This article made possible by a donation to our Writer’s Fund by Anonymous.
Internet trends come and go and if you’re not paying attention, you’ll miss out on some interesting social science that happens right before your eyes. If we had this amazing communication tool one hundred years ago, those 20 year art movements like Cubism, Futurism and Constructivism would have happened much faster. Every few weeks, I will try to break down the micro-trends and world wide fads that sometimes make surfing the net more fun than interacting with actual people.
Photo-taking trends come and go on the Internet. There was Horsemanning, Owling and eventually, the longer lived Planking, but that was last year. This year comes a whole new breed of micro-trends, often coming from the original land of absurdity, Japan, such as Dragonballing: schoolgirls have been staging fake energy sphere attacks (known as the “Kamehameha“) made popular in the manga and anime series, Dragon Ball.
And also a photo trend that features teens appearing to play Quidditch, a fictional sport from J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter universe played on broomsticks.
And finally, originating from this side of the Pacific: Vadering, where users appear to show an individual using Darth Vader’s signature Force Choke to raise another person off the ground.
But speaking of Japan, some other choice nuggets to be found this week includes making wasp shouchuu, an alcohol like Vodka with fermented giant wasps. The whole process takes three years and it’s maker says that its properties create “beautiful skin, recovery from fatigue, and the prevention of ‘lifestyle disease'”. Uh huh. And have we mentioned Japan’s love for Ray Charles in animatronic form?
Then there’s Clydesdale. Homeless man with no teeth, but a great beard shows us facial skills that we’ve never seen before. Random guy finds random guy in public and posts to the Internet; Collective desire to give money away to strangers ensues.
Lastly, if you haven’t seen Google’s new 3D option for seeing you point A to point B, go check it out. Enter two addresses and look for the little 3D button. If you have seen this already, then check out Google Street View Hyperlapse, which animates your planned journey. I created one HERE which begins at our Dobbin Street office and goes to Court Square, beware though, it only runs in Google Chrome and slow computers not so much.
Did I miss some choice discharge from the Internets? Let me know for next time. Now step away from your computer, go outside and breath in that amazing Greenpoint air!
