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Trend cycles are incredibly short nowadays. It seems like as soon as I start to understand one craze, another comes around to replace it the very next day. There must be a massive graveyard of forgotten fads buried deep in our memories.
So today, we’re going to dig up some of those old trends to remind you just how big they once were. From segways to fidget spinners, Redditors have recently been discussing all of the former “next big things” that are nowhere to be found today. Enjoy reading about all of these trends that had surprisingly short lifespans, and be sure to upvote the ones that you expected to become much more popular!
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
There was a trend years ago where people would collect trash from river and post it.
Of course a good trend like this did not last long.
#2
Being nice to each other at the start of the Pandemic (spring 2020).
#3
The whole 3D craze back in like 2010. Everybody thought it was the future after Avatar came out in theaters. EVERY movie tried to be 3D after that, there were 3D TVs, 3D phones, the Nintendo 3DS. And I think the craze disappeared in like year because it gave people headaches 😂.
#4
Those that got a mustache tattoo on the side of your finger…….y’all ok?
Downtown_Bread_:
I was like 12 when this trend was going on, and thank god they don't let 12-year-olds get tattoos because that would have been me.
#5
Remember in the early 2010s when there was a frozen yogurt place on every block? 2-3 years later and they all seemed to vanish and nobody wants froyo no mo.
Kisa “Kizna” Kitsugi 2 months ago
Mean wasn't this Jamba juice in the mid 00. They were everywhere like Starbucks playing their super high sugar/cal smoothies
#6
Flash mobs.
Earonn - 2 months ago
I miss the ones done by symphonic orchestras. There's a couple of great ones with Ravel's Bolero and the Ode To Joy.
The Scout 2 months ago
Those were a really cool fad for some time. I remember getting back late from my lunch break one day saying "sorry, I unexpectedly got stuck in a Christmas Oratorio"... and it wasn't even a lie. Someone actually tried to keep the tradition alive for a few years here.
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Saint_Zipcodus 2 months ago
I think it's now ilegal in general to just have fun out in the open when you're not explicitly doing it for TikTok /s
Joanne Mendonza-Earle 1 month ago
The 'free your mind' flash mob in Modern Family was epic though! I've watched the whole song/dance on you tube a few times. It was edited down of course to just a few seconds so the whole thing is wicked cool to see.
Salty Sasquatch 1 month ago
I thought these were still going on? I've seen a few here and there....I guess I should probably look at the dates....
James016 2 months ago
To be fair, the T-Mobile advert that came out of this fad was excellent.
S Bow 2 months ago
Was that the Push Button For Drama one? That was hilarious
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Bret Sander 1 month ago
Oh, they still happen. It's just usually at night in a convenience store.
#7
Segways were going to revolutionize transport.
ackmondual:
It was predicted that whole cities would be redesigned to accommodate them!
TheNewJenBrady 2 months ago
There is no one who could ever possibly look cool riding one of these.
#8
Planking.
AlessandroTheGr8:
So simple, silly, and harmless. I liked it.
Nathan Lewis 2 months ago
harmless, except for the people that died or were seriously injured doing it on balconies and moving cars
#9
Glasses without the lens… cringe.
Steve Sharpe 2 months ago (edited)
There was a bit of a trend in the late 90's for wearing glasses with just plain glass in them, to look a certain way or show a particular style. Met my (now) wife - who wears glasses all the time - around that time, and I bought some plain glass ones to make me look "intelligent" like she does and try to be the same sort of person she is/was cos I was head over heels and I thought she'd like me more that way. Thought it was working for a good three weeks, everything seemed perfect, then it comes round to my last night on leave before I go away for another six months. Walking her home from the 'local' pub we've been at all evening, we stop and she says to me "Steve, you're a great guy, and I really like you, as in 'like you' like you, but.." and my whole world feels like it's being torn apart, like I'm about to loose everything and there's no point anymore.. "but baby boy, you've got two cauliflower ears, a wonky nose, I can see that tiny bit of tattoo poking up over your collar even though you think I haven't noticed. Besides, you can barely even read your own name let alone write it, and that's fine, I'll help you - but baby, please take those stupid f*****g things off your face - you look ridiculous, and they're not fooling anyone!"... I've always said I'm as lucky as my wife is patient, and that's very true.
#10
S’well bottles.
Replaced with Stanley cups.
I wonder what overpriced portable liquid holder comes next?
Pink_Mushroom 2 months ago
Here is a thought. Just stick to a clear bottle from Walmart clearance section for 5 bucks. Ain't that hard
#11
Pokémon Go.
I know some folks still play, but once upon a time I remember taking a walk in the park and people were just on their phones pointing them this way and that and walking in circles and then there’d be a group huddled together cause they were taking down a gym or something.
Amelia Jade 2 months ago
I miss the early days of Pokemon Go. We played heavily. I miss heading to the walking path behind our house to try to take the gym that is back there. We could see it from our house so we'd keep an eye on it and head back out if someone else took it.
