A still of a Harlem Shake video.

This is Internet craze that seems to have no limit—you have grandmas doing it, even basketball players in Cape Verde, Africa. All across the globe everyone is doing the Harlem Shake. Though the dances in the clips don’t actually seem to be the real Harlem Shake, the video versions have already gotten more than 44 million views, reports the Mercury News.

So far YouTube has logged 12,000-plus Harlem Shake videos uploaded.

If you remember the Harlem Shake, it was back in the 80s that it was initially popularized. Then in 2011 it became a craze again when New York based DJ Baauer released a track by that name. “Then in late January, four dudes in unitards and masks posted a video under the vlogger name “Filthy Frank” in what is now considered the production that launched a thousand more videos,” reports the newspaper.

But now Madison Avenue has picked up the fad.  “A staggering 60 agencies –and counting– have already put their own spin on the Internet phenomenon, according to a Tumblr that’s been set up just to collect examples, called ‘Harlem Shake Agency’,” writes Ad Age. Some of the companies doing the Halrem Shake to promote themselves are:  TBWA Paris, Grey Moscow, DDB Barcelona, M&C Saatchi Johannesburg, Wieden & Kennedy in Portland.

And of course, the ad agencies are using the concept to promote their clients and their products with the Harlem Shake, such as Pepsi, which recently posted a video to its YouTube page featuring a bunch of soda cans doing the dance. Chili’s, A&W, Facebook and Google have all debuted their own versions.

Here’s the Bossip Harlem Shake. Have you done the it lately?

It’s been nearly a year since Sweet “ain’t nobody got time for that” Brown graced the airwaves with her cooky presence. As you may recall, she was interviewed by a local Oklahoma City news station about a fire that broke out in her apartment complex and gave quite the dramatic re-enactment of her experience with the fire. Some say she was straight up acting (and may have been inspired by fellow small town viral sensation Antoine Dodson) but Brown insists that it was all her. Acting or not, she was funny as hell! Take a trip down memory lane and relive the Sweet Brown experience on this Funny Friday why don’t ya.

Everyone knows that YouTube is the one place you can find it all – puppy videos, makeup tutorials, educational information – but one of the best parts about is all the comedy you can find. After a tough day at work a foolish video may be exactly what you need to cheer up. Here are some of our YouTube favorites that keep us rolling with laughter.

55secretstreet.typepad.com

Hey Readers!  You know those times when you’re cruising the web or Youtube and you stumble across a hilarious video, and before you know it, it goes viral?  Or you see it being discussed on the news, television shows, and being mocked on programs like “The Soup” or the former “The Dish” and even mentioned in printed publications?  Because of the popularity of these videos, many of the participants became well-known.  But where are these people who have inspired laughter, hope, mockery and/or awe?  Well….

Source: beaumontenterprise.com

We love watching fights. Whether it be Tami Roman on “Basketball Wives” or someone fighting on World Star Hip Hop, our culture thrives on viewing a beat down. Sometimes these fights get too graphic, even for our numbed out minds, and petitions are drawn up and a channel like CNN reports on it. But sooner or later, we are right back to where we started, supporting the violence; using something so alarming as a form of entertainment.

Most who use these television shows and viral videos for escapism will admit that they are having profound negative effects on our youth. It’s common knowledge that high school and middle school students are notorious for filming schoolyard and neighborhood fights just for a little cyber fame. But a few weeks back, I realized just how dark this new found culture has gotten. Flipping through news channels, I stopped to watch a news reporter on Headline News where they discussed a YouTube video of a young mother cheering on the physical altercation of two toddlers. My heart sank for about five minutes as I watched the news segment in disbelief.

It was reported that the mother filming the ordeal is from St. Louis. She can be heard in the background egging on the inappropriate behavior with exclamations such as, “Y’all better ball up some fists!” A friend of the mother reported the video to their local television station, and Social Services got involved. As I shook myself out of my state of shock, my mind began to race with thoughts of how much we have embraced barbaric physical acts as a norm. We fight over comments on social media, celebrities fight over the women they’re sleeping with, and every reality show gains viewers by allowing cast members to haul off and slap the crap out of one another. The culture of fighting is being embraced on these shows, and it’s not only making young men and women think that getting violent to solve disputes is cool, but it’s painting us all in a horrible light. It’s bad enough we have Erica scrapping in a parking lot with her man Lil Scrappy, but to have a real-time video of a black mother urging two babies to fight? What is the world coming to when your thirst for entertainment and fame allows you to go so far?

I know that reality shows with violence aren’t going to go anywhere anytime soon. Petitions will be drawn up, people will protest, but these programs will be here to stay as long as there is an audience that desires them. What I am concerned about is how much of these shows we have internalized. This video of the two babies fighting screams that our appetite for violence and using it as a way to settle issues is bigger and more complex than we ever imagined. I can say, with a heavy heart, that common sense, tact and maturity for many has flown completely out the window, and the more we say this ratchet behavior is just “entertainment,” the more we can expect scenarios like this to happen again. We’ve become too desensitized to the violence, and that, ladies and gentlemen, is not a good thing.

