The Dumbest Trends of 2024

By Chloe Summers 

As the year of 2025 begins, now is a good time to reflect on some of what happened within the past year, especially on social media. Trend culture in recent years has shifted to mean different things, especially on platforms such as TikTok, where people dedicate entire communities to specific topics. Being a part of these specific communities can also limit what types of content you engage with on the platform, preventing you from seeing the vastness of what the app covers. This list is meant to span different areas of the platform and shine a light on some of the silly trends that have popped up over the year while also analyzing some of the dangers these trends can have on younger generations. 

1.  #WaterTok

WaterTok is one of those TikTok communities that I mentioned earlier. This group on the platform consists of various people taking water and adding different types of syrups and flavored powders to their drinks. A big critique from people who have seen these videos is that they continue to call it water after adding all of the sugar products because it’s technically 0 calories. 

The main reason this trend is so stupid to me is that it promotes vast levels of consumerism and diet culture in a way that is very harmful to anyone watching. The consumerist aspect comes from the fact that these people have hundreds of different flavor packets and syrups, probably more than a local Starbucks, and many users promote diet culture, mentioning that these drinks helped them lose weight because they’re 0 calories. 

At the end of the day, no matter how many calories are in that drink, you’re adding sugar. (If you want a real low-calorie beverage you could simply not add the sugar...) It’s important to mention that some people do this because they need higher intakes of sugar or maybe they need help drinking more water, but calling these sugar filled drinks “water” can be very harmful.

These are 0 calorie juices, not water. It’s important to recognize that. 

2. Water Bottle Phenomenon

We can’t talk about WaterTok without mentioning its partner in crime, the Stanley Cup. The Stanley Cup is a specific style of tumbler that the brand Stanley sells. The bottom of the cup is slimmer to fit perfectly into cup holders, it keeps your drinks cold for hours, and it has a convenient straw to drink from. As I mentioned, WaterTok heavily pushes consumerism with their countless Stanley cups (I thought the point of the reusable cup was for it to be, you know…reused?) Every time a new Stanley Cup variation dropped, people were racing to buy it. I’m sure it’s a nice cup, but I don’t understand the obsession surrounding it. It’s a water bottle…

Water bottle crazes aren’t new around here, though, as we saw the HydroFlask popularity in 2020. However, this past year was interesting because we also saw the rise in popularity of the Owala. The Owala is a more traditional style water bottle that you can sip from. it’s leak proof, very slim, and easy to carry, and it is meant to keep drinks cold for hours. 

Once again, as nice as the water bottle is, I can’t understand the dramatized hype over a water bottle. If you’re in the market for a quality water bottle, these very well could be your solution, but don’t go out buying one of these if you have a perfectly good one at home. 

3. TikTok Shop 

If you want to be technical, TikTok Shop launched in late 2023 in the United States, however, it gained most of its popularity through the middle-end of 2024. TikTok Shop has grown exponentially to the point that almost every other video I see on my For-you page consists of a TikTok Shop ad or at least a link to a product within the Shop. 

I would consider TikTok Shop a dumb trend because there’s nothing on there that you couldn’t buy somewhere else, and it mainly exists just to keep viewers on the app. There’s no reason that an app made for dancing and cooking and funny videos should now be the place where people buy food and literal FURNITURE! This marketplace’s growth has caused half of my feed to be ads, and it’s very irritating when you want to escape reality and all you’re getting are ads about shirts on TikTok.

This is also a reminder that you don’t need to buy everything you see influencers advertising on the TikTok Shop. You don’t need the 7-in-1 pans or the knock-off Ugg slippers. Sometimes, it’s okay to just scroll. 

4. #BookTok 

#BookTok is a bit of a slippery slope when it comes to dumb trends. Similar to WaterTok, this is a community on TikTok that shares different books they’ve been reading and they recommend them to each other. At least, that’s what it started as. Within the past few years, it has shifted to this place that uplifts books with terrible plotlines and horrible writing. The main reason I want to mention it with 2024 is that one of its most popular books, It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover, recently had a film adaptation released. I think that book is a perfect example of what BookTok has become; it’s a place that doesn’t focus on quality writing and instead allows for people to profit off of sensitive subjects that they don’t care to portray accurately. 

I’ve also seen a few TikToks of people who work at Barnes & Noble and various other bookstores who have seen a spike in young people wanting to buy books, including explicit sexual content, because they’ve seen it on BookTok. This shows why influencers have a responsibility to their viewers to be honest about the books they’re recommending. Extremely young people don’t need to be exposed to that content just because their favorite influencer said it was a good read.

Parents also clearly have a responsibility here, but it’s difficult to keep track of all the media your child is interacting with. The most important thing here is to make sure that when your child wants to buy a specific product, YOU DO YOUR RESEARCH!

5. Clear Uggs

Probably the most important trend of all that I’ve gone over is this: the clear Ugg. 

This. Is. A. Monstrosity.

One day, when I was on the public bus, I saw an older woman wearing these and I thought she was out of her mind. No socks on either. We’ve gone back to barbaric times. These have to be some of the ugliest shoes I’ve seen since the Yeezy foam runners…

To anyone with a pair of clear Uggs, I must ask, why? Every person I’ve seen wearing a pair always looks stained. Also, no one wants to see your bare feet through your clear boots. 

Just. Gross. 

Ultimately, 2024 was a very interesting year for trends on TikTok and I’m sure 2025 will have plenty more weird and idiotic trends to add. The main takeaway from this is that you don’t need to buy everything. Everyone wants your money, and you’re the only one who can decide where it goes, but please be mindful. 

Because if I ever see someone wearing clear Uggs again, when they’re not looking, I’m taking them off and throwing them in the trash…