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Another day, another social media fad. Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and their ilk are full of social media challenges and trends, but I won’t take part in any of them. And there are so many reasons you should avoid them too.
1 Challenges Can Be Dangerous
A cursory glance at news items will tell you how dangerous some of these social media challenges can be. Yes, some purport solely to be fun or even raising money for charity, but the actual consequences of these trends can be serious.
The sunburn challenge saw people creating “body art” on their bodies by drawing an image using suntan lotion and leaving the rest of their bodies to burn in the sun. Obviously, repeated exposure to the sun in such a way can lead to skin cancer.
Other challenges, however, seem harmless at first. These challenges often involve eating something to either prank someone or even induce effects similar to taking drugs. Notable examples include the salt trend and nutmeg challenge, both of which show the consumption of these food stuffs. When consumed in large quantities, though, they can cause nausea, diarrhea, seizures, and, in extreme cases, death.
That’s not to mention the corn on the cob, dragon’s breath, TidePod, and so many other challenges. These risks simply aren’t worth taking.
2 They Can Hinder Future Employment
What you share online stays online. You can delete content, but nothing is completely gone. We’ve all seen posts coming back to haunt people years later. The everyday person might not be likely to get cancelled, but what we share online can still stop future employment.
Take, as an example, the trend of people putting videos of them getting fired on TikTok. This trend saw those being laid off by employers via video calls then streaming their being let go from a company.
That might seem like a revolt against authority, but it’s a bad move. If any future employers see that you’ve done that, they might get a bad impression of you. What’s more, by sharing these videos, you might be in contravention of privacy clauses. It’s just one example of TikTok challenges that go too far.
3 Trends Can Affect Other People
I hate people being inconsiderate and that’s what a lot of these challenges involve. There’s the trend of people sharing videos of themselves working out at the gym only to be interrupted when someone else dares to walk in front of the camera or wants to use the same equipment.
Then there are pointless videos you think don’t affect anyone but actually have unseen consequences. The toilet roll challenge involved emptying a full roll into an airplane toilet while flushing: the effect is admittedly cool to see as the suction continues until the roll is finished.
Nonetheless, this ignores the lack of provisions on flights, impacting anyone going in afterwards. Similarly, at the end of each flight, the airplane’s waste tanks have to be emptied. On LinkedIn, aeronautical professional, Renish C., warns that “flushing rolls and rolls of toilet paper does cause serious blockages and an external force may be required to release the contents into the dump truck. This can cause a serious risk to the health of the employee as the contents can dump right over them.”
4 They Can Result In Getting Scammed
We’re all so attuned to sharing private details online that it becomes second nature. I do it too. But if you think you’re unlikely to get scammed, guess again. Everyone is a potential victim of cybercrime.
Trends can lead to getting tricked by a fraudster. These can include simple quizzes and personality tests. Because everyone seems to be doing them, you’ll think you’re safe to do so too. What’s the harm, right? But some of these quizzes will ask for access to your profile simply so you can take part.
That might seem straightforward, but scammers can learn a lot from your profile. Granting them access can mean they skip past your privacy settings, and can see exactly who you are, who you’re friends with, and what you’re interested in. Such information can lead to pyramid schemes, phishing attempts, and even identity theft.
5 You Might Reveal Too Much About Yourself
Giving away even basic Personally Identifiable Information (PII) can have a serious impact on you. I often see posts on X, aka Twitter, that solely exist to find out answers to security questions. This might be through your “drag queen name” or similar, which scammers posing as normal users say is “your mother’s maiden name and the name of your first pet combined”.
If any of your private information has ever ended up on the dark web, replying to these posts can give cybercriminals enough information to pass security questions and reset your online accounts.
6 They’re Largely Driven by Consumerism
Social media trends have been hijacked by big brands. Simply taking part means you’re either wasting money and time on a passing fad or acting as an unknowing publicist for a massive company.
TikTok is a perfect place to find trends pushed by consumerism. While some are somewhat altruistic, like those encouraging people to buy books, others are purely to drive sales to specific products you don’t really need.
The popularity of Stanley cups is a prime example of this. They’re simply tumblers with straws and massive handles. Once made for construction workers, social media rebranded them as for women solely based on interest on TikTok and Instagram. It’s a canny move, but one which leaves me feeling hollow and cynical about how trends can be created just for marketing purposes.
Stanley cups might be useful sometimes, but they’re only popular because social media tells people they’re the latest cool product you have to own to fit in.
7 They Lack Creativity and Originality
Ultimately these challenges and trends are pedestrian and boring. They’re a complete waste of time.
I’m all for creativity, but things like the gallon challenge—which involves drinking that amount of milk without throwing up—are both dumb and unoriginal. They’re not adding anything significant or thought-provoking to the world. They’re just content for content’s sake.
There are influencers who entertain their fans by doing something productive or by informing them of something interesting. These don’t tend to become trends, however. The stuff that generally becomes social media phenomenons are things that people can replicate. Typically, that’s not something mentally stimulating. It’s something nonsensical, like filming yourself committing a crime, as with the “kia boyz” trend that made headlines.
Challenges on Facebook, X, TikTok, Instagram, and the like simply aren’t worth taking part in.