Harlem Shake videos began quietly: one person moved while everyone around them appeared uninterested. When Baauer’s track reached its drop, a sudden cut revealed the whole group dancing in costumes or chaotic improvised movement. The format was copied about 1.7 million times during 2013 and became one of the year’s leading global searches.
Why It Mattered
The joke belonged to the format rather than any single upload, so schools, offices, teams and groups could make it their own. That repeatable before-and-after edit turned thousands of unrelated videos into one unmistakable internet event.
Repeatable structure
- Early platform analysis identified a lone masked or helmeted dancer before the musical drop.
- The cut then revealed a larger group in costumes or improvised movement.
Early growth
- YouTube Trends counted more than 12,000 uploads and 44 million views by 11 February 2013.
- A later YouTube update recorded more than 40,000 uploads and 175 million views.
Year-end record
- Google reported about 1.7 million versions in 2013.
- Harlem Shake ranked fifth among Google’s global trending searches that year.
Associated With
Decentralised user-created format - creator or operator
Defining Feature
Short videos that switch from one moving person to a group dance at the musical drop
Status
Historical event - YouTube recorded about 1.7 million versions during 2013
- All one image sources are not yet verified — editorial review required.
Rights Notice
Images are included for historical and archival reference.
Rights holders may contact Forgotten Archive through the publishing account to request a credit correction or removal.
Video still reproduced by LADbible; original video creator not identified
Licence
Historical Ephemera
Displayed for commentary and research. Fair dealing under the UK CDPA 1988 applies only where its conditions are met. No permission for reuse is granted.
Caption
The Harlem Shake meme relied on a sudden switch from an ordinary scene to collective chaos, a repeatable format that let almost anyone create their own version.
