Standing still is the new Internet fad and almost everyone is doing it.
The Mannequin Challenge started circulating the Internet in October and challenges groups of people to stand completely still as long as they can, oftentimes in a difficult position, while someone videotapes the scene.
The first known occurrence of the challenge was Oct. 26, 2016, when a student from Jacksonville, Fl., uploaded a video of students frozen in different positions.
While the, supposedly, original video does not have any background noise many of the videos that recreate the challenge play the song “Black Beatles,” by Rae Sremmurd.
According to Bustle.com, the rap duo does not know why the song is associated with the challenge, but went on to recreate the challenge at one of their concerts.
The challenge has also been recreated by other big names, such as 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and popular sports teams, which may be a big reason why challenges like these are so popular.
Though this trend has gained a lot of attention, it is not the first Internet challenge to sweep the web, but certainly one of the safest.
The Cinnamon Challenge was a popular challenge in 2012 that involved people trying to swallow a spoonful of pure ground cinnamon in 60 seconds without drinking water.
The challenge led to many injuries and Time magazine said that the challenge could lead to lasting lung damage. The challenge also led to numerous poison-control calls and trips to the hospital.
“The popularity of these challenges proves that they [youth] do follow a higher authority. The Internet has allowed for everyone, particularly the youth, to create a pseudo hive-mind,” said Andrew McCarty, the direct support professional supervisor at New Vista Behavioral Health.
Many Internet challenges have a large following and continue to be replicated regardless of the consequences because people like to watch them.
Andrew Virgin, a maintenance employee at Central Bank, said that he watches videos on World Star Hip-Hop the majority of his leisure time and that is usually how he finds his news and what is trending.
“I think it is cool to see all of the new things that people are doing online,” said Virgin. “The Mannequin Challenge videos are entertaining because there are so many people doing it and you get to see how creative people can be. You can watch them for hours and not get bored.”
Challenges like the Mannequin Challenge exist because people like to do and see that type of content, said Brooke Lawson, an integrated strategic communications and digital art and design double major.
“It is as if people feel like they are in an exclusive group once they have participated in something like that,” said Lawson. “It is like they are in the same league as those they look up to.”
Internet challenges show how people follow trends in today’s society. The Cinnamon challenge had a following of 40,000, said Time magazine in 2013.
“The most fundamental aspect of humanity, what allows for civilization, is our strong drive to be part of a group, to be included,” said McCarty. “Mass media allows us to glutton ourselves on this sense of belonging.”
Hopping on bandwagons is prominent because those who are not a part of the majority are left out or forgotten.
“While there are some demagogues, Vine stars, and YouTube personalities that serve as mouthpieces, their fame is transient and immaterial and if they deviated from the collective dialogue they will be forgotten as quickly as they appeared,” said McCarty.
While the Mannequin Challenge is not a particularly dangerous challenge it does raise important questions about how the youth are influenced to do things.
The Ice Bucket Challenge was also a very popular Internet challenge that went viral in 2014. It challenged people to dump a bucket of ice water on him or herself to raise awareness for ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease.
McCarty said that he participated in the Ice Bucket Challenge for his former workplace several years ago.
“My then supervisor said that it was good for two reasons: good publicity for our store and a fun team building activity,” said McCarty. “Privately she confessed that she really wanted to do the challenge for personal desire.”
The Ice Bucket Challenge had a following of 2.4 million tagged videos on Facebook and raised $100 million is 2014. The challenge continues to be replicated yearly.
Internet challenges are entertaining and fun to recreate and make your own and that is why many people take to continuing a trend, even if it is dangerous, like the Cinnamon Challenge. Other people may have a great idea that beats every other idea and want to put it on the Internet.
“You see other people having fun doing these challenges and you feel left out and want to join in,” said Lawson. “They also bring out our competitive sides, since some people think that they can do them better.”