Going viral: Fun and fatal social media challenges

The growing popularity of social media platforms has seen an upsurge in viral trends -- some fun, but some fatal to human life. Be it the ice bucket challenge or the latest #Birdboxchallenge -- these have swept the Internet as netizens from all around the globe join in to perform certain situations, dances, voices or even speeches for entertainment.

IANS gives a lowdown on the popular challenges that have taken over social media over the past few years:

* #10yearchallenge: The latest entry to the growing list of viral challenges on social media is the 10-Year Challenge, which has caught the attention of many. In this, a person is required to share his recent image alongside a 10-year-old photograph to see the difference. From Hollywood to Bollywood and the local neighbourhood, everyone took a moment to rewind the clock and compare their looks.

* #Birdboxchallenge: This originated from streaming website Netflix's film "Bird Box", starring Sandra Bullock. In the film, Bullock and two children navigate a post-apocalyptic world while blindfolded to avoid seeing an ominous figure which causes death for humans. After the film's release, people uploaded and shared videos of themselves wandering around blindfolded, undertaking the challenge, which is inspired by scenes depicted in the movie. As various accidents began taking place, Netflix urged fans of the film not to do the challenge due to safety concerns.

* #Kikichallenge: This challenge saw people across the globe dancing on the hit song "In My Feeling" from the album "Scorpion" by Canadian hip-hop superstar Drake. The challenge, which took the Internet by storm, showed fans suddenly coming out of a moving car, leaving the door open and then dancing to the song besides the slow-moving vehicle on the road. This was risky too.

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