The Internet is purposeful in nature, and human beings have been very inventive with its purpose. One of the main purposes the Internet serves is entertainment. And global users today have found a way of interacting with each other by creating engaging forms of entertainment. Some of the most viral forms of these engaging forms of entertainment have been “the challenges” which routinely flood various social media portals like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Vines. These challenges came round as a result of boredom and ended up scooping up the world — from aimless teenagers to public-relation-stunt making celebrities — into their whole game. It’s also interesting how a lot of these challenges ended up being linked to causes and charities. Who says that some good can’t come out of completely banal stupidity? Here are a few of the challenges which pretty much got everyone either laughing or running around hunting for the right spot and friends to perform some bizarre things in front of a cellphone camera.
1. ASL Ice Bucket Challenge
This was one of the most viral challenges to have hit the Internet, and the most effective in forming a chain. The “Ice Bucket Challenge” was meant to create awareness and help raise funds for the research of a disease known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ASL), better known as motor neuron disease. This challenge pretty much had celebrities like Justin Timberlake, Kim Kardashian, Salena Gomez, and even politicians, roped in for performance. If one did not accept the challenge then a donation of $100 was to be made instead. It is fact that most young kids performing this challenge didn’t really know what ASL stood for, but then they did have fun.
2. The Running Man Challenge
The challenge is to perform the “Running Man”, a simple dance like step, to an old 90s song called “My Boo” by the Ghost Town DJs. The challenge took the internet by storm with a large number of people who were able to master the step and even add their own variations and funk to the same step. The challenge was started by two basketball players from the University of Maryland, Jaylen Brantley and Jared Nickens. This challenge was quite enthusiastically taken up by basketball players and rappers.
3.The Mannequin Challenge
This was by far the most appealing of all challenges to have flooded the internet. It was just as the name suggests: a challenge to be mannequins. And this one allowed for a large group of people to participate in the challenge. There have been newsrooms, airplanes with politicians on it, school cafeterias and basketball courts which served for this challenge. The challenge was performed to “Black Beatles” by Rae Sremmurd being played in the background. The challenge turned into a popular hashtag on twitter and was started by students in Jacksonville, Florida in October, 2016.
4. The Bottle Flip Challenge
To prove the bizarre height humans can go to just in order to entertain themselves The Bottle Flip Challenge serves as the best example. The challenge actually turned into a trend when a video of a student at a school talent show in North Carolina went viral over the internet. This challenge is by far the most notorious for having been a nuisance; it was actually banned in most schools in America. The challenge was just about flipping a partially full bottle of water such that it landed back straight. The act ended up being truly engaging to teenagers in school, and was perhaps the most ridiculous sight to be a spectator to if you were the wiser of the lot.
5. Kylie Jenner Lips Challenge
What went onto be declared as a dangerous challenge by medical experts in the US, this challenge was basically about emulating in derision the lips of the celebrity Kylie Jenner. The challenge was to ‘plump’ the lips with the help of some technique and a bottle or glass. The challenge was amusing but resulted in a stream of images over the internet of bruised mouths and swellings which were pretty displeasing.