“I’ve tried in the past to make fake news transparent about being fake but still going viral,” says Durfee. (He once, with a surprising amount of success, started a false rumor that longtime YouTuber Hank Green was arrested as a teenager for trying to steal a lemur from Zoo.)
On Sunday, Durfee and his friends watched the #Por AmbassadorChallenge gain traction and they celebrated as it generated first media title (“TikTok’s porcelain challenge isn’t real, but it’s no joke either”). What followed was a steady parade of other titles, some more believable than others.
But viral content depends on a short-lived reflex. When Durfee and I chatted three days after he posted his first video of the porcelain challenge, he was able to tell that it wouldn’t be as widespread as he expected. RIPPING OFF.
Viral moments, however, can be rekindled with the slightest touch of attention, becoming an immortal trend that is sweeping Facebook news feeds and panicking parent groups. . Removing their original context can only make them stronger. And the dubious claims of viral ordeals for teenagers are often zombie types – sometimes giving them a much bigger (and arguably more dangerous) second life than life. firstly.
For every “cinnamon challenge” (a real viral challenge in the early 2010s that turned YouTube around and put participants at risk of some nasty health complications), there are even more Stupider ideas on the internet didn’t become mainstream until a large audience of parents wondered about them.
For example, just a few weeks ago, the US Food and Drug Administration give a warning about the boiled chicken at NyQuil, causing people to panic because of a fever that could endanger the lives of Gen Z in the name of views. Instead of, as Buzzfeed News reportedThe warning itself was the most viral thing about the NyQuil chicken, raising interest in a “trend” that wasn’t a trend.
And in 2018, there was the “condom challenge”, which was widely covered by the press because of the latest life-threatening thing teenagers are doing online to gain attention – “getting exposed”. because a local news station gave a presentation at a school in Texas about the dangers young people face. In fact, the condom challenge had little interest online in 2007 and 2013, but videos of people actually trying to snort condoms are sparse. In each case, the teens’ fear of rushing to take on a dangerous challenge did more to promote it to a much larger audience than the challenge could do on its own.
Porcelain Challenge is full of elements of future zombie content. Its catchy name stands out like a bite mark on the arm. Posts and videos transmitted on social media by Durfee followers — and secondary audiences viewing the work of those described by Durfee — are reasonable and without context.
