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The internet, as a natural reflection of the offline world, is a constantly changing landscape where new trends emerge every day and old ones are forgotten just as quickly, caught up in the next big thing. From fashion and TV shows to songs and memes, they capture our attention for months or years before fading away. But what happens to these forgotten trends that were once so popular that they dominated our feeds, conversations, and pop culture? Do they disappear into the abyss of the web, a testament to the ever-changing nature of what’s popular and what’s not? 

Nope, not today, folks! We planned a first-class trip down memory lane for you. We’ll look back on the trends from our childhood and teenage years, the ones that were once so popular they filled up your entire closet and now feel like they belong to a bygone era. While it’s impossible to keep track of all of them, we were able to include the best once viral trends thanks to the wonders of the internet and its endless trove of information, aka Reddit! 

People shared the popular fads that most forgot about, from the early days of the internet when butterfly clips were the must-have 90s fashion accessory to the global obsession with the Harlem Shake and Pokémon Go — the whole package of iconic trends from the past decades! Whether you’re a 90s kid or grew up in the early 2000s, you’re sure to find something that brings back fond memories.

#1

“Waaaazzzaaaaap”

“Waaaazzzaaaaap”

amazon.com , beard_lover Report

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DennyS (denzoren)
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Wassssaaappppppppppppp....really takes me back to texting with word limits so you wouldn't have to pay for more than one text message. Good ole teen days filled with angst and cringe lol

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#4

"Jelly Shoes"

"Jelly Shoes"

"No one ever talks about little girls wearing jelly shoes in the ‘80s and early ‘90s. When I was a kid, every little girl’s “dress up” shoes were jellies and they all wore them to church, even though they hurt. Only one movie I’ve ever seen has included jelly shoes."

ebay.com , ItsMeTK Report

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Michelle S
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

sometimes it left lines on your feet, and not just sweaty but also stinky feet , i had a pair of pink with a flower on.

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#6

"Marbles"

"Marbles"

"We played marbles when I was young and I'm 40."

Caramellatteistasty Report

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#13

"Pokémon Go"

"Pokémon Go"

"I’ll never forget the summer "Pokémon Go" came out. Everybody and their grandparents were playing it, all the parks were full of people just talking and meeting each other. I hate to sound boomer-y but it made me remember what life was like before smartphones, which is ironic I guess because an app made it happen. I wish more technology had the goal of getting people active and outside and interacting with others."

br34kf4s7 Report

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Adam Belaire
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I still pop it open now and then just to catch some random Pokémon around the house.

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#14

"LMFAO"

"LMFAO"

"LMFAO may be a total trainwreck of a music group, but they were also everywhere in 2011-2013. You couldn't turn on the radio without hearing "I'm s**y and I know it!" played five times in the span of 30 minutes, and "Party rockers in the house tonight!" was a line scream-sung at any nightclub."

LMFAOVEVO , LittlestSlipper55 Report

#16

"Cell Phones That Worked Like Walkie Talkies"

"Cell Phones That Worked Like Walkie Talkies"

"PTT on severe-duty hard-phones is still a thing on some mine sites and oil fields."

ThoughtIWasDale , IronGigant Report

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Cuppa tea?
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

There was plenty of phones with this feature, but it wasn't supported by operators. They want your money for calls, not to support technology that will allow free talk time.

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#17

"Swatch Watches"

"Swatch Watches"

"I remember being envious of the kids that had those back in the third grade."

ebay.com , knitreadrepeat Report

#18

"Walking Around With A Stereo On Your Shoulder Making You The Coolest Cat Around"

"Walking Around With A Stereo On Your Shoulder Making You The Coolest Cat Around"

Pierre_Preston Report

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Jon wayne
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Back in my day those were the s**t! There would be breakdancing contests in my High School parking lot, people would bring big pieces of cardboard and start going to town

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#20

"Flappy Bird"

"Flappy Bird"

"I still have the original and my high score is 482."

flappybird.io , reddit.com Report

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Confused Duck
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I remember when they took it off the market and people were trying to sell their phones for £1K+ just because it had flappy bird installed lol - I preferred flappy nyan cat.

