The Harlem Shake is a video internet meme of people performing a skit to the song "Harlem Shake". As a meme, the video was replicated using the same concept by many people, which eventually became viral in early February 2013, with thousands of "Harlem Shake" videos being made and uploaded to YouTube every day. The form of the meme was established in a video uploaded on February 2 by five teenagers from Queensland, Australia known on YouTube as The Sunny Coast Skate. The video started a viral trend of people uploading to YouTube their own "Harlem Shake" videos. The teenagers' video, in its turn, was a follow-up to a video by a YouTube comedy vlogger named Filthy Frank featuring a part where several costumed people danced to the song "Harlem Shake" by Baauer. The videos last between 30 and 32 seconds and feature an excerpt from the song "Harlem Shake" by electronic musician Baauer. Usually, a video begins with one person (often helmeted or masked) dancing to the song alone for 15 seconds, surrounded by other people not paying attention or unaware of the dancing individual. When the bass drops, the video cuts to the entire crowd doing a crazy convulsive dance for the next 15 seconds. The dancing style should not be confused with the original Harlem Shake dance. Additionally, in the second half of the video, people often wear a minimum of clothes or crazy outfits or costumes while wielding strange props.

Various groups that shot videos of themselves doing the Harlem Shake included the staff of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, a squadron of the Norwegian Army, basketball players from the Dallas Mavericks, IMG Academy american football players, football players from Manchester City, Swansea City football players, and the colleagues of CNN newsanchor Anderson Cooper.