The Decade In Review: 12 Internet Challenges That We Loved From 2010 'Til Today

This decade saw the rise of social media, and with that the rise of videos of people doing dumb things online that you are not sure whether to enjoy.

To start our stroll down memory lane, according to Know Your Meme, planking was a trend which involved someone lying face down with their arms at their sides in the most unusual public spaces, taking a picture, and sharing it online.

The trend started in March 2011 when Australian pro rugby player David Williams did it on the field during a game.

The challenge caught on online as people started to find more ridiculous places to pose. And Malaysians obviously did not fail to deliver.

You will soon realise that there are a lot of music trends in this list, because we sure do love doing covers of viral songs.

PSY broke the Internet when he released 'Gangnam Style' in July 2012.

This dance trend lasted for months because people could not get enough and had to recreate the video for themselves.

Do you remember when flash mobs were such a thing? I definitely remember seeing a new video every week while scrolling Facebook.

If you weren't on the Internet in 2013, flash mobs involve a large group of people who seem to randomly meet at a busy public place and suddenly come together and perform in perfect coordination before dispersing again just as quickly.

It's always fun to watch because you never know if the regular-looking auntie standing around is suddenly going to run in and dance too!

The Harlem Shake has to be my favourite Internet challenge of the decade.

The trend was started by YouTuber Filthy Frank, posting a video of himself dancing with his friends to 'Harlem Shake' by Baauer.

The challenge became more ridiculous as it went on, with the videos usually starting with one person dancing or acting strange in a room full of people going about their routine.

But once the bass drops, everyone in the video starts going wild.

Don't lie, after you watched Pitch Perfect in 2013, you probably went home to and tried to recreate Anna Kendrick's catchy cup-flipping skills to 'When I'm Gone' for yourself.

It wasn't even a challenge, everyone just wanted to master it.

In 2014, millions of people across the world filmed themselves dumping buckets of ice-cold water over their heads and nominating their friends to do the same, in order to raise awareness for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

You know the Ice Bucket Challenge was huge when Malaysian politicians and celebrities such as then Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin and our badminton star Lee Chong Wei joined in the fun too, screaming as they drenched themselves with ice-cold water.

The usual Mannequin Challenge video featured a group of people standing still as a camera weaved around them while 'Black Beatles' by Rae Sremmurd with its iconic opening lyrics "That girl was a real crowd-pleaser" plays in the background.

It took off within many office places in Malaysia, including ours. There is even a video of Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir and other local politicians joining in the trend.

Samyang Food's Hot Chicken Flavour Ramen became famous because of this viral challenge in 2016 where consumers had to eat a whole packet of the fiery noodles within the shortest time possible and share their accomplishment on social media.

Some even increased the stakes by not allowing the challenger to drink anything to relieve the spice.

Of course, Malaysians wholeheartedly embraced this mouth-burning, eye-watering dare.

But if you would like to somewhat cheat your way through this challenge, there's now a 40% less spicy version.

Bottle flipping is a social media challenge that involves throwing a plastic bottle, typically filled with water, so that it lands upright on a flat surface.

According to Know Your Meme, the trend became big in 2016 when a YouTube video of Mike Senatore dramatically flipping a bottle for his senior talent show in his North Carolina  high school became viral.

In the following weeks, Senatore's viral video performance gave rise to an international trend of bottle-flipping among teenagers around the world, including here.

Not associated with the popular Korean game show of the same name, the Running Man Challenge simply involves filming yourself performing a dance (that somewhat resembles running) to Ghost Town DJ's 1996 hit 'My Boo'.

The trend achieved meme status in 2016 when University of Maryland basketball players Jared Nickens and Jaylen Brantley posted their rendition.

It then spread like wildfire among teens and professional sports athletes like the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Dallas Cowboys, before arriving in Malaysia where our policemen joined in.

Better known as the 'Keke Challenge' here, the viral challenge saw people dancing to 'In My Feelings' by Drake who had just released his album.

In Malaysia, the challenge evolved to people jumping out of moving cars and performing the dance as the driver records the video.

It became such a craze that the police had to advise locals to stop performing the dance on public roads as it could potentially lead to accidents.

The Bottle Cap Challenge that started in June this year looks simple but pretty cool. The trick went viral as celebrities tried to copy the moves of Taekwondo instructor Farabi Davletchin.

It involves participants performing a roundhouse kick to a bottle in order to graze the cap with their foot, causing it to quickly spin off, and often captured in slow motion.

It isn't as easy as it seems, as you can see from our colleagues' attempts, but local actor Hairul Azreen of 'Paskal' seems to have it down.