10 Internet Trends We Used To Think Were So Cool, But Were Actually So Cringe
1.Cinnamon Challenge
Circa 2012, you couldn't scroll through Facebook or YouTube without seeing a video of someone taking a spoonful of dry cinnamon. Hardly anyone who participated in the challenge could successfully swallow the cinnamon as the internet trend entailed.
Most participants gagged after they attempted to ingest the sweet brown powder.
Although seemingly harmless, the trend was actually very dangerous.
"This is a dangerous practice which can result in choking, aspiration of cinnamon powder into the lungs, and even respiratory failure requiring a ventilator in extreme cases," Dr. Robert Glatter, an emergency medicine physician at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City told CBSNews.com in 2013.
"The stunt can also be deadly as a result of lack of oxygen to the brain in cases of choking and aspiration of the powder."
2.Overly Filtered Photos
Before it became cool to use #nofilter, it seemed that every other Instagram photo from the early to mid-2010s was filtered to the max. I'm talking about so much photo altering that the person posing looked almost like an animation.
3.Duck Faces
This one is pretty self-explanatory.
4.The Gentrified Harlem Shake
I miss the days when the Harlem Shake the world knew was the hip-hop shimmy dance that Bow Wow used to do in his music videos in the early 2000s.
After 2013, the Harlem Shake was culturally appropriated into an internet trend. People would film themselves acting calmly as the song Harlem Shake by Bauuer played in the background, and then when the tune's beat dropped, the video would cut to them dancing wildly.
Depending on who you ask, the Harlem Shake challenge is what comes to mind rather than the hip-hop dance popularized by the former teen star rapper when the term "Harlem Shake" is mentioned.
5.Using Song Lyrics For Instagram Captions
Nurphoto / NurPhoto via Getty Images, Capitol Records / Via genius.com
Caption creativity for Instagram posts was at an all-time low in the 2010s. It seemed that every other note attached to the post was either a Drake or Lil' Wayne lyric.
6.Ice Bucket Challenge
The year 2014 was changed forever with the popularization of the ice bucket challenge on social media. Everyone from celebrities like LeBron James and Justin Bieber, to everyday folk willingly got large buckets of ice water dumped on them in the name of ALS.
According to the ALS Association, "In the summer of 2014, three young men living with ALS, Anthony Senerchia, Pete Frates, and Pat Quinn, took the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge and launched a global phenomenon that changed the fight against ALS forever."
Additionally, "The Challenge raised awareness of the disease worldwide raised $115 million to support our mission, funds that were invested in ALS research and care for people living with the disease," the association revealed
7.Tide Pod Challenge
Some daring individuals filmed themselves chewing on Tide Pods, the ones used for laundry, and then uploaded their videos online. This insanely dangerous act was a part of the famed Tide Pod Challenge that arose in 2017-2018. More people did this challenge than one would think.
8.Contrived Off-Guard Photos
Yes, in the 2010s, some people pretended not to pose for the camera when they were photographed to give off the illusion that they were caught "off-guard." Is that cringe or what?
9.Excessive Use of Hashtags
At one point, the hashtags behind a post's caption would be longer than the caption itself.
10.And finally, taking photos with a selfie stick
Selfie sticks weren't the problem. Taking selfies at an angle that showed someone was using a selfie stick was. For a short time, when selfie sticks made a resurgence in the mid-2010s, many couldn't wait to upload photos captured with the help of the equipment. That would've been okay if the stick wasn't always visible...
Solve the daily Crossword
