Best YouTube Challenges Listicle

Story posted April 22, 2022 in Arts & Entertainment by CommRadio Arts & Entertainment Department.

The Arts & Entertainment department blast through the past to the superior era of YouTube and define which challenges were the best.

The Harlem Shake

No YouTube trend will ever rival the harmless fun that the Harlem Shake offered. Whether on a plane, in the office or a classroom, the Harlem Shake was easy to accomplish and fun to execute.

Peaking in popularity in the winter of 2013, most of the videos begin with one person dancing to the build-up of “Harlem Shake” by Baauer while everyone around them ignores the dancing and continues business as usual. When the beat drops, however, the clip cuts to everyone dancing excitedly with each other, usually in costumes or acting as silly as possible.

The Harlem Shake trend was one of the most popular trends in the early 2010s and certainly encapsulates what life was like on the internet at that time. Although it may not be as outwardly funny or entertaining as other trends at the time, the simple nature is what makes the Harlem Shake fun for everyone.

It was not necessary to have any specific materials to have fun with the Harlem Shake, all that was necessary was a willingness to have fun and dance with friends. - Rachel Newnam

Carolina Reaper Challenge

Comedy is subjective, but most people agree that watching someone react to spicy food is funny. This universally agreed-upon phenomenon leads to the Carolina Reaper Challenge that trended on YouTube.

The Carolina Reaper Pepper is one of the, if not the hottest, pepper in the world. Some YouTubers like David Dobrik documented the lengths they went through to get this pepper.

This challenge was one of the best on YouTube due to the sheer hilarity of watching these creators think that it wouldn’t be that bad and then have the spiciness hit them.

Watching them freak out trying to subdue the heat from the pepper was always chaotic and made for great content no matter who the YouTuber was. The chaos was truly unmatched. - Sophia D’Ovidio

Boyfriend does my Makeup Challenge

Just like traditional celebrities, it is pretty standard for YouTubers to date amongst themselves. Having two content creators in a relationship opened doors for these creators to have different types of videos to make together.

It was common for these creators to introduce their relationships in videos called “boyfriend/girlfriend tags,” which were essentially just Q&As.

However, a new twist began. Instead of just sitting around and answering questions, they did so while the creator's significant other did their makeup.

Not only was it entertaining to see the couple answer questions about their relationship but it was always funny to see the two try and coach each other through applying makeup/getting their makeup done.

It was a creative twist on an already popular video trend making for an iconic YouTube challenge. - Sophia D’Ovidio

Rachel Newnam is a first-year majoring in journalism. To contact her, email ren5102@psu.edu

Sophia D’Ovidio is a first-year majoring in communications. To contact her email sgd5184@psu.edu.