Although social media is a great place to build life long connections and even seek advice from other people, there are negatives associated with its use just like anything else. A social media app that we are all familiar of, TikTok took the world by surprise after its release. During the pandemic, the popularity of the app skyrocketed as schools shifted online and people started working from home. With over 1 billion active users on the platform, TikTok is one of the most popular social media application for people to share short videos with others on the platform. While most of these videos do no harm other than burn time, some videos have become the cause of concern for the users of the platform and their friends. In recent years, we have seen a rise in TikTok challenges which are particularly dangerous for the users who perform them. Numerous challenges have led to fatal accidents and injuries.
TikTok CEO
Credits: Wall Street Journal
Why does this happen?
TikTok is very popular among the younger generation due to the attractive nature of videos on the app. Some of these videos have challenges which appeal to younger people who then want to try them either for fun or in hopes of becoming famous. The situation is sometimes similar to peer pressure. Sometimes the users aren’t old enough to understand the harmful consequences of these challenges and others who are just copy the trends. The app provides users a platform to participate in a trend by creating and sharing videos with a specific theme or concept. While most challenges are fun and harmless, like dancing to a popular song or showing off a new outfit, there are some challenges which can be dangerous and even deadly. These are a physical threat and people who are unaware of possible consequences might be tempted to imitate these.
Some of the most dangerous challenges:
- The Skull Breaker Challenge: TikTok has been making headlines for one of the most dangerous challenges on the platform called the Skull Breaker Challenge. This involves three people standing side by side. The two people on the ends then try to make the middle person fall backwards. The goal of the challenge is to get the middle person to fall as hard as possible. This challenge has led to several injuries, including concussions, brain damage, and even death. However, the challenge remains relevant on the platform among other life threatening ones.
- The Outlet Challenge: Another deadly challenge on the platform targets people with weak knowledge of physics. The Outlet Challenge involves partially inserting the prongs of a phone charger into an electrical outlet and then touching the exposed metal portion of it with a penny or another electricity conductor. While this challenge shows that it causes a spark, this has led to extremely dangerous conditions including electrocution, fires, and even death.
- The Benadryl Challenge: As the name suggests, this challenge involves taking harmful doses of the medicinal drug. The medication which is otherwise for allergic treatment can cause hallucinations and seizures when taken in harmful doses. There have been cases where this challenge led to cardiac arrest and death. What makes this challenge even more dangerous is the fact that “Benadryl” is an easily accessible drug which can be procured without a prescription.
- The Choking Challenge: I find this challenge to be particularly interesting as the name gaslights me into believing that a person has to choke a friend. However, this challenge could also involve choking yourself till you pass out and not necessarily a friend. This has led to brain damage in some cases but could also be fatal. Although it does not sound appealing at all to choke someone as a challenge but surprisingly this is a popular TikTok challenge that has been performed by several users on the platform.
- The Fire Challenge: Another TikTok challenge involves putting flammable liquid on oneself and then setting fire to it. TikTok challenge that has gained popularity in recent years. While the goal is to distinguish the flames before they could cause any damage, this challenge has led to severe burns and even death.
