2016- One of the most viral challenges of this year was the ‘Andy’s Coming’ challenge, which required everyone to drop dead after someone shouts out “Andy’s Coming.” The most dedicated participants of this trend would even go lifeless in the middle of large crowds. This year, slime also took the world by storm. With its vibrant colors, endless add-ins, and creators promoting it on nearly every platform, slime became a new form of currency. Personally, my middle school friends would trade slime with each other, and the person with the coolest slime made their way up the middle school hierarchy. Overall, the trends of this year deserve a solid 9/10. 

2017- Fidget spinners began to make their appearance this year. Starting with the original spinner, hundreds of colors and patterns were made and sold in nearly every convenience store. Walking through the aisles of Target, I begged my mom for the holographic spinner that I just had to have. These were meant to relieve stress and anxiety, but instead became a competition of who could collect the coolest spinners. Now, these spinners, along with the variety of other fidget toys, sit at the bottom of my drawer, waiting to be used again. For this reason, they deserve a 7/10.

2018- One of the most dangerous trends emerged this year, and the stupidity of teenagers was made apparent. As the Tide Pod challenge was created, teens were encouraged to record and post themselves eating a Tide Pod. Although it was mainly a joke, Tide had to release statements explaining the dangerous side effects of bleach consumption. A less dangerous viral challenge of this year was the ‘Kiki Challenge.’ This involved dancing outside of a moving car to Drake’s song “In my Feelings.” My friends would make me record them in the middle of a parking lot, and the stares from onlookers were worth the eight likes the video received. The variety of trends for this year deserves a 3/10, however, due to the death, the Tide Pod challenge nearly caused.

2019- Oversized T-shirts, Hydroflasks, scrunchies, and Birkenstocks became the norm for summer 2019 as the VSCO girl phase took over.  I was personally victimized by this trend as it became my summer style.  This became a type of stereotype, and social media gave way to many lighthearted parodies relating to this style.  Another thing to nearly take over the internet was World Record Egg, whose goal was to obtain the highest number of likes on an Instagram post.  People joined together to take over the previous holder: Kylie Jenner.  This unique combination of trends earns an 8/10.

2020- During this year, people were stuck in quarantine, and as they grew restless, a variety of trends were born.  Many social media and Instagram challenges were created, such as posting an amusing picture of oneself that would not usually be deemed Instagram worthy for the ‘Until tomorrow’ challenge.  Scrolling through my feed, these pictures provided a much-needed laugh during this time.  As everyone took this time to find new hobbies or start working out, the daily workout videos of Chloe Ting and Daisy Peach became a viral sensation.  Posting their progress on Tiktok, most people followed them for a solid two weeks.  The trends during this time deserve a 9/10

2021- This year, TikTok fostered the growth of the ‘devious licks’ challenge.  Although it was somewhat amusing to watch students steal the keys to their school or the bathroom stall door, it was even funnier once it began happening at our own school.  Eventually, however, students couldn’t even use the bathroom because of the mess of paper towels and missing soap dispensers they encountered.  This lighthearted trend eventually allowed for complete vandalism, and for this reason, deserves a 1/10.