These Off-Putting Trends Make Us Glad The 2010s Are Over
Now that the '20s are here, it's time to wave goodbye to some of the not-so-charming trends of the 2010s. Oxford's Lexico defines a trend as either "a general direction that something is developing or changing," or "a topic that is the subject of many posts on a social media website within a short period of time." We saw a few changes in the '10s such as the sudden need for a fidget spinner and to go on a "cleanse." As far as social media, who could forget the duckface takeover or the mannequin challenge? Read on for more cringe-worthy trends of the '10s.
The Duckface
If there's one thing that's characteristic of the '10s, it's the duckface. This pose is created by puckering your lips and curving up the corners of your mouth as a substitute for smiling. It's hard to say where exactly this facial expression came from, but we'd guess it evolved from Mary Kate Olsen's signature lip curl.
The look really got some headway when taking selfies became the norm. Thanks to the advent of the profile picture, many people became enthralled with the need to produce an eyecatching photo of themselves. Thankfully, the duckface is no longer the go-to for most users.
The Kardashians
The Kardashians have been trendsetters for years thanks to their hit reality show. However, their days of power are slowly coming to a close. No longer are girl cliques fighting over which one is more like Kourtney and which one is more like Kim.
One major reason fans have jumped the Kardashian train is for the mixed messages they've given in terms of body image. Another reason is that reality shows aren't as popular now that streaming is so huge. While the Kardashians may always be a household name, their faces are sure to fade into the background.
Vaping
Vaping was all the rage when it first came out. Not only was it marketed as a "healthy" alternative to other habits, but also for being tasty with a variety of flavors to choose from. Vaping shops opened up all over and adopted a suave, lounge-y feel.
Meanwhile, criticism started to raise about the potential dangers of vaping. Still, warnings about vaping couldn't match up to the rapid growth in popularity. That all changed when people started being hospitalized for mysterious respiratory issues. Now that there's evidence of its harm, vaping has quickly fallen off its high horse.
Movie Reboots
There is one kind of commercial that most people can enjoy, and that's movie trailers. It can be exciting to see what innovative flick is coming out next. That's changed lately, though, thanks to the surplus of movie reboots.
It was bad enough when movies became riddled with cliches and predictable endings. Now, you literally have the exact same characters doing almost the exact same things. Spider-man, Ghostbusters, The Mummy, Fantastic 4, Tomb Raider, and so many more classics have been done over for no reason other than profit. Hopefully, screenwriters will get it together in the '20s.
Pokémon Go
There's no denying that the Pokémon franchise has held a special place in the hearts of tons of kids. That's why feeling like you're catching Pokémon in real life seemed so cool. The mobile game manages to superimpose a Pokémon over the image of your surroundings on your phone.
The game is a prime example of how technology can sometimes go too far. What seemed like an innocent and revolutionary game turned into a catalyst for teens becoming more obsessed with their phones than they already were. Going outside doesn't count if your eyes are glued to a screen the entire time.
Gangnam Style
"Gangnam Style" is a song by musical artist PSY from South Korea. The upbeat sound and hilarious dance caused the song and its corresponding video to go viral on Youtube in 2012. It became so popular that even people who have never watched the video could easily recall the dance moves.
That's because the song and dance were being performed all over at parties, on television, and in schools. It's a similar phenomenon to the Macarena. While we can't say for sure that it won't pop up at parties here or there, we're fairly confident it's peaked in popularity.
Jersey Shore
MTV brought adolescents and young adults everywhere the horrible role models on Jersey Shore went. The reality television show followed characters such as Snooki, JWoww, and The Situation as they spent their summer in a beach house on the shore of New Jersey.
Cast members were under the constant eye of cameras as they drank, partied, and got into fights. The unhealthy environment and perpetuation of stereotypes left this show six feet under despite being MTV's highest-rated series.
Overpriced "Hipster" Clothing
If you've ever been in a store that looks like Goodwill but charges like Express, you know what we're talking about. You may think it's insane to charge $60 for a t-shirt just because it says something like "rather be dead than cool" on it, but that's what hipsters live for.
Merriam-Webster defines a hipster as "a person who is unusually aware of and interested in new and unconventional patterns." Lately, more and more hipsters have turned to inexpensive second-hand stores to purchase their superbly unique clothes on a budget, meaning overpriced hipster stores may become a thing of the past.
Cash Me Outside How 'Bout Dah
If you have no idea who this girl or her famous saying "Cash me outside how 'bout dah" is, consider yourself lucky. Her name is Danielle Bregoli and she received her fifteen minutes of fame for appearing on Dr. Phil's show as an unruly teen with the vocabulary of a street rat.
Her phrase was turned into a meme on social media and before long, everyone was saying it as a joke. While Danielle is still pursuing her rap career under the pseudonym Bhad Bhabie, her popular saying has already become a thing of the past.
Baby Shark
Whatever catchy song you've heard in the past can't hold a candle to the childhood tune "Baby Shark." If you've heard of it, it's already stuck in your head and we apologize for doing that to you. Children adore the song's upbeat tune and simple words, but that's exactly what makes it so impossible to un-learn.
