Over the course of the past year, we, the social media savvy generation, have been witness to and the creators of various internet trends, or FADS if you will. We have witnessed global stars rise from the dark depths of the unknown (also known as South Korea), to global stardom simply through performing a simple 20 second dance routine which involves nothing more than a wrist flex and a lil bit of jumping around...just goes to show that less IS more as the saying goes. We have watched one of the most commercially successful female solo artists of the decade reaching new,impressive heights of success...simply by the chorus of one of her songs being replaced with a screaming goat (or perhaps it is simply her without her guise? who knows.) We have been talented enough to round up the world's most embarassing, socially awkward, worst dancers and entice them to "shake their thang" to hip-hop-esque music. We have been responsible for the process of cultural ideas and beliefs being transmitted to other cultures across the world vice versa through pictures, soundclips etc.
Yes. Within 9 lines of generic text, you will already be aware of the FADS i make reference to without me even naming them. However, for the purpose of this blog I suppose it would be sheer laziness not to. The wrist flexing, Ray Ban wearing, sharp suited young man is infact Psy, with his hit Gangnam Style. The half Goat/ half woman I refer to is Taylor Swift, with her single I Knew You Were Trouble. The troupe of god-awful dancers I refer to are part of the Harlem Shake trend which has gripped social media over the past few weeks, and the final concept I refer to is Memes, which will be discussed later within this blog.
Let's start off with Psy. For those of you who don't know, Psy's Gangnam Style is now the most watched Youtube video ever in the website's history, with over 1,000,000,000 views. The song, which reflects on the artists neighbourhood where he grew up, bares very little relevance to the majority of viewers (not even mentioning the language barrier) on a worldwide scale considering the number of views the video has. Yet, it has became the first video to surpass the 1 billion views mark. Why is this? who knows. This is the mystery, attraction and genius of internet FADS; no one knows why they become famous, they just do.
Secondly, we have our very own Taylor Swift. Hollywood's very own Bridget Jones, who, regardless of the army of male celebrities she has been linked with, cannot find love and, of course, it is ALWAYS her partner's fault for the failed romance, and two weeks after, song is released by her detailing her unluckiness in love (rant over, I promise.). Ergo, here we have I Knew You Were Trouble, which details her short-lived romance with 1D's very own Harry Styles. As a method of venting frustration and making light of the situation, some little Techy Tom decided to replace her screeching vocal with something very similar a screaming goat. Something so simple, yet so effective. The video was one of Youtube's top hits last week, viewed by millions worldwide. Another primary example of an internet FAD; something so simple, yet if a screaming goat was used as a replacement for pretty much any other Youtube video, the chances of having the same impact are slim.
Thirdly, lets look at Harlem Shake. This is, without a doubt, one of the most puzzling FADS to date, due to the fact there was no precedent for the video. Gangnam Style is an understandable FAD as it's a song accompanied with a music video, Taylor Swift's goat video is understandable as the precedent of that parody video was the original song as it was a #1 hit. However, the music in Harlem Shake was unknown, the dance was unknown, and the creators were unknown. So what's the deal? well, let me tell you friends (drumroll please!)...who knows. I certainly don't anyway. Unless you yourself are partial to dancing in your bedroom (I use the term dancing loosely) and proceed to merely bounce around, then my friends, you are in for a treat. If you haven't checked out Harlem Shake, get on it.
The final FAD to look at is Internet Memes. These are predominantly in the form of pictures, where a picture of one context can be used with text of a completely different context. They are used, perhaps not intentionally, to portray one culture's view on an issue or belief, and then these Memes are transmitted to foreign cultures. A rather deep explanation which justifies a reclusive teenager using their free time at weekends to create humorous pictures in an attempt to seek group acceptance, but if the shoe fits as they say...
Some FADS last no more than a week. Some last 3 weeks, and some one month, but one thing all FADS have in common is this; they will eventually fade out, and new ones will take their place. However, in the mean time, enjoy some Taylor and The Goat! that sounds like a promising double act...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeZhF8dQJLU
Enjoy!
Brian (Joe)
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