From #Challenge to Movement

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These social media challenges flooded the internet and the people who did them gained the spotlight

Fame is something that a lot of people desire but only few ever obtain — mostly because achieving it is so difficult. Well, today, people can find fame easily on social media. Let’s be honest, everyone walks around with their phones glued to their hand; people look at their phones constantly. Social media fame is simple, at least, easier than actual Hollywood fame: get thousands of likes, celebrity tags or views, and suddenly everyone knows your name.

Participating in, or better yet creating, a #Challenge on social media is one way that ordinary kids rise to social media stardom every day.  These are the challenges that went viral, gaining people fame – if only for an instant.

1. Charlie Charlie Challenge

The Charlie Charlie challenge originated from the Dominican Republic, where it was known as “juego Supuestamente,” a game kids play in school that caught local news stations’ attention for being “demonic.” Popularity grew when a 17-year-old girl in Georgia recorded herself playing the game, posted it on Instagram, and called it #charliecharliechallange. Overnight, it went viral. The #charliecharliechallenge had people all over the world grabbing a piece of paper, dividing the paper into four boxes, and labeling two “yes” and two “no.” To do the challenge, you needed to place two pencils on top of each other like in the picture shown. Then, participants say “Charlie Charlie are you there?” Finally, you ask him a question like “am I going to get a prom date?” The pencil will then shift in the direction of your answer. Some called it demonic, while other thought it was just funny to call out a ghost.

2. Mannequin Challenge

It all started with Rae Sremmurd’s song “Black Beatles,” which wasn’t a hit immediately. The mannequin challenge is just holding a pose in place with a bunch of people.   The mannequin challenge was always a thing, but it never caught any attention because there wasn’t an official song with it. Then, one day in 2016, someone recorded themselves doing the challenge with the “Black  Beetle” song in the background and the hashtag #mannequinchallenge. The song and the challenge went viral. Everyone was doing it, including celebrities, government officials, athletes, and even First Lady Michelle Obama.

3. U Name It Challenge

Shirley Caesar is an acclaimed pastor and gospel singer, who in 1997 preached a sermon titled “Hold my Mule.” In the sermon, she explained that the prophet in the story had “greens, beans, potatoes, tomatoes, lambs, rams, hog, you name it!” The sermon was recorded in 1997 and somehow, an Instagram meme artist turned it into a Thanksgiving phenomenon. It went viral when the artist edited everything out the video except the part of Pastor Shirley saying ““greens, beans, potatoes, tomatoes, lambs, rams, hog, you name it!” with the caption “when you ask your grandmother what she’s making for Thanksgiving.” People danced to it and remade the challenge themselves.

4. Juju on Dat Beat Challenge

“The TZ anthem,” or “Juju on Dat Beat” challenge started with the instrumental to Crime Mob’s hit song  “Knuck if you Buck” and 15-year-old Zay Hilfiger. Hilfiger was just a regular Detroit kid who loved to dance; the “nae nae” and “whip” were popular, and he decided to combine them with other dance moves in a song he calls the “TZ anthem.” When it took to Soundcloud, it had over 2 million plays over night. He followed it up with a dance, which became the #Jujuonthatbeat challenge and had kids everyone posting videos of them dancing.

5. New Freezer Challenge

The #newfreezerchallenge was born overnight when hip hop artist Rich the Kid released his song “New Freezer,” featuring Kendrick Lamar. The beat to the song sparked a snap and neck whip that became the #newfreezerchallenge. It’s basically just swaying your head side to side with the beat and a whole lot of attitude. The challenge is still viral today.

6. Running Man Challenge

It started with the 1995 song “My Boo” by the group Ghost Town DJs and two Maryland High School teens, Kevin Vincent and Jeremiah Hall, who got bored in finance class one day and decide to play around a start dancing. One of the dance moves was described by one of the students as “the running man” because it looked like the boys were running in place. The kids posted the video on Instagram, but the challenge didn’t spark overnight. It wasn’t until a few University of Maryland basketball players saw it and decided to repost it to their thousands of followers that it went viral. The kids even went on the Ellen show to show everyone how to properly execute the dance.

7. Kylie Jenner Lip Challenge

We all know Kylie Jenner has really plump lips. Well, people started to become envious of her and decided to give themselves “Kylie Jenner lips.” Enter the “#KylieJennerLipChallenge.” It all started with, one Instagrammer posting a video of them sucking on a water bottle to get the “plump lip” look. Then, everyone staring posting videos of them doing the same. People were even sucking on cups and shot glasses. The lip trend went viral, but the downside of it was people’s lips were getting harmed in the process. Doctors even said the challenge was causing broken blood vessels in lips and bruises. This is one challenge that should probably be left in 2016.

8. Cinnamon Challenge

Everyone knows cinnamon is a bitter seasoning that adds flavor to your food when you add a little bit of it. The #cinnamonchallenge was born when a Youtuber made a video of trying to swallow a tablespoon of cinnamon in 6 seconds. There were so many views on the video because viewers found it hilarious; people began filming themselves trying to down a scoop of the spice. Videos were mostly of people failing miserably – spitting the cinnamon on out their mouths and coughing.

9. Whisper Challenge

The #whisperchallenge went viral on the Jimmy Fallon show. The whisper challenge is a game you play with two people; one person puts on ear phones while the other whispers something. The player must correctly guess what the other is saying. From song lyrics to movie references, it seemed like everyone was getting in on the #whisperchallenge after Fallon debuted it.