#12
Google Glass. It was supposed to be the future, but it disappeared faster than you could say "augmented reality".
goathill:
I do think this will get big decades from now when tech has caught up. It was simply released too early and under-delivered.
Steve Robert 2 months ago
The new Meta glasses will instantly identify, with all your personal information, if they look at you.. It's the end of any personal privacy, and people should be allowed to wear a mask that prevents this!
#13
Pogs? Anyone? Am I too old?
I had a kicka*s beavis and butthead slammer.
Smuff23:
I killed pogs at my school as a kid. I had a shredded 8-ball slammer that would turn whole stacks over like 95% of the time and 95 might be a low guess. Too many kids started complaining and I ended up with too many pogs.
Granted it probably should have died as soon as they realized we were gambling the pogs.
#16
The fidget spinner craze was wild! One minute, everyone was spinning them like they were the coolest toy on the planet, and the next, they were collecting dust in drawers. It’s like they went from “Look at me, I’m stress-relieving!” to “Why do I have 12 of these?” faster than you can say “what was I thinking?”.
#17
Gangnam style.
Lady Lestrange 2 months ago
Gangnam style never disappeared. Play it, you'll still find people vibing to it.
#18
Being a crypto-currency investor, for about three months everyone thought they were wolf of Wall Street, now they are all back to be stray dogs of skid row.
#19
Feather earrings in 2011.
SRB112:
I didn't notice that in 2011, but I remember when they were popular in the '70s.
#20
Arguments over whether the dress was blue and black or white and gold.
#21
Hypercolor shirts.
beyondthunderdrone:
I remember making out with my girlfriend one time when she was wearing a Hypercolor shirt. She had to cool it off in the car AC to change the color back before going inside so her parents wouldn't notice she had been so hot! lol
#22
People dressing up like creepy clowns and showing up in random places at night. I think all it took was for a few of them to get their a*ses tore up by the dogs of a few of their people targets, and it suddenly went away real quick.
#24
Grills (the teeth version)- for a hot second there, people were putting all sorts of bling on their teeth- kind of when that Nelly song “Grillz” came out in 2005. I was in dental hygiene school and I saw the tooth jewels and art all of the time. I’d say around 2008 it started to kind of die down and now I almost never see them.
** I did see that Simone Biles has tooth gems but her sister is in the dental field, so go figure!
#25
Slime. My daughter had a slime factory at home and was selling it at school. Every piece of furniture has slime remnants still embedded in it.
#26
Saying YOLO.
John Mosley 2 months ago
Usually said before doing something stupid that could end you. Wonder what happened to them all?
#27
I forget what it was called but people would film a video where everyone in a group froze in place.
Ok_Cupcake_5226:
The mannequin challenge!
Jean Jacket 2 months ago
I really liked the mannequin challenge. It was harmless. Some of them were meh but usually it was pretty cool
#28
NFTs.
WardenCommCousland:
I was so freaking glad when this went away. My stepsister's now ex-husband was hard into crypto and was trying to sell everyone, including my dad and stepmother, on NFTs. He was visiting clubs trying to sell near retirement-age Boomers on investing in them to 'diversify [their] portfolios' and talking about how they were going to be the biggest thing to ever hit finance.
And then they bottomed out. To my knowledge, my parents didn't invest in them, but my step-sister's finances were not in a great place for a while.
#29
Vine.
Son of Philosoraptor 2 months ago
I miss Vine. People were forced to be really creative by the format, you got some great stuff
#31
The Live Strong type rubber bracelets. I remember my mom driving me to multiple stores when I was in 3rd grade to find some. I soon discovered a rash from them.
#32
Guys wearing two polo shirts and popping up both collars.
imakedankmemes:
This couldn’t die fast enough.
unhinged_behavior:
I remember a short-lived trend of polo shirts that had words printed in the collar so when you popped it up, the person behind you could read the word 'DOPE' or something. I worked at a PacSun at the time, and we sold SO MANY of those.
Grenelda Thurber 2 months ago
I remember people doing this in the 80's. Everything cycles in and out of fashion.
#33
Cup stacking was big for a minute, the middle school even had cup stacking competitions after school.
#35
The feathers or glitter strands you can attach to your hair. Use to be all the rage in high school.
What do you think ?
Kathy Dragonfly 2 months ago
Second Life! Everybody who had internet had an account, the company i worked for back then tried to open a branch in there and so many people were worried that life would fully shift to virtual
Binky Melnik 1 month ago
Gosh; now THERE’S a memory! I’d been so sure it was gonna take off, and now here I am thinking “I can’t remember the last time I thought about it!”
