“Don’t wash your hair today!”

During the first few days of the 2026 Lunar New Year, TikTok feeds were flooded with creators participating in a trend centered on greasy hair. For some, it was a quirky social media challenge about gaining luck, but for millions of people across Asian cultures, the practice is a centuries-old tradition rooted in the belief that washing hair on New Year’s Day can wash away good fortune.

Junior Ellie Armstrong, who celebrates Lunar New Year with her family, reflected on how traditions like these carry deeper meaning, beyond the social media trend.

“My family always talks about the traditions around Lunar New Year, like cleaning the house beforehand or not washing your hair that day,” Armstrong said. “Seeing it on TikTok is kind of funny, but it also makes me realize that a lot of people don’t know where the tradition actually comes from.”

The growing presence of cultural traditions on social media is a complicated trade-off. As cultural practices move from private homes to global platforms, they are often embraced for their aesthetic or “trendy” value while the cultural value behind them remains sidelined.

Still, the rise of cultural traditions on mainstream social media isn’t necessarily negative. In many ways, it reflects something positive: cultures are being shared, celebrated and discovered by new audiences. The issue isn’t participation. It’s the absence of context. Understanding the cultural traditions behind viral social media trends can turn a popular aesthetic into a deeper appreciation.

 The Lunar New Year hair washing tradition is only one example of how cultural practices circulate online. Across TikTok, Instagram and other platforms, traditions from around the world frequently appear as viral trends, often stripped down to their most visual or entertaining elements.

One example is the viral dish sometimes referred to online as “Courtney Cook eggs.” The name stems from a TikTok creator who popularized the recipe on her platform. In videos that have gained millions of views, she shows soft-boiled eggs soaked in a mixture of soy sauce, garlic, chili and other seasonings. While the recipe spreads across social media as a newly discovered comfort meal, similar soy-marinated eggs have existed for generations across Asian cuisines. In Korea, Mayak eggs are a popular side dish often eaten with rice. What appears online as a viral trend often reflects cooking traditions that have long been staples in everyday meals.

Junior Bradley Nanola recognized the viral eggs from TikTok, but didn’t realize the dish already had a traditional name.

“I always just called them the ‘Courtney Cook eggs’ because that’s what I saw online,” Nanola said. “I didn’t even know they were called Mayak eggs or that they were part of Korean food culture.”

Symbols can also travel far beyond their original meaning. The blue evil eye charm, now widely worn as jewelry or displayed as decoration, is often described online as a way to protect your energy. While it can be a protection of energy for some, the symbol originates from ancient beliefs across the Mediterranean and Middle East. The idea of the evil eye refers to harmful energy created through jealousy or ill intent, and protective charms like the blue evil eye often seen were historically worn or displayed to guard against that negativity. Variations of the symbol exist in cultures from Greece and Turkey, to parts of the Middle East and South Asia. Today, many people wear the charm simply as a fashion accessory, often unaware of the spiritual beliefs that shape it.

Cultural traditions appearing online take many forms. One widely recognizable example is Holi, the Hindu festival of colors. Images of bright powder thrown into the air have become popular visuals on social media, appearing in photoshoots, parties and “color run” races around the world. 

Junior Sophie Levin participated in a similar event at summer camp, where campers ran a charity “color run” in which volunteers threw colored powder at them while they ran in all white.

“It was really fun and it was for a good cause, but at the time I had no idea it was connected to an actual cultural festival,” Levin said. “I think a lot of people just see the colors and don’t realize there is a deeper cultural meaning behind it.”

 Traditionally, Holi celebrates the arrival of spring and the triumph of good over evil, with roots in Hindu mythology. Families and communities gather to celebrate through prayer, music and the throwing of colored powders that symbolize joy and renewal. While the colors themselves have become globally recognizable, the religious and cultural significance behind the festival is often left out of viral posts.

Silk and satin bonnets, which frequently appear in “night routine” and self-care content online, have a deep history rooted in African American culture. According to MadameNoire, an online magazine focused on the culture and experiences of Black women, bonnets throughout history have been “a sign of beauty and functionality for Black folks,” sometimes worn as “acts of pride, celebration and resistance.” According to JSTOR Daily, the “Black is Beautiful” movement during the Civil Rights era “assured Black women and men that their skin, facial features and natural hair were admirable.” Embracing natural hairstyles became a way to challenge Eurocentric beauty standards that favored straight hair and discouraged natural Black hair textures. As pride in natural hair grew, everyday practices used to care for and protect that hair––like wearing silk bonnets—became part of a broader tradition of cultural identity and self-care. Today, while bonnets often appear online as part of aesthetic self-care routines, their cultural history is not always included in the trend.

In each of these cases, the visual elements of cultural traditions spread quickly: the recipe, the jewelry, the powder, the routine. The history behind them, however, often moves more slowly.

Recognizing the origins of these practices doesn’t limit participation; it enriches it. Behind every trend is a culture, a history and a community that created it. Understanding those stories allows traditions to spread without losing the meaning that made them worth sharing in the first place.