A new trend, the Mannequin Challenge, has been sweeping the social media streets. The Mannequin Challenge is a “viral video genre, groups of people are gathering and freezing themselves in place, often in elaborate poses and scenarios, as one camera-toting person walks through the scene to zoom in on the details” ( New York Times). Many of the challenges posted on social media are filmed to the song “Black Beatles” by Rae Sremmurd. Most people assume that Rae Sremmurd created the Mannequin Challenge because their song is featured in the majority of videos taken. Another reason is because Rae Sremmurd hosted a live challenge at one of their very own concerts.

After researching more about the Mannequin Challenge, we learned that it was originally started in Jacksonville, Florida. It was started by a high school student named Emili. “One day I just went to the front of the class and stood there. That’s when my friend A’laynah said, ‘Hey, you look like a mannequin.’ Then my friend Bre’Onna and Jasmine joined and we started doing all these crazy poses. The silly class prank then evolved into a full-blown social media challenge thanks to a little https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lC3e_WmtVIg&feature=youtu.be encouragement from a friend.” Emili told Inverse via Twitter DM. Emili and her friends were influenced to make what happened in their classroom a  challenge because they were influenced by the many other challenges posted on social media today.  Their Mannequin Challenge was to “Best Day of My Life” by Imagine Dragons, not to Black Beetles by Rae Sremmurd. The students from Jacksonville, Florida never expected that celebrities such as Rae Sremmurd and 2 Chainz would take on the challenge and blow it up the way they did. It’s so surreal to think that something so simple can blow up in a matter of days.

The Mannequin Challenge has taken over IHS as well. During the Senior Fashion Show, the girls sparked an idea as they were preparing to walk down the runway. All the girls decided to do a mannequin challenge video together, as one big class of 2017 family in the dressing room. Senior Rhonni Witham said, “The video was meant to capture the class of 2017 girls all together in one single moment. It was really fun because we are never all together in one room.” Many other groups around the school have taken on the challenge as well, such as the  varsity cheerleading team, the varsity football team, and many of Gardy O’Flynn’s gym classes. After interviewing several faculty and students here at IHS, we came across a nIHS faculty member that was not aware of the Mannequin Challenge. We asked our Librarian, Mrs. Chang, what she thought the Mannequin Challenge was. She said, “I think the challenge consists of people trying to dress up and mimic a mannequin.” Lastly, we asked Mrs. Chang why she thought the challenge was so popular nationwide. She said, “I think it is so popular because it is fun to look at, unique, and it’s interesting to see what people choose to do. It looks like it is fun to do with your friends.” Even people who don’t know about the mannequin challenge even think it would be fun and interesting to do.

In conclusion, the Mannequin Challenge had an incomparable way of drawing people’s attention. Everyday our society is exposed to the latest trend storming the streets of social media. Although this challenge is popular now on social media, it will soon just be another faint memory that participants will reflect upon. Who knows what the next latest social media trend will be.