The Trend of Viral Challenges

You snort an unwrapped condom through your nostril and bring it out from your mouth. This may resemble a grueling scene from some horror movie, but it’s just another fad in the name of ‘viral challenge’. Video sharing websites have enabled the preaching and sharing of ideas and thoughts with a broader audience. And content, that makes the viewer respond with ‘oh, that’s cute!’ to ‘is this guy mad or what?’, has taken this advantage to usher in a new era; one where manipulating the viewer’s emotions and intellect has become a piece of cake.

Contemplating the trend in question helps draw a conclusion; these videos are akin to a multifaceted personality—one who could turn from seemingly innocuous to seriously damaging, that too in a jiffy. Starting with the positive aspect, themes such as the ‘Harlem Shake’, where you start dancing weirdly at the onset of a beat, are effective in bringing out the much-needed occasional chuckle in a mundane setting. A stress buster of sorts, such harmless videos also reflect the creativity and ingenuity that the human mind is capable of. And one shouldn’t have reservations against them. Who would resist a free dose of comedy? And if this still doesn’t convince you, search for ‘what the fluff challenge’, ‘ice bucket challenge’, and ‘planking’. If none of them gets to you and makes you smile, I presume you’re a lonely creature that needs to get out of that self-imposed cocoon of seriousness!

Adding a few drops of elusiveness and tomfoolery to this ingenuity gives rise to the crazy segment of viral videos. Consider the ‘hot pepper’ challenge—participants record themselves eating peppers which rank off the charts when it comes to the Scoville scale (a spectrum to measure the intensity of spiciness). In almost every video shot, the person ends up in a state that’s best described as anything but fine. Coughing profusely, eyes watery, and a face as red as a fresh tomato; if this is your definition of fun, then go ahead, you have full rights to satiate your appetite for stultification. Fooling around is good, but at the expense of your well-being, it’s best to be avoided. Just to emphasize on the previous line, do a Google search for the ‘salt and ice challenge' and the ‘cinnamon challenge’. If they were to be summed up using one word, it ought to be moronic. 

And finally, when one crosses the limits of sanity and rationality, the evil side of such trending videos comes into the picture. This aspect is so dangerous that people, especially parents and doctors rebuke it; they see it as vicious and sinful. A few months back, the ‘blue whale’ challenge was the talk of the town. Broadcasts were repeatedly requesting children and teens to abstain from using the blue whale game. For the uninformed, the challenge was spread over 50 days, comprising of tasks that encouraged self-harm, and finally committing suicide. Several people fell prey, losing their lives due to the psychological obsession which the mobile app successfully cultivated among its users. Hearing about tragic incidents where people ended up being dead or scarred, both emotionally and physically, forces me to deliberate: are we humans naïve to the point that we don’t understand the simple nuances delineating rationality and stupidity? All the advancements that we’ve made as a civilization over the centuries are often trumped by our reckless reactions to such videos.

Condemning content that goes viral isn’t the solution. We’re sentient creatures and stimulation of our emotional requirements is a necessity. The material on sites such as YouTube gets us revamped and energized, serving as an indispensable chill pill. But putting the brakes on before this entertainment takes a wrong turn and turns parlous is equally important.