The silhouette challenge was so addictive that even celebrities and couples stood before their phone cameras to go completely naked with the red light filter. I’ve still not figured out what fun I’ll derive from putting my ‘joystick’ before my camera with a red light filter because I’m taking up a challenge.
If there is any argument I have always wanted to stay away from, it is anything that deals with morals. This is not because I do not have moral principles, but, I cannot and will never determine the ‘rightness’ or ‘wrongness’ of an action by personal information on what is expected to be right or wrong. The ‘rightness’ and ‘wrongness’ of an action is a controversial topic that has been prevailing in social interaction over time.
To me, few things shape my basis of moral uprightness; one is the Scripture, which according to the second book of Timothy in its third chapter and sixteenth verse affirms that ‘Every Scripture is God-breathed (given by His inspiration) and profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience, [and] for training in righteousness (in holy living, in conformity to God’s will in thought, purpose, and action)’. Second, I’m a very big aficionado of the African culture even if some of them do not go down well with me and I openly and unapologetically condemn them.
However, for the purpose of this writing, I will place emphasis on my third pillar of morals which is strongly contingent on ‘Consequence of my action’. In simpler terms, the third thing that I use to measure the rightness or wrongness of my action is the consequence of such action. For example, IF scripture doesn’t condemn drinking alcohol and African culture (maybe Yoruba specifically) doesn’t condemn it too, I will still consider it wrong if, in the end, the consequence of drinking alcohol will be very detrimental when I can simply choose to be a teetotaller.
On many occasions, I have turned down offers to take alcohol. Not because I am morally upright than they are, but because I have personal reservations which gave me reasons to conclude that it is wrong.
Without much ado, I would quickly dive into the conundrum of what inspired this piece; a sequence of trends from the Silhouette Challenge to Crate Challenge and now Alcohol Challenge which hit the internet and raked in millions of dollars for Social Media companies like TikTok, Instagram and Facebook.
Silhouette challenge started sometime in January. Basically, the Silhouette Challenge sees users pose seductively in a doorway before quickly turning into a completely black silhouette against a red background, but this time, unclad.
The hashtag #silhouettechallenge has amassed almost 100 million views. And you know, Nigerians don’t carry last.
The silhouette challenge was so addictive that even celebrities and couples stood before their phone cameras to go completely naked with the red light filter. I’ve still not figured out what fun I’ll derive from putting my ‘joystick’ before my camera with a red light filter because I’m taking up a challenge.
Just before the trend was annihilated, as usual, some tech gurus began to remove or reduce the red light filter in the nude videos posted that many people had to rush to their timeline to pull down the post. But well, it was late for many. It’s the internet. You can’t control the speed at which it goes viral.
Now, can you imagine the internet reminding you of your silhouette challenge when you are about to take a public position in future or the same video being played for your kid or grandchild? Would the challenge still make sense to you? It is literally all shades of wrong!
Just a few months ago, the Crate Challenge started. Many young persons took to the streets or their compounds to join the challenge that involves arranging crates in a particular (somewhat pyramid) order and hierarchy, and climbing it from one edge to the other.
The challenge recorded deaths and/or severe fractures of various body parts of participants. Do the consequences of these actions still make it right? When will this culture of foolishness stop?.
My major trigger for this piece is the death of a young lady who drank Dettol in marking the Alcohol Challenge, what a fool she was!
I do not mean to mock the dead, but it is high time we stopped this culture of foolishness that celebrates and trends foolish actions in the name of social media challenge.
Not until yesterday that I saw the video of the girl, I never had an insight into the song that inspired the challenge. Going through the lyrics, the singer, Joeboy has not at any point talked about ‘sipping Dettol, Jik, Hypo or Palm oil like most of these ‘challengers’ did. How did we get here?
Nigerians need to stop celebrating foolishness. What exactly is the inspiration for the Alcohol challenge? The singer only said he would SIP his alcohol as an escape from possible depression or concerns, he didn’t say he was going to make his parent weep over him.
The country is at this stage today over failed leadership and there have been open plots to recycle the same set of leaders in 2023.
So, how about #MyPVCChallenge? A challenge where we display our Permanent Voters Card (blurred image for security reasons) and affirm our readiness to change the narrative in 2023.
What of #NewCertification challenge, #WritingChallange, #MonthlyGoalsChallenge, etc. How soon are we putting an end to promoting useless trends and embracing the culture of progress and consistent impact?
We need to be re-sensitized on the need to harness the internet to drive change and aid our voice for change. We can do better than being carried away by unacceptable trends.
