About
Owling refers to the act of sitting in a perched position while looking off into the distance as to mimic the posture of an owl. The fad was created as a response to another photo fad called “planking”.
Origin
A thread was posted to Reddit[1] on July 11th, 2011, entitled “Seems to be an increase in planking photos, so…” featuring a demotivational stye image macro of a woman perched on railing with the caption “OWLING because planking is so two months ago”.
Spread
On July 12th, 2011, the story was posted on Salon[2], HuffPo Urlesque[9], NowPublic[4]. and BuzzFeed[5], even spawning a few user-generated images on Tumblr[6] and Reddit.[7]
The first Urban Dictionary[8] definition was created the same day:
The act of displaying oneself on-top of miscellaneous objects in a sitting position while holding your knees. Let’s go owling tonight on-top of signs!
Search
Search queries for “owling” increased dramatically on July 12th, the day after the first Reddit post.
Examples
External Links
[1]Reddit – Seems to be an increase in planking photos, so…
[2]Salon – Owling is the new planking, and other made-up trends
[3]Huffington Post – Owling Is The Squatter’s Answer To
[4]NowPublic – Owling: The New Planking?
[5]BuzzFeed – Owling is the New Planking