So 2016 was actually a terrible year. For many, many, many reasons. Some famous people died, a lot of teenagers lost their lives to stupid decisions, and the world literally seemed like it was going to end because of all the bad decisions people made. Like making Donald Trump the president of the united states. But that isn't what this article is about, maybe that will be the next one. So let's get back on track. There were a lot of trends in 2016. Some of them kind of stupid, but others were quite interesting. So let's get to the top 10 trends of 2016.
1. Pokemon Go
Everyone got super hyped about Nintendos first attempt at a smartphone game. But it was only relevant for about 2.7 seconds. Most users deleted the app faster than they downloaded it. It was fun at first. It got you out of the house and walking around to catch Pokemon in the real world. I mean, you were a real Ash Ketchum. Every Pokemon-lover's dream. Niantic really let the ball drop on this one. They just needed to fix way too many things, and it kind of ruined the fun for everyone who enjoyed it at first.
2. Killer Clown Sightings
Now this one was a little too intense for me. But as all trends, they must come to an end and I am so grateful this one ended. Now I haven't been a fan of clowns since I watched the movie "It" and the world was becoming a real live version of that movie. It was freaky for a while to go outside alone, but I am still not sure if it was a hoax or not.
3. The Kylie Jenner Lip Challenge
It's still unknown who started this actual trend. Whoever did it, did you actually want lips like the Jenners? Or did you do it to make fun of them? And you people who actually did it. Same question, did you suck on a cup because you actually wanted those luscious lips? Or did you want to make a mockery of the trend? Either way, this challenge became viral pretty fast. Soon there were tons of videos of just about everyone trying to plump up their lips.
4. Arthur's Fist
On July 27th 2016 this meme was created. It's a screenshot of Arthurs fist from one of the episodes of Arthur. @AlmostJT tweeted it and said "This is just a pic of Arthurs fist but idk how I feel about that it's just so relatble. So many emotions in one fist." And from then on out, the meme was created.
5. Don't Judge Me Challenge
The "don't judge me challenge" actually started in July of 2015, but it didn't really take off until 2016-ish. This one is started on Instagram and everyone decided they wanted a piece of the action. The whole purpose of this was to encourage body appreciation, unfortunately, it didn't really work out for that reason. A lot of good looking people started to make themselves less attractive with makeup and then go back to being attractive at the end of the video. It then went to Youtube and soon went to musically. No hate on the challenge, but it is way too cringe-y for my liking.
6. Harambe
RIP Harambe. Harambe was murdered in the Cincinnati Zoo on May 28th 2016. Basically, a 3-year-old fell into his enclosure after climbing over the fence that was meant to separate the gorillas from the humans. Harambe quickly became a meme, comic books were written, and Filthy Frank actually wrote a song about him. I mean kids have fallen into gorilla enclosures before, and I don't think any one of those gorillas were murdered. They couldn't have used a tranq gun or something? I feel like this trend will go on for a while.
7. Dabbing
Dabbing is a known dance move. You just lift both your arms in the same direction and drop your head like you're sneezing. Really simple, nothing to it. This is a trend I haven't nor ever will do. I don't understand the hype. I mean it's just a silly little dance move that honestly, kinda makes you look ridiculous. But to each his own right? There was actually a disagreement on how "Dabbing" actually came about. But it was "Skippa Da Flippa" who actually created it.
8. Damn Daniel
So Josh and Daniel are two high school kids who became viral because of the internet. Pretty much Josh walked around and filmed Daniel and his white Vans. Repeating "Damn, Daniel; Damn, Daniel; Damn Daniel, back at it again with the white Vans." They became so viral that Ellen had them on her show. It was super funny at first, but became annoying after about two days. Their stardom ending just as quickly as they became viral. I guess the internet works like that, new trends come along.
9. The "But that's none of my business" meme
This is one of the Kermit the Frog memes. He has a couple that I know of, but this has to be my favorite. People started posting things like: "Your eyebrows are longer than your relationship, but that's none of my business" with a picture of Kermit sipping Tea. So it was pretty much a way for people to bash on other people, without it really being any of their business.
10. The Mannequin Challenge
This one wasn't too bad. It went with good music and there was actually a lot of good videos out there. Like all the dog ones! How do you do that? I can't even get my dogs to stand still long enough to take a picture let alone a video. This one was relevant for maybe a couple months, everyone wanted to do one. I mean I am not usually one to follow all the trends and do them, but I was tempted to do this one. Though I never actually did.
That is my list of the Top Trends and Memes of 2016. Some of them were pretty clever, and we just won't go there with the other ones. 2016 was a decent year, but let's really hope that 2017 brings a better year for most people.