Social Media's Next Obsession: The Mannequin Challenge

Hans Boodt Mannequins

The internet population has engaged in some pretty ridiculous things over the years, for no good reason other than everyone else is doing it. First came the photo fad of planking on all manner of objects in 2011. Since then, video and photo fads have taken the internet by storm. From Post-it Wars (making an image out of Post-it notes) to Tebowing (mimicking American football quarterback Tim Tebow) to the Cinnamon Challenge (swallow a spoonful of cinnamon in a minute), the type and context of fad has changed countless times. There's a new video fad on the block, called the Mannequin Challenge.

To correctly do this challenge, all participants must appear frozen in the middle of regular interactions, posed like mannequins. The challenge originated at Edward H White High School in Jacksonville, Florida. On 26 October, Twitter handle @pvrity___ uploaded a video with #manequinchallenge (yes, misspelled). Shortly after posting, the video was imitated thousands of times over. It's been called the new Ice Bucket Challenge and tagged with the correctly-spelled #MannequinChallenge.

It can be surreal to watch these videos, considering the coordination of the group in conjunction with individual discipline. Everyone has taken up the craziness, from celebrities to uniformed servicemembers.

Many of the videos feature the song Black Beatles by Rae Sremmurd ft. Gucci Mane. Starting off, the challenge had no affiliation with the hip hop duo; however, they too have participated in the Mannequin Challenge, doing an epic rendition on stage during a live show. And they aren't the only ones. Watch Hillary and Bill Clinton with Bon Jovi, Destiny's Child, and Kevin Hart.

Check out a few of the best below.