Craze For Internet Fads

Dixya Poudel

In the vastness of the internet, one can perceive a myriad selection of fads which range from diet and exercise to health, lifestyle and wellbeing. As such, fads are short-lived trends that go viral online. 

Today, social media has become a haven for internet fads. Very often, the content of a short video in TikTok, a reel in Instagram or a post in Facebook make such an impact that they amass millions of views. They range from frivolous (cat videos) to solemn (mental health suggestions).  

Internet has a plethora of self-acclaimed lifestyle coaches and even specialists who dispense suggestions for an improved life. Particularly diet and nutrition; lifestyle and fashion; art, home and décor; fitness and exercise; meditation and mindfulness; and motivation are common areas where the internet speaks its mind quite voluminously. 

There are accounts on social media where nutritionists, fitness coaches, fashion stylists, motivational speakers and so on share their knowledge and expertise which pledge to change people’s lives for the better. 

On a regular basis, they dispense advice on how to dress, communicate, imbue confidence, exercise, meditate, cook up a recipe, etc. And they make an impact on people as seen in the deluge of grateful comments. In doing so, it sets in motion a new online fad or trend. 

It is not new to the internet to cater to the queries and necessities of its billions of users. But as the internet users have an attention span of a goldfish, online fads tend to last for only a short period of time. 

Every now and then, some of them are memorable with a good cause. Remember the Ice Bucket Challenge for ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) which earned $115 million for the ALS Association. 

Fads can thus come in form of challenges on the social media with videos that appeal to the larger audiences who engage in such content and share them profusely in their social networking sites. 

Many viral videos that make an online fad or a trend tend to create a buzz through an engaging, humorous or even explanatory content. 

They are subject to extensive reactions from viewers. Once viral, they reach a large audience, helping many on the way, or simply bringing a smile or a chuckle to the viewers. 

Such growing vogues on the internet show their ubiquitous presence. Even internet applications become a trending and often controversial subject such as ChatGPT which is a generative AI (Artificial Intelligence) tool built to answer queries in a conversational manner. 

AI or not, internet trends continue to exert their impact on the users as internet strides to evolve and adapt to the human world. Tech giants are investing billions of dollars to improve the efficacy of the internet which is why it could help to be more aware of its implications. 

Although fads are for a shorter term, they are likely to make a strong impact, even negative ones as well. As such, viral videos are known to spread misinformation as seen in the COVID pandemic or even in the elections. 

Thus, instead of taking such trends by their face value, internet users today must be able to discern facts from fads by being cognizant of the evidences, sources and credentials available online.