Katy Perry’s 2017 Saturday Night Live performance revived a memory: Russell Horning, better known as the Backpack Kid, doing his stiff-armed dance beside her on stage. That single image set off a chain reaction across Reddit, where users revived memories of the 2010s and found dozens of other moments that now feel almost impossible to believe.
More than 5,800 upvotes and roughly 1,050 comments have accumulated on the r/Fauxmoi post showing Perry’s performance of “Swish Swish”, as of publication. One person commented, “This is upsetting. Take it back.”
The Backpack Kid Dance
In May 2017, during the 42nd season finale of SNL, Perry performed “Swish Swish”. Horning was there beside her, still wearing the backpack and gray shirt that marked him, doing the stiff-armed dance that had made him famous online. That stiff-armed dance soon took over as the most striking part of the whole performance.
A Decade of Chaos
Several commenters recalled chaotic moments from the late 2000s and 2010s when answering a thread asking for times that now feel almost impossible to believe. One user’s list included:
- The Balloon Boy saga
- Weird TLC shows
- Winona Ryder’s Saks Fifth Avenue incident
- Heidi Montag’s music video
- The Gawker-Hulk Hogan legal saga
Another commenter referenced a 2010 phone call between journalist Nancy Jo Sales and Alexis Neiers — a viral moment from the era — writing, “NANCY JO. THIS IS ALEXIS NEIERS.” The reference illustrated how many disparate viral moments from that era now blur together in internet memory.
Before TikTok
One user on the thread recalled how Pokémon GO’s 2016 launch drew crowds around rare creatures, while another described how thousands of New Yorkers gathered in Central Park during the chase. The commenter remembered the impromptu gatherings with these words: “Living in NYC was insane,”.
| Moment | Year |
|---|---|
| Pokémon GO launch | 2016 |
| Central Park gatherings | 2016 |
Oscars, Politics and More
Some users recalled the 2022 Oscars, where Will Smith struck Chris Rock during the ceremony. One person wrote that the blow first seemed like a comedy bit until the audience realized it was genuine.
They also recalled Diddy trying to smooth things over during the aftermath. A second commenter wrote, “Her reaction lol,” while discussing a related moment from the ceremony.
Rudy Giuliani’s press conference at the Four Seasons Total Landscaping was also singled out by Reddit users. One person said it was their favorite moment that gets little attention. A second user placed it within a time when American politics and online culture came together.
What the Thread Shows
This thread’s recollections were shared on Reddit’s r/Fauxmoi, and The Daily Dot was unable to confirm every detail through independent means. The details above are drawn from that discussion as presented.
The thread’s mix of celebrity scandals, political mishaps and viral trends created its own timeline of cultural chaos. What stands out is not just the individual moments, but how quickly they blur together in memory — one commenter’s joke about Perry’s costume, “Wait why did I think this was pink?” — captures that same sense of disorientation.
This is a story about how the internet remembers. It is not a list of the decade’s best moments; it is a list of the ones that felt strange enough to stick. And it is a reminder that the 2010s were not a single coherent era — they were a decade of extremes.
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