Back then, things were different. Remember how you rocked a red mullet to your sister’s graduation party, thinking all the boys liked you? What about when your 6-year-old self was convinced you were the main character at the bowling alley? We’ve all been there and felt invincible.

Fast forward to today, and you get the “what was I thinking?” cringe just looking at this childhood photo. And this is exactly what the new viral TikTok trend is all about.

Initially, TikToker mally_a started going viral with a video showing funny and cute photos of himself when he was 6 years old, when he was swaying back and forth like the “main character”. Her TikTok has been viewed 5.5 million times and sparked a new video trend on social media. Now, people are willingly diving into their childhood photo albums, and their finds are simply pure gold.

Find out more in People Share Embarrassing Childhood Photos When They Think They’re the “Coolest” (24 Photos)

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Bored Panda contacted Hazel, who posted a TikTok of herself as a 9-year-old “thinking I was being extra by wearing high heels by the pool on holiday.” The video, entitled “This still haunts me,” has been viewed 809 thousand times. Hazel told us that when she saw this new TikTok trend, she thought it was “imminent because I have a lot of embarrassing photos of myself, so I just thought I would jump on the trend.”

The photo of 9 year old Hazel was taken while her family was on holiday. “I begged and begged my mom to give me these high heels and she kept saying no, but she finally gave in and brought them to me.” These were the first high heels Hazel had ever owned, so as you can imagine, she wore them everywhere. “I am obsessed with them and I will never take them off (even by the pool).”

Today, Hazel is horrified to look at her old vacation photos. “Looking back at the pictures, it makes me cringe because the exterior doesn’t work well at all.” He didn’t expect his TikTok to explode with this one video, “especially when I only had 100 followers, so when the number got bigger, I was really shocked.”

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TikTok was the most downloaded app last year, reaching 1.5 billion downloads and surpassing Instagram. Sensor Tower reports that TikTok is the third most downloaded app after WhatsApp and Messenger. It’s now officially the most loved app among Gen Z, and nothing seems to be able to slow its momentum.

According to Business InsiderTikTok’s growth is tied to skyrocketing users in India, which account for 31% of the app’s downloads. TikTok’s second largest market is China with 11.5% of app downloads, and only then the United States with 8.2% of app downloads.

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One of the reasons for TikTok’s success is that it is very unique. It turns out, TikTok has the ability to make its users feel like they are watching a TV-like reality show that offers new content over a certain period of time.

Most importantly, TikTok is now a trend-generating super machine powered by real people and their authentic life experiences. Most of the viral content on the internet is born here, including trending challenges, hashtags, songs and videos.

In some cases, they transcend the platform itself and become part of popular culture—like the song “Old Town Road,” which won a Grammy thanks to the platform’s meme culture.