The Florida Man Challenge is back. Here's the most popular birthdays and their stories
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The old Florida Man birthday meme is back, proving once again that nothing ever truly dies.
What’s different this time around? People are posting their screenshots on social media platforms called “X” and “Threads.” The entire social media sphere has changed since the original Florida Man Challenge was sparked in 2019 after Tumblr user “gandalfsoda” asked users to “search up ‘Florida man’ and your birthday and see what headline you get,” describing it as a “new fun personality game.”
While gandalfsoda may have lit the signal flare, it was X, formerly known as Twitter, user @g_pratimaaa who answered the call days later when she echoed the challenge.
“EVERYBODY google ‘florida man’ followed by your birthday (florida man august 22) and tell me what you get. mine is Florida Man tries to attack neighbor with tractor,” @g_pratimaaa tweeted.
EVERYBODY google “florida man” followed by your birthday (florida man august 22) and tell me what you get. mine is Florida Man tries to attack neighbor with tractor
— swervin merv (@ratatooile) March 19, 2019
And just like that, the trend began.
The following day, a Twitter Moments page was created, titled “Which ‘Florida man’ story are you?” The Twitter Moments page gave way to another name for the trend, “Florida Man Zodiac.”
What birthdays are trending with Florida Man Challenge revival?
Thanks to Google Trends, we can see which birthdays are most popularly related to Florida Man. Perusing through results from the past day, here’s what they are, and which Florida Man story they’re associated with:
Sept. 4 — “Florida man dies after hitting pig with car”
Jan. 1 — “Florida man dubbed ‘pooping perpetrator’ sought by police over Joe’s Crab Shack break-in”
June 6 — “Florida man charged with pouring ketchup on girlfriend”
Oct. 1 — “Drunk Florida man tries to use taco as ID after his car catches fire at Taco Bell”
Feb. 11 — “Florida man arrested after spraying people with fire extinguisher at Walmart”
May 23 — “A Florida man was arrested after telling a playground full of kids where babies come from”
Dec. 15 — “Florida man accused of masturbating in Walmart toy section turns himself in”
Jan. 26 — “Florida man finds WWII grenade and brings it to Taco Bell”
Sept. 26 — “Florida man arrested, caught on video using samurai sword to fight over wheelbarrow”
Florida Man Challenge circa 2019: Yes, these are real. The best Florida Man headlines of 2019
What’s the origin of Florida Man?
In 2013, Freddie Campion, an associate editor at GQ at the time, created the original Twitter account @_FloridaMan. Campion’s account exploded in popularity after he began sharing Florida crime stories telling tales that easily rivaled the likes of satirical masters like The Onion. The magic touch? Slapping those two words in front of every headline: “Florida man.”
In the time since, Campion retired the account, telling The Ledger in 2019 that he began to feel queasy when he would read some of the more horrific “Florida Man” headlines.
"How much do I want to be a party to essentially making fun of people on the worst day of their lives, even if they have done something wrong? Like, who gave the internet the right to add to someone's punishment,” Campion told the Ledger.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: The Florida Man Challenge is back. Here's the most popular birthdays
