In a Year Filled With Annoying Trends, Some Fads Outweigh Their Welcome on Social Media

Illustration by Emily Shpiece
Illustration by Emily Shpiece

Twerking, Frozen, Flappy Bird and Vine. Looking back on the school year, the only things that seems to stick out are the weird trends that came up and then would not go away.

When school started, the only thing anyone seemed to talk about was Miley Cyrus’ butt. From the over-the-top VMA performances to Cyrus riding nude on a wrecking ball in her music video, jokes about Cyrus were in every classroom and all over the internet.

All in all, “Wrecking Ball” was a pretty good song. But in the running theme of making fun of Cyrus, people seemed to focus more on the appearance than the music, or the song lyrics.

With the release of the Disney princess movie Frozen, staff and students both started reverting back to their childhood days. The songs from the hit animated film were sung throughout classes, groups of friends singing or people humming to “Let It Go.”

The movie was out for five months. And the singing would not stop. And it was obnoxious. The only thing worse than the constant breaking into song was the equally terrible weather, which only fueled the “Frozen” frenzy.

There were so many memes, jokes and references to the film connecting to the harsh weather we were experiencing. It got to the point where, in fact, NO ONE wanted to build a snowman, let alone going to school in freezing temperatures. And no one could “Let it Go” when the entire school was caught in the storm.

Another dreaded noise heard around the schools was the beep beep beeping that a certain little bird-like parasite would make as he flew between pipes in a Mario-ripped off world. Yes, Flappy Bird. This game was probably the stupidest game to come into the 2013-14 school year.

The next popular fad, the puzzle game 2048, became popular. Hours of free time could now be spent figuring out how to beat that game rather than spending time for homework or studying for upcoming tests or quizzes.

However, this fad also reached a tipping point relatively early. Websites that allowed users to create their own versions of the game began to pop up for different celebrities or memes.

Video also became a larger trend this year as Vines grew in extreme popularity. People everywhere were partaking in short videos for showing off talents or just being comedic. References to different Vines were exchanged between friends as jokes, but in time became over used and drained of any comedic potential.

Even the self-inspired puns based off my last name, infamously dubbed “Shpiece puns,” became too much to handle this school year. People did not understand the humor and irony behind them, and instead appreciated- or, rather, “ashpieciated” them without comedic depth. And it is because of this that they will no longer be in practice next school year.

This year was filled with trends that, while funny and enjoyable at first, were overstretched and overused to the point of irritation to the user and onlookers. We should hope that next year things do not get as out of hand, and that once a trend starts, it will end relatively earlier.