The worst trends of 2016

The worst trends of 2016

Katy Donati, In-Depth Editor

Cut it.

From the dog filter to dabbing 2016 has been a year full of the worst and weirdest trends this generation has ever seen. These chart topping six are the worst of the worst and are just one of the reasons 2016 has been a truly unique year.

 

The Snapchat dog filter

Released in February of 2016, the lens depicts users as puppies giving them a dog nose, ears and tongue. Since then, the filter has picked up a more promiscuous connotation and is used by Snapchatters everyday.

“Going through a 200 second story of dog filters with everyone you could possibly see in the hallways is when it draws a line,” sophomore Ryann Oakley says. “The slurping sound effect is cringe worthy.”

 

Dabbing

            Although the dance has been around for awhile, the dab really hit its stride in 2016. Dabbing became an action of many meanings and is present in almost every text conversation, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook feed.

“I find dabbing a bad trend,” junior Sarah Skidmore says. “I became addicted and couldn’t help but dab at everything. I dabbed during field hockey and had to do five push-ups for each dab.”

 

Harambe

He’s dead, get over it. Harambe, a former gorilla at the Cincinnati zoo, attacked a child that had fallen into his enclosure, leaving authorities no choice but to kill the gorilla in attempt to save the child. The incident occurred on May 28, gaining national coverage and momentum as a popular hashtag (#dicksoutforharambe) circulated the internet.

“The Harambe trend was the most ugly meme to ever exist,” junior Sinobia Aiden says. “After awhile I couldn’t tell if people were actually joking or not. I think the Harambe situation is super sad and I feel bad that his death turned into a joke.”

 

Mannequin challenge

The mannequin challenge stands strong as one of the worst challenges of 2016. The trend, seen all over social media, consisted of various teams, clubs, classes and more standing still as “Black Beatles” by Rae Sremmurd plays in the background.

“It is the worst trend because you literally stand there doing nothing,” freshman Quinn Ackman says. “It sucked because it ruined a song I still somewhat liked at the time, and on Thanksgiving my Snapchat feed had at least nine different people doing it with their grandparents and family which was just weird.”

 

After School app

            This app allows students to join a group of peers in their area that go to their school and post anonymously on a private message board. While it claims to have a zero-tolerance cyber-bullying policy the app has become a feed full of verbal harassment and posts demining girls at school.

“After school is the worst trend of 2016,” senior Dylan Termolen said. “It’s just a worse rip off of Yik Yak and doesn’t even have any of the bars or the technological insights and developments of Yik Yak.

Pokemon Go

            Gotta catch ‘em all. Pokemon Go was seen as a positive way for kids to get active and walk around their neighborhood but instead turned into more teens walking around with their head in their phone not bothering to look up or pay attention to their surroundings.

 

Hover Boards

            Hover boards blew up just as quickly as they came to market…literally. The hottest toy-turned-weapon fell onto the worst trends list after it was discovered the board would blow up when put in a plane and other conditions.

“I just don’t get the point of them,” senior Sophie Hamrick says. “I don’t strongly dislike them or anything but they’re a fading trend and definitely are over hyped.”

 

Facebook Live

            Facebook Live, Facebook’s newest addition to its site, offers users the chance to live stream an event or activity allowing any of their followers to watch with them real time. While this sounds like a fun idea, the videos are often very slow and very long.

“If it’s really worth watching it’ll be on TV, otherwise the feed is pretty irrelevant,” senior Ryan Cunningham says.