How Hard Did The Last Decade Hit You?

By: Lorrianne Aryenz Valdecantos

We can always count on the internet to make new ways to keep us busy and posted. There have been many challenges in the past that sprouted into new trends that people are willing to follow. These viral trends make or break the internet and people are here for it. Not everything that gets attention is necessarily the right kind of content.

Luckily, the first viral trend for this year is harmless for its own good and just an upgraded kind of throwback. People would post in their social media pictures or videos of them ten years ago and another picture of them today. This is called “How Hard Did Age Hit You Challenge” or also known as the “ten-year challenge”.

It is not the first time something like this goes viral. Years before, people had what they call the ‘five- year challenge’, the concept is the same but given the title, it was photos from five years before.

The challenge was originally just to showcase the drastic changes one undergoes in the span of ten years, where we could see how their fashion taste evolved, how much they’ve grown and matured. After that buzz, someone took the challenge for a spin. Instead of posting his picture, he posted instead a picture of the Earth via Google maps to show how much ice has melted in the artic regions.

After that, this challenge became less and less narcissistic but more on compassion for the Earth. After that artic photos, people were once again quick to their feet to post photos of the once green green Earth reduced to nothing more than bald spots in the mountains, obvious mining activities and receding shorelines. People who jump on these kinds of bandwagon may not be fully aware that what they are partaking in is so much bigger than some silly internet trend.

Soon it became a full-blown movement of angry and disappointed people posting the heart-wrenching before and after photos of the Earth. There is an apparent and scary change happening to the world and it is not slowing down whatsoever, all of these are seen through the ten-year challenge.

Image source: http://lcafrica.org/sparktalks/

Global issues were raised because of this trend. Endangered species was put to the spotlight because of this. People was informed, the thought of the earth disintegrating was called out to attention. We were slapped by proofs of how grave the condition we are in.

Sure, we all forget about these the moment another viral trend steps in but it is sure nice to be reminded once in a while.