Viral dance videos trend on campus, around world

After the incurable hangover of Gangnam Style, the Harlem Shake has taken over YouTube in two weeks.

More than 12,000 videos have been uploaded since the beginning of the trend, of those videos, most have been watched an average of 44 million times. As of Tuesday, each hour averaged 215 Harlem Shake video uploads.

The videos stem from a dance which was popularized in 1981. In the early 2000s, many hip-hop videos focused on what was called the Harlem Shake dance craze.

In 2012, the artist Bauuer used the name of the dance in the dub-step song, which happens to be the song featured in the videos online. The song is currently ranked as No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 due to the viral video craze.

The trend may be strange, but it has caught the attention of millions of viewers and universities who have joined in on the fun as well.

Murray State has already had various organizations on campus, including Campus Outreach and Sigma Chi, create and upload Harlem Shake videos. Additionally, there was a student-wide Harlem Shake video filmed on Thursday in the CFSB Center.

Murray State students were invited to participate by Morris White, director of marketing and promotions of athletics.

White said he first received word of the Harlem Shake trend through an email with a link to the Fresno State mascot and student athletes participating in the video.

“I decided to do a Harlem Shake video because I wanted our University to have a footprint in this world-wide phenomenon.” White said. “After watching a lot of the videos, I wanted the Racers to join in on the fun while it was still popular.”

Though the trend has mass appeal because the videos are short and keep the attention of the viewer, White believes the craze will eventually die down.

“I think the Harlem Shake phenomenon has a window that may be open for a while because as new videos are uploaded, they become more and more creative,” he said. “More people are being added and the places videos are being filmed are becoming more interesting. At some point, it will die down, but I am not sure when.”

Story by Hunter Harrell, Staff writer.

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