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#21

"Rainbow Looms"

"Rainbow Looms"

"Those bracelets that you made with rubber bands on that loom thingy."

ebay.com , unethical_goose Report

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LoneTomato
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I got my daughter one recently (she's nearly 10) and she absolutely loves it!

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#23

"Furby"

"Furby"

amazon.com , BaconSesame Report

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Elmaur
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Heheheh. Teacher was chewing the class out for being the noisiest room. After the awkward pause at the end. Snoring. Furby, "Booooooriiiiiing". If looks could kill.

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#27

Keep Calm And

Keep Calm And

"I know it makes lots of people cringe, and rightfully so, but boy does thinking of that period make me nostalgic for middle school. Simpler times."

thewickerstan Report

#28

"Pet Rocks"

"Pet Rocks"

"I have been breeding them for years."

ebay.com , arachnidtree Report

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DennyS (denzoren)
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I got this for a friend a few years back on Christmas as a gag gift. I mean, the novelty wears off fast but it was worth it.

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#29

"Fidget Spinners"

"Fidget Spinners"

"Remember all those pop-up stalls in shopping centers selling fidget spinners? I sure hope they got their money back."

Nexurent , LittlestSlipper55 Report

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Peppy Piplup
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Fidget spinners were originally designed to help people with autism and ADHD relieve their anxiety, then it became a fad, then the fad died out and now the people who the fidget spinners were made for can't use them anymore without being called cringey.

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#30

"The Budweiser Frogs"

"The Budweiser Frogs"

"Everyone was going around saying, 'Bud.' Someone else would say, 'Wise.' And someone else would say, 'Er.' I even had a couple of different shirts with the sayings on them lol."

Mister Alcohol , 420keebler Report

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Benita Valdez
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Bud Weis Er. Oh the freaking Bud Ice penguins! Dooby dooby doooo. Beware of the penguins

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#32

"The Cinnamon Challenge Of 2010-11"

"The Cinnamon Challenge Of 2010-11"

reddit.com Report

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Sean Sean
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

There's an episode of mythbusters where one of the hosts completed the challenge. It took 20-30 minutes or something wild. He put the cinnamon directly into his cheek like a squirrel, spent twenty minutes working saliva into it, then swallowed the cinnamon.

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#33

"The Dress, The Black/Blue Or White/Gold Dress"

"The Dress, The Black/Blue Or White/Gold Dress"

"People claimed mental breakdowns over it, personality tests showed up out of nowhere for it. Turned out to be overexposure and terrible filters I think."

web.archive.org , HoagieBun12 Report

#34

"Crazy Frog"

"Crazy Frog"

Crazy Frog , Gore_grind Report

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DP 2(DP The Magical Unicorn)
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

🎶 Ring ding ding daa baa Ring ding ding daa baa Baa aramba baa bom baa barooumba Baa aramba baa bom baa barooumba Wh-wha-what's going on-on? Wh-wha-what's going on-on? Ding, ding Ding, ding This is the Crazy Frog This is the Crazy Frog Ding, ding Ding, ding Bem, bem! Bem, bem! Ring ding ding ding ding ding Ring ding ding ding ding ding Ring ding ding ding bem bem bem Ring ding ding ding bem bem bem Ring ding ding ding ding ding Ring ding ding ding ding ding Ring ding ding ding baa baa Ring ding ding ding baa baa Ring ding ding ding ding ding Ring ding ding ding ding ding Ring ding ding ding bem bem bem Ring ding ding ding bem bem bem Ring ding ding ding ding ding Ring ding ding ding ding ding This is the Crazy Frog This is the Crazy Frog Breakdown! Breakdown! Ding, ding Ding, ding Br-br-break it, br-break it Br-br-break it, br-break it Dum dum dumda dum dum dum Dum dum dumda dum dum dum Dum dum dumda dum dum dum Dum dum dum dum dum🎶

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#36

"Pogs Or Crazy Bones"

"Pogs Or Crazy Bones"

"Were around so much in the 90s, early 2000s, but just disappeared into the nothingness"

ebay.com , reddit.com Report

#38

"The Harlem Shake"

"The Harlem Shake"

reddit.com Report

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James016
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I had a jailbroken iPhone back then which had a harlem shake thing installed. Press the home button 3 times and the icons did the harlem shake. It amused the nieces and nephews at the time.