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To many, lace front wigs are a convenient way to get that long, flowing head of hair that is nearly impossible for most black women to achieve even with relaxers. For a generation of women brought up on Barbie, and now Beyonce, the idea that “down your back” tresses are the epitome of feminine has led to the lace front wig as the ultimate tool to achieve this look. Nearly chemical-free and versatile, the lace front comes in many styles and simply has to be glued on to get the glamour of a star. But a new “PSA”-style viral video is calling on all women who have adopted this trend to rethink the slap-on weave. TheGrio.com reports:

A tongue-in-cheek “anti-lace front” video has gone viral on YouTube and social networking sites. As of Thursday, the video, featuring a group of African-American women, was viewed nearly 40,000 times on YouTube.

The video called, “Anti-Lace Front PSA”, rallies women to take the lace off. Its commentary says “there’s nothing wrong with letting your naps show” and urges women to save “one scalp at a time” until “every real hairline is revealed.”

But with so many high-profile celebrities wearing hair extensions, black women are keen to get the “good hair” look. It is, for example, well-known that the likes of Beyoncé, Tyra Banks and Kelly Rowland, all wear extensions or weaves.

The problem is not everyone has the hard-earned cash to get hair done to Tyra’s immaculate standard. Badly fitted lace weaves are a walking disaster.

There is even anecdotal evidence, hair extensions, including lace weaves, damage the hairline and weaken afro-hair, especially if the glue is improperly applied.

Others say if wigs and hair caps are tight with unbreathable fabric, the friction of it rubbing against hair will damage the hairline.

Photographs have even surfaced on the Internet of Naomi Campbell’s (a self-confessed hair-extension addict) receding hairline.

Naomi, like many black women suffers from Traction Alopecia — hair loss caused by constant pulling and tension from weaves and/or chemical damage.

But it seems many African-American women will go to any length to wear “straight hair” even if it costs them their own natural hair.

Read the rest of this informative article on TheGrio.com.

Naomi Campbell is not the only woman suffering from Traction Alopecia, and going bald because of it. A recent study showed that a staggering 59% of black women in a sample suffered from some form of Traction Alopecia, which occurs when one’s hair follicles are permanently damaged by hairstyles that pull and tug on the hair in the same pattern over many years. Black hair care experts state that one can wear braids and weaves without damage being done to the scalp, but much care must be taken with the hair, and one must switch up one’s styles to prevent permanent damage. It stands to reason that a similar litmus test applies to the use of lace front wigs.

The application of lace front wigs involves exposing hair follicles to the chemicals in glue, sometimes shaving down the hairline, and often long periods of time when the scalp is not cleaned thoroughly, all of which will have a long-range impact on scalp health. Given all these variables, it is more likely the mis-suse of lace front wigs over time that can lead to hair damage, rather than the wigs themselves. Any style that involves covering your scalp, using chemicals, adding hair — done again and again over years in exactly the same pattern — will likely lead to Traction Alopecia, no matter what the style is.

For these reasons, my stylist for instance insists that I change my styles regularly, and do a “rest style” every few months, like a two strand twist with my own hair or a sew in weave over cornrows — kept in no longer than three months. Even the “rest” weave is checked after six weeks for pulling or potential stress areas on the scalp. How many black women take these precautions?

It’s great that the makers of this PSA and The Grio want to warn black women of the dangers of lace front wigs (while making us laugh), but these dangers apply to any style that stresses the scalp and is constantly repeated. Rather than create alarm about this particular style, it is more important to create better awareness of the healthy treatment of black hair. This will go much further to ending the scalp damage 59% of black women are enduring.

The PSA’s message about pride in “showing your naps” is so complicated, it deserves a separate commentary of it’s own. (A thorough exploration could fill a 1,000 page volume.) I for one wear styles that show my naps AND at other times the “Barbie” flowing locks. Unlike the message promoted in the video below, one look does not exclude the enjoyment of the other. Nor does enjoyment of a Beyonce-weave mean you are ashamed of your afro hair.

You just want to wear the weave styles in a way that preserves your hair health.

Do you find this video funny, informative, or just alarmist? Leave your comments below!

Alexis Garrett Stodghill is the senior editor of MadameNoire.com. Follow her on Twitter: @lexisb

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(The Grio) — Have you ever felt the urge to “plank” something? While it started out as an Internet stunt –”planking” has become this year’s craze — inspiring intrepid, amateur stunt men and women lying with their face down, usually in a public place and then posting the photos to the web (preferably Twitter). And it’s not just something white kids are doing. It’s been a worldwide meme that’s been a viral phenomenon since at least this spring, with the widely publicizeddeath of a 20-year-old who fell off a balcony trying to take a picture of himself planking.  But now, the concept of planking is becoming more and more visible in references made on Twitter by members of the hip-hop community.  Within the black community, some of the photos are arguably horrendous. One shows a woman with her head in a toilet bowl, hands to the side, feet against the wall. Others show people in sexual positions. Body outstretched on a stool.

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