The lyrics start, "baby shark, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo" and then repeat starting with "mommy shark" and so on. What's unusual is that some people who don't have kids or younger siblings still know the song. It's permeated our waking lives and it's time to stop.
Planking
The planking trend of the 2010s is very different from the kind of planking you might do at the gym. Rather than holding yourself up in a horizontal position to engage your core, this kind of planking entails simply laying flat on your stomach like an actual plank of wood.
The trend became popular when people began posting themselves in said position on social media. Often, plankers will be in an unexpected spot, like on top of a vending machine, or in a huge group, like this photo shows. While it was funny at first, we're no longer laughing.
Acronyms For Everything (YOLO!)
Have you ever received a text and had to guess what an unfamiliar acronym meant? Maybe it read SMH (shaking my head), or B2W (back to work), or our personal favorite @TEOTD (at the end of the day).
You would think that the acronyms would have stopped with the advent of cell phone keyboards. As the saying goes, it had to get worse before it got better. Webopedia has a frightfully long list of alphabetized abbreviations. Fortunately, society is getting faster at texting, which makes the need for acronyms less prevalent.
Fidget Spinners
Fidget spinners were like shooting stars: mesmerizing one second, and gone the next. At first, they seemed to fall into a similar category as the stress ball. They gave you something to focus on when you needed a break to release some tension and wind down.
They seemed unique when they were being sold at mall kiosks, but before long they were just another nicknack being sold at 7-Eleven cash registers. We're not sure where you could purchase one nowadays since most stores have parted ways with the overrated fad.
The Mannequin Challenge
We know that this photograph may look like performance art meant to critique modern Hollywood conventions, but it's actually not that deep. These actors are merely performing the Mannequin Challenge. The trend involves posing in a frozen position like a mannequin while someone films.
Similar to planking, its sole purpose is to look silly. It's believed that the challenge started with a video posted by a group of teens in Florida, but there have been so many viral videos of the Mannequin Challenge that it's hard to know for sure. What we do know is that its popularity peaked in the 2010s.
The Dab
The dab is a dance move that involves placing your face into the inside of the elbow of one arm and extending out the other arm. Despite being popular among kids in elementary schools, the move surprisingly originated in the Atlanta hip hop scene.
Like the "dougie" and the "stanky leg," the "dab" escalated in popularity after a rap song referenced the move. Everything changed when athletes began "dabbing" to show their victory. That's when kids picked it up and the rest is history. The oversaturation of the dab has made its glory days a thing of the past.
Going On A Cleanse
Diet fads have been around for a long time, and may always be. However, at least other trends like the Paleo diet, Atkins diet, or Keto diet were honest about being diets. A cleanse is a sneaky trend because the name alone suggests that you're simply "cleaning out" the body.
Many of these diets involve sticking solely to a green-colored drink of some sort for days or even weeks at a time in order to eliminate harmful toxins. According to WebMD, your body knows how to get rid of toxins on its own and doesn't need an energy-depleting diet to do so.
Bottle Flipping
Bottle flipping is a simple game that involves tossing a half-empty water bottle into the air and trying to have it land right-side up. The trend is thought to have started when a teenager in North Carolina mastered the trick for his school's talent show.
Anyone who has tried to master the art of the bottle flip knows that it isn't as easy as it looks. That's what made videos of individuals landing consecutive flips go viral. The problem is that it's simple to a fault. The trend gets boring quickly and at the end of the day, it's just not that impressive of a skill to have.
Doggy Instagram Accounts
Being a dog person is one thing. Being a dog social media person is quite another. Somewhere along the way, individuals started making social media accounts for their pets. What that means is they'll have an account exclusively for photos of their dog, often with captions written in the "voice" of the animal.
One of the most popular platforms for these accounts is Instagram. Thousands of people will 'like' photos of cute puppies with captions that reference their human-like thoughts. As fun as it is to suspend your disbelief for a moment, doggy exploitation doesn't belong in the '20s.
Rebecca Black's "Friday"
Rebecca Black was just thirteen years old when her music video "Friday" went viral. The video features kids pretending to ditch school and drive without a license on a Friday, glorifying everyone's favorite day of the workweek. The catchy song became an anthem in schools everywhere.
The dark side of the trend was that some took to making fun of the young singer. Rebecca Black is all grown up now and has honed her smooth vocals. Her consistent online appearance and positive attitude make her one of the greatest viral video comeback stories of all time. We're confident she'll have a new and improved single taking over in the '20s.
Zombies
Zombieland, The Walking Dead, Warm Bodies, World War Z, and so many other films and television shows have capitalized on the zombie craze. It's as though Hollywood is trying to convince the rest of the world that zombies do, in fact, exist.
While we're relieved that the zombie trend has stolen some of the attention from the obsession with vampires, it's still the better of two evils. Similar to the reliance on reboots, the zombie fad is just another easy way to recycle a money-making concept to death. With any luck, we'll rediscover the meaning of original in the '20s.
