What's it like 'Growing up shy'?

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Hundreds of thousands of people are sharing memories of socially awkward childhoods with the hashtag #GrowingUpShy, external.

The outburst of nostalgia has become a phenomenon on social media over the past week with millions using hashtags beginning with "Growing up ..."

The trend began in the US when some African-American Twitter users shared jokes and images under the hashtag #GrowingUpBlack. It was tweeted over 2 million times and spawned dozens of spinoffs, as BBC Trending previously reported. #GrowingUpHispanic, #GrowingUpArab, #GrowingUpNigerian, and phrases related to pretty much any ethnicity or nationality you can think of trended in regions around the world.

The movement has now moved beyond ethnic identity with tags such as #GrowingUpPoor and #GrowingUpWithMyName.

Image source, Twitter
Image source, Twitter

One of the most popular spin-offs was #GrowingUpShy, with more than 600,000 mentions.

Image source, Twitter

To find out more about how that hashtag started - watch the video above or go to our Facebook page, external.

Video journalists: Ravin Sampat, external and Henry Wilmer

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Image source, Facebook

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