17 Viral Challenges (Mostly) Everyone Tried
The internet has this weird ability to unite millions of people around the most random activities. One day everyone’s pouring ice water on their heads, the next they’re frozen like mannequins in grocery stores.
These viral challenges became cultural moments that transcended age groups, social circles, and geographic boundaries. From charity-driven movements to dance crazes that took over school hallways, these trends captured our collective imagination in ways that traditional media never could.
Here is a list of 17 viral challenges that dominated our feeds and probably convinced you to participate at least once.
Ice Bucket Challenge
The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge started with three men living with ALS and became one of the most successful awareness campaigns in internet history. The concept was brilliantly simple: dump a bucket of ice water over your head, post the video, donate to ALS research, and challenge three friends to do the same.
Celebrities like Mark Zuckerberg, Oprah Winfrey, and Leonardo DiCaprio participated, helping raise over $115 million in 2014 alone. It proved that viral content could actually change the world when channeled toward a meaningful cause.
Cinnamon Challenge
One of the earliest social media challenges, this one was self-explanatory: eat a spoonful of cinnamon and try to keep it down. The first video appeared on YouTube in 2006, but it exploded in early 2012 with over 51,000 videos posted.
What made this challenge particularly memorable was its universal failure rate—almost nobody could actually complete it without coughing up clouds of cinnamon. Even comedian GloZell Green’s attempt, where she dumped an entire ladle of cinnamon in her mouth, received over 50 million views.
Like Go2Tutors’s content? Follow us on MSN.
Planking
Planking became a widespread craze, taking flat surfaces by storm, and seeing participants lying face-down in unusual places. This challenge transformed the simple exercise position into an art form of finding the most creative or dangerous places to lie completely flat.
People planked on park benches, rooftops, and even moving vehicles. The goal wasn’t fitness—it was about finding the most outrageous location to become a human plank of wood.
Mannequin Challenge
A viral Internet video trend that started in October 2016 where people remain still while a video is recorded, usually with music in the background, most commonly ‘Black Beatles’ by Rae Sremmurd. It required freezing in place in a large setting, like a high school hallway or the set of ‘The Late Late Show with James Corden’.
The beauty of this challenge was watching entire groups of people transform into perfectly still tableaus while a camera moved through the scene. It was like performance art meets social media.
Running Man Challenge
The ‘running man challenge’ took the popular 80s dance and paired it with the 1996 Ghost Town DJs song ‘My Boo’. It started when high school student Kevin Vincent couldn’t cure his boredom in Finance class and began singing the tune, while his friend Jeremiah Hall heard him and began to dance along.
The challenge went viral after University of Maryland basketball players discovered their video and recreated it. What started as classroom boredom became a nationwide dance phenomenon.
Like Go2Tutors’s content? Follow us on MSN.
Harlem Shake
The trend starts out with just one person, often dressed in a strange costume or morph suit, dancing along to the song ‘Harlem Shake.’ After the beat drops, the words ‘and do the Harlem shake’ are heard, and everyone absolutely loses it.
This 30-second format became a template that schools, offices, and friend groups used to create their own chaotic dance videos. The stark contrast between the calm beginning and the explosive dance party made every video surprisingly entertaining.
Kylie Jenner Lip Challenge
Sticking your lips into a shot glass and sucking until they swell up became a bizarre beauty trend in 2015. Teenagers everywhere were attempting to achieve Kylie Jenner’s full lips through this dangerous DIY method.
People would end up bruising and scarring their lips just to have ‘Kylie Jenner’s lips’ for 13 minutes. It perfectly captured how social media beauty standards could drive people to extreme lengths.
Yoga Challenge
A continuing YouTube video trend that first went viral during the summer of 2014 involving participants who attempt to perform a series of acroyoga poses that are taken from the internet. Typically, participants are not trained in yoga, which results in humorous outcomes (awkward stances, falling down, etc.).
The entertainment came from watching people attempt complex partner yoga poses they had no business trying. The contrast between professional demonstrations and amateur attempts created endless comedy gold.
Like Go2Tutors’s content? Follow us on MSN.
Salt and Ice Challenge
Teenagers and kids alike seem to love challenges that threaten their well-being, and this 2017 trend was no exception. Participants would put salt on their skin and then place ice on top, creating a chemical reaction that caused intense burning sensations.
