessity for many, especially young people. Celebrities and hipsters have made bargain clothes cool, while the economy has driven people away from the mall and big box chains and towards used clothing stores and other secondhand retailers. Thanks to these factors, what’s new isn’t always what’s hot. There’s also the added bonus of being better for the environment, what with all the talk about how fast fashion is so bad for the planet these days.
#6: “Pokémon Go”
How Pokémon Became a Global Phenomenon: Trading Card Game
“Pokémon” exploded in popularity in the late ‘90s, but aside from a dedicated fanbase, its mainstream popularity began to wane with the years. Enter “Pokémon Go!” Not only did this 2016 mobile game get everyone talking about the franchise again, but it also managed to get gamers and young people…exercising? We didn’t see that coming. “Pokémon Go” managed to create gameplay satisfying enough to get people outside and bonding with other players in a way few, if any games ever had before. Although the player base has dropped since then, the inclusion of more Pokémon to catch will likely give the app the same kind of longevity as the rest of the franchise.
#5: Mason Jars
These glass jars have been around for well over a century, but, long a staple amongst farmers, moonshiners and jam makers, mason jars have only become hip in the 21st century. Mason jars are now a common sight in trendy restaurants and other stores, where they are used as glasses or vases. Some people even take to decorating them and selling them as art. We’re unsure whether their exposure simply reached critical mass after so many years or if it just took the right person to spread their benefits. However it happened, we certainly did not predict that jars would be the next “it” item.
#4: Dabbing
Given how creative and fluid dance trends are, it’s difficult to predict them, but this one still has us scratching our heads. Dabbing is a hip hop dance move that involves putting your head down into your arm or forearm crease, in a gesture akin to politely covering your mouth during a sneeze. Its origins can be traced to Atlanta’s hip hop scene, but dabbing only really caught on when pro football players began using it to celebrate touchdowns in the mid-2010s. Repurposing things is part of human nature, but we honestly didn’t expect to see a motion associated with hygiene enter the world of dance and internet culture..
#3: ASMR
Top 10 Mukbang ASMR Videos
Triggered by auditory or visual stimuli and described as mildly euphoric, Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response is a physical phenomenon in which a tingling sensation goes through your head down to the top of your spine. It’s a positive body response, and though similar experiences have been referred to earlier, ASMR has only really captured attention in its current form in the early 21st century. That’s because the internet has allowed people the world over to share similar experiences. This has led to a plethora of media designed to activate the response. Who would’ve thought an arguably non-sexual physical sensation akin to an electrical current would be something that human beings are trying to replicate and bond over?
#2: Fidget Spinners
These spinning toys have been around in some form since the early ‘90s, yet they only saw a surge of popularity in 2017, so it definitely felt as if their “trendy” status came out of nowhere. Fidget spinners see use for two main reasons – first, for their purported use in working off nervous energy and second, for their ease of doing tricks, which are often shared via videos online. They’ve become so prevalent that many schools have banned them for being too distracting - and it’s not a true trend until learning institutions outlaw them. Before we get to our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions: Auto-Tune Kombucha Harlem Shake SoundCloud Rap [aka Mumble Rap] Dad Sneakers
#1: Meme Culture
Top 20 Meme Stars: Where Are They Now?
While it could be argued that many of the entries on our list are memes as well, this entry is about things specifically designed to be repeated ad nauseam and become viral. Images with common phrases and captions, along with videos depicting a common element or theme are among the most recurring forms of memes. Given the unpredictability of trends, we suppose it only makes sense that people tried to make them a bit more predictable by standardizing them somewhat - though we, appropriately, had no way of seeing them coming. And, we think, neither did anyone else, really.
