This document summarizes the dangerous social media trend called "Neknomination" where people film themselves drinking dangerous amounts of alcohol and daring others to do the same or more extreme acts. It began in Australia and spread globally on social media. The trend has led to at least one death of a 19-year-old Irish man who participated. A psychologist believes people engage in risk-taking behavior for attention and to feel a sense of belonging. The document advises how to avoid pressuring peers to participate by treating the trend as uncool and boring.

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Every now and then, a new craze goes viral (err, hello Insta selfies!) – but
sometimes it crosses the line. Enter Neknomination. Phoebe Hooke
discovers why we should be pressing skip on this trend.
PHOTOGRAPHYGETTYIMAGES,INSTAGRAM.
R
emember when super-hottie Liam Payne
from 1D tweeted a pic of himself standing
on the edge of his balcony, 34 floors up?
The pic – which was meant to be a joke – caused
serious outrage among fans and parents across
the globe, who were terrified there’d be copycats
mimicking the stunt. Who woulda thought a social
media pic would stir up so much controversy?!
But it’s not the first time a pic or video has been
posted online and snowballed into a viral trend.
And now there’s a new, totally disturbing craze
putting lives at risk. It’s called Neknomination
and we think this trend should be voted off the
island then sent into a cyber blackhole.
Going viral
The trend #neknominate reportedly
began in Perth, where one guy
dared his mate to skol an alcoholic
drink before ‘nominating’ another
pal. Then, with the help of smart
phones and social media, the
trending vid went global, with
thousands of people from as far
as the UK and the USA joining
in. Yep, Twitter, Facebook and
Instagram were set alight with
daredevil acts, as each person
tried to up their mate’s video.
Here in Australia, Steph, 17,
remembers when her 18-year-old
boyfriend, Mitch, was nominated.
“All the boys thought it was
hilarious and gathered around
Mitch to watch him drink,” she
explains. “At the time, I just
thought it was boys being boys.”
What Stephanie, Mitch and
their friends didn’t realise was that
millions of kilometres away across
the other side of the world, one
Irish boy was doing the same.
#uglyselfies Real girls aren’t constantly followed
by an army of hair and make-up peeps, so there
are days when a filter and a duckface just won’t cut it
on the Insta feed (even for runway strutters like Cara
D!). Here is the hashtag to celebrate this fact. Have
a laugh at yourself and give it the ugliest you’ve got!
#raknomination RAK stands for Random Act of
Kindness. It came about when a guy in Canada who’d
heard about Neknominate gave a homeless man
lunch, posted it online and nominated someone else
to do the same. Another dude in South Africa did
a similar thing and has since started a charity for
underprivileged South Africans, using the hashtag
#changeonething It has over 6,000 ‘likes’ on FB!
The social media crazes we heart
DOLLY
LIFE
Jonny Byrne, 19, jumped into
a river as part of his nomination
video and sadly passed away.
But even with reports of these
events featuring in news bulletins
all over the world, why hasn’t this
trend come to a halting stop?
Why we
love a trend
Psychologist Gemma Cribb
(equilibriumpsychology.com.au)
believes this risk-taking behaviour
is all a bid for attention.
“The wilder the stunt, the
more attention they get,” she
says. “It also seems to be about a
feeling of belonging and inclusion/
exclusion. If you are nominated,
then someone thought of you
and you can join the ‘group’,
like fraternity hazing of a kind.”
Gemma adds that people
want to be admired by their pals
or avoid being called a loser for
not jumping on the bandwagon.
GOES TOO FAR
#trending
WHEN “Teens want to feel a sense
of belonging with their
peers and as such will try
to do the things that are
considered cool in their
social group,” she says.
And Gemma believes
social media isn’t helping this
desire to belong. “Social media
has made a bigger pool
of people for teens to belong
or not belong to. Previously they
just had to ‘fit in’ with just the
teens at their school. Now they
have to ‘fit in’ with a much
broader range of people.”
Bucking
the trend
Well, we have to admit that we’ll
be passing on this trend. Skolling
shots, filming and then uploading
it is nowhere near our bucket list.
So how do you say no to a
group of friends? Gemma says
it’s all about being cooler than the
trend. “Treat the trend with scorn
and contempt. Reference previous
trends your peers have outgrown.
Say things like, ‘I’m not doing that
– that’s lamer than planking. The
people who think these things up
must have no life!’”
Even 1D boy Liam realised his
dangerous pic was a bad idea,
tweeting his remorse to his fans.
“It was a stupid and irresponsible
thing to do,” Liam wrote. ”I am
sorry, and do not endorse any
fans trying to repeat this, as it’s
extremely dangerous.”
Gemma says take Liam’s lead
and tell your pals this dangerous
trend is uncool. “Say you’re bored
of it and you want to talk about
something more interesting.”