New TikTok Challenge Highlights the Dangers of Bad Fads

There is a new fad sweeping America: the "Orbeez Challenge,'’ an online dare that encourages kids to film themselves shooting strangers with soft-jell beads using a toy pellet gun. The perpetrator then uploads the video to social media platforms like TikTok and Snapchat. There have already been over 150 million views under the hashtag #OrbeezChallenge. The problem is, when fired at high speed, the water-based beads can become dangerous projectiles; some have even frozen the beads to make them more potent. The challenge went viral in mid-March and has generated a slew of injuries and arrests. There have been reports of cars randomly driving up to strangers, firing the beads, then driving off. As some pellet guns can appear to be real firearms, police are concerned that someone could mistake the incident for an actual shooting and fire back. The maker of the beads, Spin Master, has asked people not to use them as projectiles and noted that they neither sell nor manufacture pellet guns.

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Fads often involve unconventional acts, such as the goldfish swallowing craze of 1939, which began with a dare between two Harvard University students. Soon, colleges tried to outdo one another. In typical fad fashion, it began in people of high status and spread to those who wanted to be part of something exciting and novel. Engaging in fads also highlights the need to fit in and be popular. After a while, when the craze is taken up by more and more people, it loses its appeal. Before long a new fad is born and gains popularity.

Most fads are harmless, short-lived enthusiasms that center around trivial objects and ideas, like the 1950s rage of wearing Davy Crockett racoon skin hats. The 1960s brought us love beads, Troll dolls, and go-go boots, while during the ‘70s pet rocks and mood rings were in vogue. It is difficult to see the harm in these fads unless you are brandishing your pet rock as a weapon or wearing your racoon hat in the woods during hunting season. But occasionally, fads go bad and can lead to serious injury, even death. In recent years several bad fads have taken the form of online challenges.

Being part of an internet challenge by filming and uploading one’s exploits can make it seem more acceptable and strengthen the connection to one's online peers. It can also foster a feeling that ‘everyone’s doing it so it must be OK.’ The ‘Orbeez Challenge’ is the latest in a long list of potentially dangerous internet fads. One recent social media challenge involved daring someone to swallow a spoonful of powdered cinnamon without any water. The so-called ‘Cinnamon Challenge’ has resulted in several students being hospitalized with breathing problems from the fine powder entering their lungs, causing inflammation and scarring.

The ‘Blackout Challenge,’ also known as the ‘Choking Game,’ is a dangerous fad and was blamed for at least three deaths last year. It involves choking oneself or having someone choke you to the point of passing out in the expectation of obtaining a brief, euphoric high. A study by the Centers for Disease Control found that between 1995 and 2008, no less than 82 youths had died from playing the game, which continues to wax and wane in popularity online. A variation involves holding one’s breath until they lose consciousness.

Another bad fad was the Ice Cream Challenge, the practice of going into a store and filming yourself opening a container of ice cream and licking it, before putting it back on the shelf. This was popular during the pandemic and placed customers at risk of catching Covid and other illnesses. In 2019 the ‘48-hour Missing Challenge’ waxed in popularity, where teenagers would claim to have been abducted with the intent of generating as much social media interest as possible before reappearing. A year earlier, the Tide Pod Challenge spread across social media, where teens would either eat or vape laundry detergent, resulting in a surge in calls to poison control centers.

It can be exciting to perform in front of a global audience of one’s peers, especially when it offers immediate feedback in the form of views, likes, and comments. But there is more involved than peer pressure and excitement. Harvard pediatrician Clarie McCarthy believes that the tendency of teens to engage in dangerous online challenges can be found in their lack of frontal lobe development—the part of the brain that controls judgment, insight, and risk-taking. This can lead to rash decisions with little thought given to the consequences. Perhaps the best example of this lack of forethought was the response to the Ice Bucket Challenge, where several people, mostly teens, had hot water poured on their heads. As a result of the ‘Boiling Water Challenge,’ many were treated for burns.

In the future, it will be important to closely monitor social media challenges to ensure that our adolescents are not placing their health and that of others, in jeopardy.