The Google Earth Trend (TikTok)

About

The Google Earth Trend or Somewhere On Google Earth is a TikTok trend in which users find their old homes, typically from their childhoods, on Google Earth or Google Maps using Street View and try to find nostalgic things from the time the photo was taken, including examples like now-deceased pets, grandparents or themselves as a child. Some examples show their house throughout the years, as Google Maps allows users to see every date when a photo was taken of the home. The trend, set to the song "Springsteen" by Eric Church, was popularized in mid-December 2024. A similar trend known as Deceased Relatives on Google Maps previously garnered attention online years prior.

Origin

On December 14th, 2024, TikToker^[1] @bladehall posted a collection of screenshots of their childhood house on Google Earth set to "Springsteen" by Eric Church, writing, "And somewhere on Google Earth I'm still 17. It's summer, I'm back in my childhood neighborhood. Zero worries," garnering over 864,000 views in four days. The screenshots show who is assumed to be the poster washing a truck. This is the earliest known example of the trend.

Spread

The trend went viral over the following days as more users began looking at nostalgic locations from their childhoods using Street View on Google Maps, resulting in numerous examples under the same original sound being shared online.

For example, on December 16th, 2024, TikToker^[2] @itsleeuhhh posted a slideshow sharing photos of their home from 2011, 2016 and 2017, garnering over 2.9 million views in two days.

On December 17th, 2024, TikToker^[3] @tyra__lynn posted a video recording of their old home on Google Earth, which shows their grandparents still alive and working on the garden together, garnering over 300,000 views in a day.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References