Trends on the internet often come as quickly as they go. We see a trend pop up at the beginning of the year, and by the end of the year we’ll see it as “nostalgic”. You probably can’t even name three things from February. 

There are some trends known for being funny, wholesome, or something of that nature, while on the same note, other trends can be prolific for being inappropriate, harmful, and can promote harmful things.

One recent trend that’s notorious for being seen as harmful is the “Blackpill” (BP) edit trend on TikTok. The term itself stems from the film “The Matrix”, where the red pill means to see the truth, blue pill is to stay ignorant, and black pill, while never directly mentioned in the film, is supposed to represent a more nihilistic world view. The term black pill itself was never in the Matrix, but it stems from the other two pills. 

However TikTok’s iteration of BP is the “harsh reality” that looks and physical attractions are the defining features for a man getting into a relationship. While this by itself isn’t the worst of things, the message it’s trying to convey can be seen as very problematic.

What BP means is that if one is less conventionally attractive, then they won’t get any female attention, and that they are basically out of luck.

To better convey this message, they use what’s called “BP edits” where someone who is considered as less conventionally attractive shows up, then it switches to a collage of more “masculine” and conventionally attractive men. 

This trend is harmful because it not only puts people down, but it promotes unrealistic attractiveness standards, as well as insecurity among some men. It also gives an unhealthy, misogynistic idea of what men are supposed to be to younger, impressionable boys.

Another recent trend that could be seen as problematic is the trend that stems from Charlie Kirk. Charlie Kirk was a debater who would go to college campuses and typically debate the students. However, on September 10, he was assassinated during one of his speeches. 

Due to his views being seen as controversial, or some saying downright evil, his death was a really big laughing stalk on social media, including TikTok. One trend that followed shortly after was known as “Kirkification”, where people would edit Charlie Kirk’s face onto a meme. They were often found in TikTok comment sections as a means to react.

Regardless of your opinion on Kirk or your political opinions in general, it’s overall pretty disrespectful to use a dead person’s face for personal promotion, and use it in a disrespectful manner.

Though these are just two examples, there are many more instances where TikTok, as well as social media as a whole, tends to glorify and popularize things that shouldn’t be just because it’s funny or aesthetical. What this does is that since people see other people doing it, they may want to be a part of the trend so they’ll do it too, which is how trends get popularized.