5 Bizarre and Inexplicable Social Media Trends

Viral social media trends are usually harmless stuff like dancing or cats doing something specific and hilarious, though they can easily get out of hand if left unchecked. There have been quite a few bizarre – and sometimes downright dangerous – trends that went popular on websites like YouTube or TikTok in the past few years.

Halo Brows
Halo brows were largely an Instagram trend that became popular some time in 2018, spreading to other networks like TikTok and YouTube in a short span of time. Also called reverse unibrows, it involves creating a rounded brow shape that appears to be connected above the bridge of the nose with a variety of makeup techniques.

Devious Licks

According to Urban Dictionary, a lick is a ‘successful type of theft which results in an acceptable, impressive and rewarding payday for the protagonist’. Some time in September 2021, students in schools across America took to filming themselves stealing or vandalizing school property, and then posting the videos on social media with the hashtag #deviouslicks. While it started on TikTok, the phenomenon soon spread to other platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Fire Challenge
The Fire Challenge was a TikTok trend that first gained popular attention in 2014, when a slew of accidents left many of its participants severely burned and injured. At its most basic, it involved people dousing themselves with various flammable substances and setting themselves on fire in different ways. The challenge quickly gained niche popularity on platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube, though it really went mainstream when a 15-year-old from Kentucky suffered high degree burns after attempting it, followed by numerous other cases of severe injury and hospitalization.

Salt And Ice Challenge
The Salt and Ice Challenge was another dangerous-yet-popular challenge that went viral, surfacing some time in 2017 on video-based networks like YouTube and TikTok. The idea was simple – put some salt on your skin and press an ice cube on the area. The overall goal was to endure the burning and freezing sensations for as long as possible and sharing the results with other people online, as the entire thing was usually filmed and posted on social media.

Hot Water Challenge
The Hot Water Challenge was a social media trend that mostly involved people pouring boiling water on themselves or other unsuspecting victims, though there were also a few notable variations, like sipping boiling hot water through a straw. The challenge first featured on news outlets in 2017, when it caused severe burns, hospitalization, and other harmful consequences for many of its participants.