(Image Source: Newsy ) BY JAMAL ANDRESS If you have been on the internet lately you have most likely seen this... You might have seen your favorite mascot do it... Or characters from your favorite childhood show... Or your favorite multimedia news organization.... No matter who you may have seen do it or how it was done the point is that you have definitely seen it and that’s because the Harlem Shake YouTube craze is officially viral. "...around 12,000 "Harlem Shake" videos had been posted since the start of the month and they'd already been watched upwards of 44 million times...over 4,000 of these videos are being uploaded per day and that number is still likely on the rise." (quote via youtube-trends) That’s right, now that gangam style is over the Harlem Shake begins... For those unfamiliar with the name Harlem Shake here’s a quick history lesson. (Videos via YouTube) Still confused? Okay the actual Harlem Shake dance became popular in Harlem, New York in 1981. It reached national acclaim in the early 2000’s through hip hop videos like G-Dep’s Let’s Get It but according to rapbasement.com the dance is based on an Ethiopian dance called the Eskista. (video via youtube) Producer Baauer used the name Harlem Shake in his song which just so happens to be the song featured in the new internet craze. Okay now that we’re all caught up why is this video 44 million views popular? Mashable writes there is a formula for internet success. “Clearly, part of the success of the videos can be attributed to the anticipation of that breakout moment. Another reason: The videos are so short, you can easily consume a dozen of them in a ten-minute lunch break.” But what separates the Harlem Shake from planking is this... Video of KSLA Harlem Shake and this.... Video of College Humor Harlem Shake and this... Video of BuzzFeed Harlem Shake  Clutch Magazine explains what took the Harlem Shake from any college dorm room to the Today Show... “you’ll notice that most of the videos seem to be done by college students, apparently college students with a lot of time on their hands. But then this (New Station KSLA doing the Harlem Shake) happened” But according to ABC News what is fun for now will be annoying later... “Whenever something that originated on the internet makes it onto a morning show, it is sure to become: 1. increasingly ubiquitous and annoying in a very short amount of time, 2. until it implodes and disappears, making way for whatever we're going to become obsessed with next... Let's enjoy these notable examples as we grieve its passing.”