From fashion to pop culture and entertainment, every year brings new trends and fascinations with it. In the first three months of 2022 alone numerous new fads emerged. Claw Clips quickly became an everyday fashion staple, and the New York Times’ “Wordle” and Instagram’s “add yours” stickers took over the internet. In the entertainment realm “Euphoria” continues to top the charts and reading increases in popularity.

1: Claw Clips

Claw Clips: the iconic hair accessory quickly made a comeback with the new year. This vintage hair tool first enthused consumer markets in the late 90s and early 2000s as women learned to love the convenience the fashionable clips offered. Claw Clips offer a unique alternative to simple hair elastics that force hair into harsh ponytails. With more versatility thanks to the plastic prongs, Claw Clips allow customers to experiment with numerous different hairstyles.

Offered in a multitude of shapes, sizes and colors, claw clips easily become the perfect complement to any outfit. The plethora of options allows claw clips to embrace their versatile potential. With the ability to completely contain one’s hair, claw clips create a solution for athletes who need to have their hair out of their way during athletic endeavors. In contrast, Classy Claw clips also boost a business casual outfit by offering a sleek hairstyle that reveals professionalism. Aside from athletic and professional hairstyles, for teenagers across America, Claw Clips have quickly become a trendy everyday hairstyle. The easy, fashionable updo allows sleep-deprived teenagers to quickly do their hair while still managing to look put together.

2: Wordle

A game called “Wordle” recently became a sensation for people of all ages. This daily word puzzle created by Josh Wardle, later bought by the New York Times, challenges players to guess a five-letter word in six tries. When guessing a word, the boxes light up yellow, green or gray to show where, or if, that letter appears in the word.

Variations of the game like “Worldle” and “Heardle” replicate the basics of Wordle, but instead of finding a word one must name the country or song, etc. Players look forward to getting a new puzzle each day to test their luck and see what they know. Results shared between friends and family through texts and other forms of social media create a competitive side to Wordle, causing a wider variety of people to play and enjoy the game.

“It is fun to compete with other people, seeing who can guess in the fewest guesses. It makes me better at assessing word length and letter placement. Along with that, it reminds me of words that could be in the back of my mind. Wordle provides new and random words daily, so it is often you find a word you don’t know and it prompts you to learn about,” freshman Tristan Mick said.

3: Instagram “add yours”

The “add yours” feature on Instagram, created in late 2021, allows users to post pictures on their story under small categories such as “my best friend” or “the love of my life.” Numerous Instagram users enjoy using this feature because it allows them to post 24-hour pictures with no words, and others will enjoy seeing it. The ability to post these pictures helps people express their care for an activity, place or person through the internet.

When used, the viewer can tap on the category and see what others posted under the same category, people they follow coming in at the top of the list. When one user sees a mutual post under an add yours, they become influenced to post under that same add your topic and the trend continues to spread. These topics become popularly seen on all accounts because of the number of users posting under them. 

4: “Euphoria”

“Euphoria”, the HBO Max Original series, originally captured the hearts of fans in 2019 when the show premiered. These loyal fans embraced the show’s second season when it was released on January 9. The fan favorite show’s second season boasts eight episodes and aired every Sunday until its finale wrapped up the sophomore season on February 27. With beloved characters finally back on their screens, fans obsessed over new and continued storylines. “Euphoria” became a daily vocabulary word for multiple fans, and in addition to simply tuning in to view a new episode every Sunday evening at 9 p.m., fans embraced the culture portrayed in the show by experimenting with euphoric makeup and outfits and shared them to social media platforms.  

5: Reading

Although the hobby never disappeared, the ancient pastime recently became a quirky trend for teenagers who desire to adopt the admirable aesthetic of a reader. With reading on the rise, a correlation with the hobby’s popularity accredits to TikTok. The home of numerous fads, a side of TikTok referred to as “BookTok” shares creative videos summarizing the plot of books. These 15 second – three-minute videos engage viewers, inspiring them to read a variety of books. The juxtaposition of BookTok and traditional activity fosters a newfound passion for reading.

“Our circulation numbers have definitely gone up. Boys are checking out books from series like “Middle” and “Elementary” and they are digging them. Girls keep seeing books on TikTok that they must-read. Those are the two trends that I am seeing here,” NC librarian Lisa Wheeler said.

Popular trends from past years recently resurfaced and blew up, creating an infinite loop of recycled trends. These fads may fade in the near future, and new ones will become discovered for the remainder of the year. Whether the future of this year brings old, vintage styles, or new and advanced games and technology, it will create a unique 2022 year.