B2 Lesson: The Trend That Was Everywhere, Then Vanished

Level: B2 (Upper-Intermediate)

Content Objective: Students explore the rise and sudden disappearance of a viral internet trend and consider what it reveals about how online attention works.

Language Objective: Students learn to form and use the present perfect continuous to describe activities that began in the past and continue to the present, and to contrast it with the present perfect simple.

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1. Reading Section

If you have been using the internet since the early 2010s, you probably remember the Harlem Shake. For a few weeks in early 2013, it was impossible to avoid: a thirty-second video in which one person dances alone in a mask or helmet while everyone around them ignores it, until the bass drops and the whole room erupts into costumed chaos. Then, almost as suddenly as it had appeared, the trend vanished. People have been asking the same question ever since: how can something so enormous disappear so fast?

The story began on January 30, 2013, when the YouTuber George Miller, now known as the musician Joji, posted a comedy video that included costumed friends dancing to “Harlem Shake,” a track by the American producer Baauer that had been released the year before. Within days, other groups had copied the idea and refined it into a formula that anyone could repeat with a phone and a few friends. By the second week of February, more than 4,000 versions were being uploaded to YouTube every day, and soon offices, schools, sports teams, and even television shows were making their own.

The numbers were remarkable. By late March, Harlem Shake videos had reportedly passed one billion views, and the song itself reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, a chart that had only just begun counting YouTube plays alongside sales and radio airplay. In other words, a joke filmed by a few friends had helped push a song to the top of the American charts.

Then the decline began. By March, the craze was already losing steam. One analysis of Google search data found that searches for the phrase went from almost nothing to a huge spike in early February, and then fell close to zero only a few weeks later.

Why did it disappear so quickly? One popular explanation is boredom. The format was so simple that it could be repeated endlessly, and once older generations and even large companies joined in, younger users lost interest. Other commentators challenge the idea that the trend was ever purely spontaneous. One early version, posted on February 7, was filmed by the staff of an online video production company, and the technology writer Kevin Ashton has argued that the popular story of an accidental, uncoordinated “meme that went viral” is untrue.

Whatever the truth is, the Harlem Shake has become a standard example in discussions of short-lived internet trends. Marketers have been trying to copy its formula for years, and researchers have been studying why some trends spread while others die out. Meanwhile, apps like TikTok have been producing new challenges at an even faster pace. Arguably, the cycle of rapid rise and rapid disappearance has only been speeding up.

What does the Harlem Shake tell us about online attention? Perhaps that it is a scarce resource: easily captured, and just as easily lost. A trend does not have to be good to go viral, and it does not have to be bad to be forgotten. It only has to be replaced.

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2. Vocabulary Section

Word / Phrase	Meaning	Example
craze	a short-lived, very popular trend or activity	By March, the craze was already losing steam.
erupt	to suddenly burst into noise or activity	The whole room erupts into costumed chaos.
formula	a fixed pattern or method that can be repeated	The videos followed a formula that anyone could copy.
spontaneous	happening naturally, without planning or coordination	Some commentators doubt that the trend was truly spontaneous.
lose steam	to gradually become weaker or less popular	The trend began to lose steam by March.
spike	a sudden, sharp increase	Searches for the phrase showed a huge spike in early February.
challenge (an idea)	to question whether something is true or correct	Other commentators challenge the idea that the trend was accidental.
scarce	not available in large amounts; rare	Attention is a scarce resource.

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3. Example Sentences (Target Grammar in Use)

• If you have been using the internet since the early 2010s, you probably remember the Harlem Shake.
• People have been asking the same question ever since.
• Marketers have been trying to copy its formula for years.
• Researchers have been studying why some trends spread while others die out.
• Apps like TikTok have been producing new challenges at an even faster pace.
• Arguably, the cycle of rapid rise and rapid disappearance has only been speeding up.

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4. Grammar Section

Present Perfect Continuous

The present perfect continuous (have / has been + verb-ing) connects the past to the present. It emphasizes an activity that began in the past and is still continuing, or one that has been going on recently and still matters now. It is often used with “for” (a period of time) and “since” (a starting point).

Form	Use	Example
have / has been + verb-ing	an activity that began in the past and is still happening now	People have been asking the same question ever since.
have / has been + verb-ing	a repeated or recent activity with a connection to the present	Marketers have been trying to copy its formula for years.
present perfect simple (for contrast)	a completed action, or a result that matters now	The Harlem Shake has become a standard example in discussions of short-lived internet trends.

Quick Tip: Use the present perfect continuous to emphasize the activity itself or how long it has lasted, and the present perfect simple to emphasize the result or how much has been done. Time expressions such as “for years” and “since 2013” often signal the continuous form. Stative verbs such as “know,” “own,” and “belong” are not usually used in continuous forms: say “I have known him for years,” not “I have been knowing him.”

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5. Comprehension Questions

A. True or False

1. The Harlem Shake format started with a video posted in January 2013.
2. The song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 before Billboard counted YouTube plays.
3. Search interest in the phrase fell close to zero only a few weeks after its sudden surge.
4. Kevin Ashton argues that the trend was a purely accidental phenomenon.

B. Short Answer

5. Why was the Harlem Shake so easy for so many people to copy?
6. What is one popular explanation for the trend’s rapid disappearance?
7. What evidence or arguments suggest that the trend may not have been completely spontaneous?
8. What does the writer suggest about online attention in the final paragraph?

C. Fill in the Blank / Transform — Use the present perfect simple or continuous form of each verb. For item 12, rewrite the sentence with the time expression.

9. Analysts ___ (debate) the reasons for the trend’s disappearance for more than a decade.
10. The Harlem Shake ___ (become) a standard example of a short-lived trend.
11. Marketers ___ (try) to copy its formula since 2013.
12. Researchers study viral trends. (for years)

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Next lesson: B2 — “The Cold Case That Still Puzzles Investigators”