TikTok's 'Google Maps Girl' trend has us lost and strutting to Charli xcx

Were it not for GPS maps, I'd likely still be lost somewhere. The other day I felt supremely proud that I rode a Citi Bike from Manhattan to Brooklyn sans directions. I've lived in New York City for about a decade now, by the way, and that minor feat felt like a major accomplishment.

There's a new trend on TikTok poking fun at this fact of life for folks who came of age in the GPS era. The trend varies, but effectively people wander around the screen — or, sometimes, do a model walk — looking at their phone, seemingly lost, often as the Charli xcx song, "Girl, so confusing" plays. Frequently, the subjects in question are women (get it..."Girl, so confusing"). The trend, more or less, has become known as the Google Maps Girl trend.

The Google Maps Girl trend, however, does seem to be a variation on other TikTok videos that use the Charli xcx song as the backdrop for a faux model walk. People will strut to the beat, then turn around for something funny, like realizing their partner was still mad or that they forgot their vape. As with most trends, you can trace the Google Maps Girl posts back to a previous trend. We're all just building atop the online world that came before us.

Still, I personally really identify with the idea of wandering around, glued to my phone's map.