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#39

"W.W.J.D. Bracelets"

"W.W.J.D. Bracelets"

"When I was a teen in the late mid-to-late 90s, the W.W.J.D. bracelets were everywhere. And I would see W.W.J.D. merch all over the place, even W.W.J.D. board games. People don't remember how huge maxim magazine was back in the day. Like from 1999 to 2002 it was universally loved by young men."

ebay.com , reddit.com Report

#44

"That One Weird Summer Of 2016 Where Clowns Randomly Appeared Out Of Nowhere And Creeped Us All Out"

"That One Weird Summer Of 2016 Where Clowns Randomly Appeared Out Of Nowhere And Creeped Us All Out"

reddit.com Report

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#48

"Club Penguin"

"Club Penguin"

newcp.net , prettysjwtbh Report

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Peppy Piplup
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Except this is a screenshot of one of the fan made Club Penguin revival servers instead of the original website so it's not exactly a "forgotten trend" if people remember it enough to go through with the effort of making a revival server

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#50

"Hypercolor Clothing"

"Hypercolor Clothing"

"I was a huge nerd in elementary school, and I thought I was gonna be super cool when my mom bought me an off-brand Hypercolor shirt. I wore it to school, and one of the kids who bullied me realized that it would change colors if he spit on it. Then he showed lots of other people. It was the worst day of my elementary school life."

ebay.com , ElleCBrown Report

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#52

"Riding Your Skateboard While Drinking Cranberry Juice"

"Riding Your Skateboard While Drinking Cranberry Juice"

"With 'Dreams' by Fleetwood Mac in the background."

CharlieChile Report

#53

"The "Clear" Craze"

"The "Clear" Craze"

"We saw lots of clear drinks and products in the late '80s and into the '90s, including Crystal Pepsi, Tab Clear, and, of course, Zima."

kickstand Report

#55

"Flash Mobs"

"Flash Mobs"

"I miss the awkwardness of school teachers and office managers to entice others to join."

gozba Report

#56

"Rainbow Foods"

"Rainbow Foods"

"Like the rainbow grilled cheese, etc."

crxsentmoon Report

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#62

"Second Life"

"Second Life"

"The virtual reality 'game,' or whatever it was. There was a time when every self-respecting global company just had to have a place there. When people paid real money for its virtual real estate."

Second Life , Spidron Report

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#64

"Yik Yak"

"Yik Yak"

"Yik Yak was the s***. Everyone knew what was going on on campus within seconds. People within the same classes used it to shit-talk professors and cheat on tests. It’s too bad that people had to ruin it with death threats and such, which kind of forced Yik Yak to make it nonanonymous and killed the appeal it had in the first place. For me as a commuting student at the time, it was key to keeping up with the happenings and drama around campus."

gibbsge , Nikflame Report

#67

"Silly Bands"

"Silly Bands"

u_asked_i_answered Report

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Ches Yamada
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Why - why is the image legitimate bracelets? Silly Bandz were the rubber bands in different shapes, lol

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#69

"I Love B***ies!" Bands"

"I Love B***ies!" Bands"

keep-a-breast.org , Itachi96 Report

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Goat express
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

How about bracelets for anything and everything? It went from Livestrong to sports teams to every fundraiser.

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#70

"Lisztomania"

"Lisztomania"

Lisztomania was marked by extreme fan frenzy, similar to the adoration of contemporary celebrity musicians, in a time when such musical fervor was uncommon.

TherapeuticMessage , en.m.wikipedia.org Report

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Powerful Katrinka
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's from the Ken Russell movie of the same name. Roger Daltrey was perfectly dreadful as the composer, Franz Liszt.