The year 2020 has been a whirlwind and it feels like it’s passed in the blink of an eye. 

Luckily for all of us, we can reflect on the trends that ruled quarantine and (hopefully) realize that time has actually passed and we didn’t just sit in bed every day, scrolling through Instagram and TikTok on our phones. Thank God for social media, am I right?

Here are the top quarantine trends of 2020:

Chloe Ting

Quarantine definitely inspired an urge to change things up. Maybe it was from all the tweets in January declaring, “This is gonna be our year!” Either way, people had a sudden need for self-improvement. Chloe Ting, an Australian fitness YouTuber, gained a large spike in view count and subscriber growth in May after her two-week shred challenge went viral. 

People took advantage of the surplus in time to start working on themselves, and Ting definitely helped with her fitness videos. With video titles like “Slim Thighs & Legs Workout that WORKS” and “Get SNATCHED during Quarantine,” it’s hard not to gain a positive mindset about fitness. Some videos are even labeled as beginner-friendly, so there’s no excuse not to try them.

“Animal Crossing” 

“Animal Crossing: New Horizons” might just be your next obsession. What isn’t there to love about starting a new life on an abandoned island led by a capitalist raccoon and inhabited by anthropomorphic animals? 

With the release of Nintendo’s newest “Animal Crossing” game perfectly coinciding with the beginning of quarantine, anyone and everyone with a Switch picked it up. It’s easy to spend hours picking up weeds and fishing in this game, especially when you can interact with cute villagers like Raymond and Marina. 

The game also allows your friends to visit your island – no in-person interaction required. “Animal Crossing” can be taken anywhere with a Switch. Not that you’d be going anywhere anyways, but it is a nice feature.

Dalgona coffee

Is there anything better than iced coffee in the morning? There just might be with Dalgona coffee. Making the coffee requires a LOT of elbow grease in order to achieve optimal fluffiness. But whipped coffee goodness on top of milk, there really isn’t more one could ask for. The fluffy coffee originated in South Korea and is named after a Korean toffee because of its light brown color. 

“Tiger King”

The seven-episode true-crime documentary “Tiger King” was released on Netflix on March 20 and focuses on the self-proclaimed Tiger King Joe Exotic, who owned a zoo filled with huge cats as well as other exotic animals. He is now in jail for hiring a hitman to kill his archrival, Carol Baskin, an animal activist. 

This crazy documentary took many weird twists and turns, one of which included reopening the case of Baskin’s missing husband after people began to proclaim that she was behind his disappearance and potential murder. This was probably not what she expected when she agreed to make the documentary. 

Bleached hair/hairstyle changes

A new year means experimentation, and hair is the best place to start. Bleaching two front chunks of hair became a new trend on TikTok, as well as dying only the inner layers of hair. 

Bangs also made a comeback with e-girls dominating Twitch streams and For You pages. With cameras not being completely mandatory in class,  no one can see how horrifically you’ve messed up. It’s pretty much the perfect time to make changes to your appearance.

Cottagecore/strawberry dress

The dream of running through fields of flowers in the countryside with your sapphic lover has finally evolved into an aesthetic: cottagecore. TikTok has exploded with videos of queer women in loose, floral dresses picking mushrooms and baking cakes. 

Gen Z is known to romanticize everything and rural country living is no exception. It stems from wanting an escape from the heteronormative community and to live alone in peace and tranquility. The iconic strawberry midi dress from Lirika Matoshi goes perfectly with this aesthetic. 

Instantly popular among the cottagecore community, the dress depicts glittery red strawberries and frilly, puffed sleeves with ruffled tulle at the hem. Fans of the strawberry dress have taken to drawing male characters and members of the LGBTQ community wearing the pastel dress and its black counterpart. The inclusivity that surrounds the dress only adds to the appeal, so it’s no wonder that Matoshi’s creation has gained popularity so fast.

“WAP”

No stranger to explicit music, Cardi B came out with “WAP” in August. The song was met with overwhelming support from the TikTok community as the WAP dance trend started to gain popularity. 

Popular TikTokers such as James Charles, Jason Derulo, and Addison Rae all hopped on the dance challenge. Even Ben Shapiro had things to say about the song. After he read a censored version of “WAP”, his audio was soon edited to Cardi B’s music video. It, of course, soon made its way to Cardi B herself, who tweeted “I can’t believe conservatives so mad about ‘WAP’.”

Two Pretty Best Friends 

You might think you’ve seen everything 2020 has to offer, but have you ever seen two pretty best friends? Jordan Scotty, better known on TikTok as @jayrscottyy, created the mind-bogglingly addictive lines, “I ain’t never seen two pretty best friends. It’s always one of ‘em gotta be ugly.” Once you watch it, you’re ensnared in his never blinking gaze. Scotty’s words are guaranteed to stay in your head for the following three weeks.

The fly on Mike Pence’s head

The 2020 election pretty much dominated social media throughout late October, and with all elections came election memes. One of the most memorable was Mike Pence’s famous affair with a fly. Pence’s side piece has its own Twitter account, followed by more than 108 thousand people (and counting). 

Of course, Joe Biden’s team quickly got a hold of the fly that was sweeping across the nation and made merch not two hours after the debate: a blue fly swatter with the words “Truth Over Flies” emblazoned across the handle. It sold out after just a few hours.

This year was rough, but luckily we had the blue light from our screens to keep us occupied and sane. Looking back, it all seems like a blur. Was the election even real? 

To be honest, this year just hasn’t felt the same. Vibe check possibly failed, but maybe, just maybe it’s been saved by these trends.