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What Is The 'Google Earth Trend' On TikTok? How To Do The Nostalgic Viral Trend Explained
TikTokers are getting nostalgic right now with a new trend (similar to another one from many years ago) that has them heading over to Google Earth and Maps to find snapshots of the past.
The trend, simply known as "The Google Earth Trend," involves searching up your childhood home on Google Earth or Maps, dropping near it using the Street View feature, seeing when the photos of it were taken and looking for nostalgia in the images — and many of the results are truly tearjerking.
So when did the trend get started and how can you take part in it? Here's what you need to know.
What Is The Google Earth Trend?
In mid-December 2024, TikToker @bladehall posted a screenshot of their childhood home taken from the street view of Google Earth. The screenshot is captioned, "And somewhere on Google Earth I'm still 17. It's summer, I'm back in my childhood neighborhood. Zero worries." In the photo, we can see someone who is purportedly the TikToker washing a truck.
Many of the street view photos on Google Maps and Google Earth were taken years ago and never updated. This TikToker decided to go find their childhood home on one of the apps to search for nostalgic things. In this case, he found himself at 17-years-old. Now, other TikTokers are doing the same.
How Do I Do The Google Earth Trend On TikTok?
Ever since the first video went viral, other TikTokers have been looking up their old homes in an attempt to find things to get nostalgic over. Some of the most popular examples include now-passed relatives and family pets and old vehicles. A lot of examples even include photos of the same house from several past years. But how do they get all these photos?
Despite the trend being called the "Google Earth" trend, it is best performed on Google Maps, which allows users to see every year a photo was taken of a given house or area.
To do this on your PC, you have to go on Google Maps, look up an address, and drop the little orange man onto the street outside of the home to enter Street View. Then, all you have to do is click "see more dates" in the top left corner to see all the available photos of the house throughout the years.
Finally, take some screenshots of the house, caption them and upload them under the song "Springsteen" by Eric Church and you've successfully participated in the trend.
For the full history of The Google Earth Trend, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.