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Gavin Johnson 2 months ago
The turnover of trends has accelerated since the advent of social media / the internet. In the 60s-90s trends travelled slowly and had longevity, hula hoops, skateboards, BMX, yo-yos, clackers, deeley boppers, fluorescent socks, leg warmers, tie dye shirts, hand held Nintendo lcd games, you name it, the trends took time to move across countries and continents. Now my daughter is watching TikTok videos produced by her favourite k-pop band (Stray Kids) in real time and their ideas are global in seconds. Sadly this means they disappear just as quickly. Slow media will never return but it had its good points.
Jean Jacket 2 months ago
What about that trend where a minimum wage job could afford you a 3 bedroom house, two cars, annual vacations, no stress grocery shopping, etc.. Sadly, I was born too late for that one.
Pandarosa 2 months ago
That trend never existed, really hope this is sarcasm!
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Roan The Demon Kitty 2 months ago
Another trend that was cringe and I'm glad died out: those tattoos people would get on the inside of their lip so when they pulled their lip down it'd say something stupid or whatever. I love tattoos, but god they were so damn stupid and pointless. (and probably dangerous, since they'd easily get infected somewhere like the mouth)
John Nelson 1 month ago
The fad of hiking pants down to the point of their a** hanging out. Thankfully I haven't seen much of that anymore. In my area at least, the open mockery likely had something to do with it! :)
Beak Hookage 2 months ago
Anyone still remember LiveJournal? There was also "raw chickening", in which a person would get naked and pose curled up so they looked kind of like a chicken ready for the oven. But you haven't heard of it because it never even became a trend. Someone did it exactly twice despite claims going around that it was "growing increasingly popular" and then it died right there and then.
Kar Red Roses 1 month ago
I miss telephone charms. I used to have a tiny my little pony dangling from my cool razr flip phone
Ann Mohrmann 1 month ago
They left out slap bracelets, which were about the same time as pogs. Also side ponytails, backwards baseball caps, and shoulder pads
Huddo's sister 1 month ago
Maybe because they still get dragged out every few years. I don't know any kids who wouldn't recognise them.
Load More Replies... Michael P. 2 months ago
Fads always come and go and sometimes bring back memories. Anyone remember the Harlem Shake? Another popular music video after Gangnam Style that everyone got into.
Aidan Campbell 2 months ago
36% Yes, it brings back memories & 36% Sometimes, depending on the trend
Kathy Dragonfly 2 months ago
Second Life! Everybody who had internet had an account, the company i worked for back then tried to open a branch in there and so many people were worried that life would fully shift to virtual
Binky Melnik 1 month ago
Gosh; now THERE’S a memory! I’d been so sure it was gonna take off, and now here I am thinking “I can’t remember the last time I thought about it!”
Load More Replies... Gavin Johnson 2 months ago
The turnover of trends has accelerated since the advent of social media / the internet. In the 60s-90s trends travelled slowly and had longevity, hula hoops, skateboards, BMX, yo-yos, clackers, deeley boppers, fluorescent socks, leg warmers, tie dye shirts, hand held Nintendo lcd games, you name it, the trends took time to move across countries and continents. Now my daughter is watching TikTok videos produced by her favourite k-pop band (Stray Kids) in real time and their ideas are global in seconds. Sadly this means they disappear just as quickly. Slow media will never return but it had its good points.
Jean Jacket 2 months ago
What about that trend where a minimum wage job could afford you a 3 bedroom house, two cars, annual vacations, no stress grocery shopping, etc.. Sadly, I was born too late for that one.
Pandarosa 2 months ago
That trend never existed, really hope this is sarcasm!
Load More Replies... Roan The Demon Kitty 2 months ago
Another trend that was cringe and I'm glad died out: those tattoos people would get on the inside of their lip so when they pulled their lip down it'd say something stupid or whatever. I love tattoos, but god they were so damn stupid and pointless. (and probably dangerous, since they'd easily get infected somewhere like the mouth)
John Nelson 1 month ago
The fad of hiking pants down to the point of their a** hanging out. Thankfully I haven't seen much of that anymore. In my area at least, the open mockery likely had something to do with it! :)
Beak Hookage 2 months ago
Anyone still remember LiveJournal? There was also "raw chickening", in which a person would get naked and pose curled up so they looked kind of like a chicken ready for the oven. But you haven't heard of it because it never even became a trend. Someone did it exactly twice despite claims going around that it was "growing increasingly popular" and then it died right there and then.
Kar Red Roses 1 month ago
I miss telephone charms. I used to have a tiny my little pony dangling from my cool razr flip phone
Ann Mohrmann 1 month ago
They left out slap bracelets, which were about the same time as pogs. Also side ponytails, backwards baseball caps, and shoulder pads
Huddo's sister 1 month ago
Maybe because they still get dragged out every few years. I don't know any kids who wouldn't recognise them.
Load More Replies... Michael P. 2 months ago
Fads always come and go and sometimes bring back memories. Anyone remember the Harlem Shake? Another popular music video after Gangnam Style that everyone got into.
Aidan Campbell 2 months ago
36% Yes, it brings back memories & 36% Sometimes, depending on the trend
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