Some of the Grooviest Moves Are Showcased in the Dance Like It's the 80s Trend on TikTok

Though internet trends tend to come and go faster than most can keep up with them, sometimes they strike a user's heartstrings. The "dance like it's the 80s" trend is a new one going around TikTok, following in the footsteps of other nostalgic ones like the "history repeats itself" and "she lives inside me."

Sticking with the app's dance origins, the "dance like it's the 80s" trend spotlights those who were young during that decade, letting them showcase some of their best moves.

This new trend is one of the more wholesome ones on the app, showcasing the moves of those who grew up in the 80s. Though most of the app's younger users had parents who were born in the 80s, this trend has become popular with creators who have parents or grandparents who remember how they moved and grooved in that decade.

For the most part, this trend is set to a clip of the song "Smalltown Boy" by Bronski Beat, which was released in 1984. At the time of writing, there are more than 50,000 videos set to this sound.

Though every video showcases dance moves that are a little bit different from each other, for the most part, each video features similar moves. There's a lot of hip wiggling, arm waving, and leg kicking that happens in each video, showcasing the clear dance trends of the decade.

This heartwarming trend has really done nothing but spread joy, both among the people dancing and with those viewing the trends online.

"The smiles on their faces as they go back in time through the art of dance>>>>," one X user commented on a post including a roundup of these TikTok videos.

"it's actually harder than it looks, they must have been so popular when they were younger," another commended the dancers in their comment.

"I just know that every mama I’ve seen do this trend was THAT girl in the 80’s," another said.

This has also resulted in some fun spinoff videos. TikTok user @logancraft96 used the greenscreen feature to edit some of the parents dancing onto a backdrop of an 80s club, captioning the video "So this is what clubs were like in the 80s."

"Seeing the actual 80s club and disco footage, this is literally what they did!" one TikTok user commented on Logan Craft's post. "The hair was so fluffy too! Everyone was sweaty, and lots of glazed eyes. But it looked like a fever dream."

"Smalltown Boy" was part of Bronski's debut album, The Age of Consent. The song is about a young gay man who finds himself isolated from his family and friends after coming out. Though the clip shared on TikTok doesn't showcase any of the song's lyrics, it was an incredibly popular synth-pop song from the time period.

Not all TikTok trends are as fun and lighthearted as this one is, but occasionally the app's users will share moments that give a brief moment of warmth while scrolling through the For You page.