One Direction
The former X Factor stars are begin encouraged to perform their own version of the viral dance, Harlem Shake. Reuters

It is the dance that has taken the internet by storm and now One Direction are being encouraged to perform their very own Harlem Shake.

Fans have started a campaign on Twitter calling for the British boyband to produce a video of themselves doing the viral dance craze.

Within minutes the hashtag 'OneDirectionMustMakeAHarlemShake' was a worldwide trending topic on the microblogging site.

Some fans opted for persuasion, while others went for good old-fashioned flattery.

One fan said: "The boys must do a Harlem Shake; just imagine them dancing like this... OMG! *_* #OneDirectionMustMakeAHarlemShake.

Another wrote: "#OneDirectionMustMakeAHarlemShake- They're probably the only people in the world who could make it look attractive."

The nternet meme, set to the tune of Harlem Shake by New York-based DJ Baauer, pays homage to a phenomenon that has been around since the 1980s.

The premise is simple: For the first 15 seconds of each video, one person typically dances while everyone else in the room remains still. Then, once the baseline drops, everyone else goes crazy.

Up to 4,000 videos of Harlem Shake variations are uploaded on to the internet daily.

Earlier this week up to 15 Australian gold miners were reportedly fired after performing the Harlem Shake while they were working underground.

According to the West Australian newspaper, owner Barminco said that the stunt had breached safety regulations in the dismissal letter given to the men.