Recently, there has been an influx of dance movements, social media takeovers, and stunts, including the Harlem Shake, memes, and the Cinnamon Challenge.
These notions spread like wildfire with the help of popular social media sites such as Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram, with just one click of a button.
The most talked about social rage has become the Harlem Shake, a series of dance videos that begin with a masked individual dancing which evolves into an entire group dancing, each with their own special props and dance moves. They continue shaking it to a 43-second heavy bass instrumental track produced by Baauer.
Despite what the name suggests, the videos present a wide range of hip-hop dances, including the Bernie, twerking, and improvisations. On Jan. 30, video blogger Filthy_Frank uploaded a video with four people dressed in latex suits, dancing to Baauer’s “Harlem Shake,” thus creating the Internet sensation and novelty of performing different renditions of the Harlem Shake.
These crazes have found their way into classrooms on campus, continuing to spread the hype. One classroom in particular, Andrea Strock’s second hour Honors physics class, performed the Harlem Shake Friday, Feb. 15.
The classroom found out about the fad through YouTube and fellow classmate, senior Thom Felling. They were the first class to perform the dance in multiple classrooms. Science teachers Jerry Bell, Karen Hutchinson, Clint Beauer, and Melanie Lyon were the first few classes to experience the act.
“We had only planned on doing it in Bell’s, but it was Hutchinson’s birthday, so we performed it in there, and then when we came out of her classroom, another teacher told us that Ms.Lyon needed a good laugh so we did it,” explained Strock. “After that, Beauer saw us, so we just did it to his class as well. It was a domino effect,” explained Strock.
About four hours later, Trent Thornton’s AP economics class performed the dance in Angela Gardner’s government class. These classrooms have set the precedent in implementing the craze on campus, proving the Harlem Shake to be a movement that is sure to last a while.
Last year, planking was considered by some as the “in” thing to do, but its time was up when the cinnamon challenge (the dare to swallow a tablespoon of cinnamon without water in under 60 seconds) claimed the spotlight in the fad frenzy.
Other trending challenges making their way across computer and phone screens are the Saltine Challenge (eating six Saltine crackers, crumbs included within 60 seconds, without water) and the milk gallon challenge (drinking a gallon of milk in one hour, a guaranteed way to see your milk twice.)
One does not simply forget about memes, either. Urban Dictionary describes memes as “[units] of cultural information that represent a basic idea that is transferred from one individual to another, and subjected to mutation, crossover and adaptation.”
The hysteria of memes, which include the “forever alone” man, Bad Luck Brian, and the Philosoraptor, has casually integrated into everyday conversations and is often welcomed with laughs and recognition.