People went out of their way to find a unique way to purposely burn themselves. It became a test of pain tolerance that nobody really needed to take.
Chubby Bunny
People were literally stuffing their mouths with marshmallows just to see if they could still pronounce the random phrase, ‘Chubby bunny’. This challenge predated most social media platforms but found new life on YouTube and TikTok.
The goal was to stuff as many marshmallows as possible into your mouth while still being able to say the phrase clearly. It was simple, ridiculous, and surprisingly difficult.
Pass the Brush Challenge
People of all ages, nationalities and genders have participated in this challenge. So much so that it has 1.6 billion views.
The video begins with a person showing her most natural look, they run a makeup brush over their face, cover the camera, and boom! they appear transformed in their best clothes.
This 2020 pandemic-era challenge created a magical transformation effect that people could achieve from home during lockdowns.
Like Go2Tutors’s content? Follow us on MSN.
Flip the Switch Challenge
In this challenge, two people stand in front of a bathroom mirror and film themselves. One person stands closer to the mirror filming while the other person stands further from the front.
When the beat dropped in Drake’s song, the two people would switch positions and often switch clothes too. People even switched clothes, poses, and sometimes created hilarious role reversals that showcased creativity and timing.
Renegade Challenge
The ‘renegade challenge’ stirred much buzz and controversy. Georgia teen Jailaiah Harmon created the 15-second dance to K-Camp’s ‘Lottery,’ but it was long before she received proper credit for the choreography.
This complex hand and arm dance became TikTok’s most recognizable routine. Everyone from celebrities to your neighbor’s kids attempted to master the intricate moves, though few could execute it with the precision of its teenage creator.
Dalgona Coffee Challenge
We could see the rage of this everywhere from TikTok to Instagram to Facebook to everywhere on social media. Those who knew nothing about coffee making even tried their hands on making the famous Dalgona Coffee.
This trend was first popularized in South Korea and then it spread globally. The whipped coffee creation became the perfect pandemic activity—it was Instagram-worthy, required only a few ingredients, and gave people something to do with their time at home.
Like Go2Tutors’s content? Follow us on MSN.
Savage Challenge
A TikTok influencer’s dance choreography to Megan Thee Stallion’s single ‘Savage’ created this viral social media challenge, which won a Shorty Award. The dance routine became so popular that even celebrities and talk show hosts were attempting the moves.
It showcased how TikTok had become the new MTV, with dance challenges replacing music videos as the way songs gained popularity.
Milk Crate Challenge
This challenge featured individuals gathering empty milk crates and stacking them as high as possible while stepping up and down on the crates without falling. The 2021 trend became a physics experiment in balance and gravity that usually ended with spectacular falls.
However, like most internet challenges, ‘The Milk Crate Challenge’ quickly (and thankfully) fell out of popularity after numerous injuries made headlines.
Charlie Charlie Challenge
People were basically making DIY Ouija boards with notebook paper and took it seriously. This supposed supernatural challenge involved balancing pencils on paper and asking a Mexican demon named Charlie yes or no questions.
The pencils would supposedly move to indicate Charlie’s answers. It combined the internet’s love of spooky content with the simplicity of school supplies, making it accessible to teenagers worldwide.
Like Go2Tutors’s content? Follow us on MSN.
From Silly to Significant
Looking back at these challenges reveals something fascinating about human nature and social media culture. We gravitated toward activities that were either completely absurd or genuinely meaningful, with very little middle ground.
The best challenges gave people a chance to be part of something bigger than themselves, whether that was raising money for ALS research or simply sharing a moment of synchronized silliness with millions of strangers. They remind us that sometimes the most powerful force on the internet isn’t information or entertainment—it’s the simple desire to belong to something that everyone else is doing too.
More from Go2Tutors!
- 16 Historical Figures Who Were Nothing Like You Think
- 12 Things Sold in the 80s That Are Now Illegal
- 15 VHS Tapes That Could Be Worth Thousands
- 17 Historical “What Ifs” That Would Have Changed Everything
- 18 TV Shows That Vanished Without a Finale
Like Go2Tutors’s content? Follow us on MSN.
