We often report on deadly stupid social media trends here on this blog.
Whether it is an attempt at going viral or participating in a broader display, social media trends over the years have ranged from the innocent to the downright deadly.
And we’re happy to report today that one such trend was apparently exaggerated to the point that it was completely made up, giving us all just a little bit more faith in humanity and perhaps even teaching us to take media stories with more than a grain of salt (especially when they already conform to preconceived biases – in this case, the general chaos of social media trends).
Called the “TikTok Boat Jumping Challenge,” the trend allegedly contributed to the deaths of four teens in the US state of Alabama. The only problem with that theory is that such a challenge never existed, and this comes straight from TikTok spokesperson Ben Rathe, PetaPixel reports.
After erroneous news reports attributed the deaths to a deadly trend wherein participants jump off of the back of a moving boat, the state issued a correction with Alabama Law Enforcement Agent Jeremy Burkett stating, “On Monday, July 3, a news story was shared regarding ‘first responders warning against a deadly boating TikTok trend after recent drownings’ in Alabama. However, please be advised the information released to the news outlet was incorrect.”
While we’re glad this trend was fake, too many of them are real and come with deadly consequences. We’ve reported on more than a few of them here. Let’s not forget that photography and videography can be dangerous enough without the added complication of attempting deadly stunts.
Any thoughts you might have on social media trends are welcome below.
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