Challenges
Challenges are viral sensations that people click to watch. Videos of people trying to eat cinnamon went viral, and many kids started mimicking them.
Some challenges are harmless, such as the mannequin challenge. If you do not remember, the mannequin challenge was when people would suddenly freeze in a pose, as if they were mannequins, while a camera moved around.
People raised money and awareness for ALS because of the popular ice bucket challenge.
Other challenges, such as the infamous Tide pod challenge, had YouTube pull videos of people participating. Campaigns were also created to stop kids from attempting the challenge.
A 15-year-old boy received second-degree burns because his friend wanted to do the hot water challenge as a joke. This challenge requires people to drink scalding water or pour it on their bodies.
Doctors are seeing more patients because of dangerous internet challenges.
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After getting hit by a car, a Viner encouraged others to not perform dangerous stunts for the sake of a short clip.
Why Do People Do Challenges?
People want to beat challenges on YouTube and on other social media websites. In some cases, this includes setting yourself on fire to win the fire challenge.
Social media rewards this behavior. People want to get likes and views on their posts and videos. People can publicly brag if they beat the challenge; if it spreads more people will participate.
People also upload failures because epic fails can be funny and can also go viral. There is a chance that a fail video may receive more views than a success video.
People want to be famous. In social media, there was the quote "do it for the vine" which encouraged people to do actions for the sake of a six-second clip. Actions may include potentially harmful stunts.
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Lele Pons, a popular entertainer, routinely got hurt for her videos and even broke her nose for a vine. In the video, she claims violence is funny, which is why she does it.
Psychological Reasons
Teenagers are the main participants in these challenges. There is a mix of fearlessness and impulsiveness that makes them likely to participate.
According to Elaine Ducharme, a board-certified clinical psychologist, she explained that teens are susceptible to peer pressure. For the sake of acceptance in a group, a teen may participate in a challenge.
Due to emotional behavior teens may not see the risks. Or they may not care if it means they can go viral on the internet and get famous.
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