Friday, July 31, 2015

ParaRant: #CharlieCharlieChallenge Edition (Repost From I Must Be Hallucinating)

This post was originally published on I Must Be Hallucinating on June 17, 2015. 

When I was studying sociology, one of the things that interested me the most was the way trends take hold. Now, when I was in college, there was no Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. I don’t think Myspace had taken hold yet, and neither had gmail. I’m sure you can only imagine how my fascination with sociology and trends has increased over the years with all the social media growth. I tend to get sucked into these channels watching how trends take over. It just amazes me, I mean we have whole sectors of marketing devoted to watching trending topics and hashtags. While this can be a good thing, like in the case of fundraising for natural disasters; it can also be a bad thing- like in the case of darker things like the “slenderman phase,” and now the #charliecharliechallenge.

image from the exorcist
image from the exorcist

The answer I’m sure you are asking is if I’m going to jump on this trend. The answer is- No, I’m not dumb. I’d prefer to not have demonic entities attach themselves to me- that just doesn’t seem like the most fun thing I can do on a Saturday night. I’m sure that some people think I’m over-reacting, but If you’ve read my article about the truth and history behind the #CharlieCharlieGame, you have seen a hint of why I feel that way.

Here’s another thing. Are you going to swim in alligator-infested waters? Are you going to jump off a 10 story building with no protection? Are you going to walk up to a lion and poke it? Then why in the world would you play a game that could possibly get a demonic entity attached to you? Well, yeah- it might not happen. But, what will your life be like if something does get attached to you? I’ve lived in a house that a demonic entity tried to control and luckily got out alive. One may not be so lucky if the entity is attached to you directly.

Taking my thoughts further on this matter, didn’t your mom ever ask “If Johnny jumps off a bridge, are you going to follow?” This is exactly the same type of thing your mother was talking about. Just because all of your little buddies may be sharing their experience on Vine, Instagram or Facebook, doesn’t actually mean that it is a good idea for you to do it. If you have all this extra energy and untapped social media resources, why don’t you use it for good. Why not warn people to not play with the darkness that lurks just outside our realm of normality? Why not share photos of missing kids or raise money for people that need food to survive. Why must you waste all that potential with playing games that you may not want to see what the ending is?

Did you see my vine?

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