Social media is the worst

SOCIAL media challenges can be fun, exciting and, at times, pretty hilarious. But they can also be downright dangerous, writes Sarah Barnham.

Social media challenges can be fun, exciting and, at times, pretty hilarious. But they can also be downright dangerous, writes Sarah Barnham. Picture: Adam Yip

SOCIAL media challenges can be fun, exciting and, at times, pretty hilarious.

But others are downright stupid and dangerous.

Some are so idiotic you have to question our future as a society; if we are the same people coming up with the idea of snorting condoms or smashing two litre bottles of milk in the middle of supermarkets for fun, then yes, we should be concerned.

For those who don't know what social media challenges are, let me lay it down for you.

Basically, it's a dare, recorded and posted on social media that 90 per cent of the time ends in horrible failure, pain, tears or absolute discomfort.

Done all in the name of 'likes' on Facebook.

Some social media challenges are done for charity - like the ice bucket challenge.

This was a good one.

It involved three people - the person recording, the ice dumper and the receiver.

After a frosty shower of ice cubes and water, you get to call out other people to do the challenge.

You must also choose a charity to donate towards.

I can't tell you how much fun I had pouring left over esky ice water over my dad's head for leukaemia.

But other challenges and how they even became an idea, will baffle you.

I mentioned it before and you are probably waiting for me to bring it up again - the act of snorting condoms.

Our Earth has seen some odd things and people shoving condoms up their nose, on video, was one of them.

The goal was to snort the condom up your nostril and pull it out from the back of your throat.

As awful as the challenge was, it was hard not to watch because so many things could go wrong.

The most serious being the choking and suffocation hazard.

Or a more recent one, and the reason I'm writing the article on this topic.

The "Hot Water Challenge" left a 15-year-old boy in the US seriously burned, according to reports.

Kyland Clark, from Indianapolis, said he was left with second-degree burns from it, news station WXIN reported.

Before the incident, Kyland and the pal looked up the social media craze on YouTube and decided to try the challenge, according to the news station.

While the teen was sleeping, his friend reportedly dumped boiling water on him, causing serious burns on his back, chest and face.

The teen told news stations his skin fell off his chest and face. His injuries were horrific, and he will need several months of care and treatment to recover.

All for what? Some likes on Facebook?

The names of other social media challenges that have emerged over the years speak for themselves: "light yourself on fire challenge", "surf a car challenge" and my personal favourite the "rubber band face challenge".

If you're in need of a confidence boost I would highly suggesting Googling the last one.