The following informant is an 12 year old. In this account he is explaining what the cinnamon challenge is. This is a transcription of our conversation, he is identified as J and I am identified as K:

J: There was this cinnamon challenge where you get a spoon-full of cinnamon and you put it on a spoon and try to swallow it and its spicy and burns and dries your mouth, I never tried it but my brother did and he coughed a lot

K: Did he do it to record and post it?

J: Yeah, he recorded it on his phone and posted it somewhere.

K: Wait but you know it’s going to hurt so why try it?

J: Well because you don’t think it’s going to be that bad… or like everyone else is doing it

K: Okay, so did your friends tell you about this?

J: No, I discovered it on the internet, like around fifth grade

K: What was your reaction to it?

J: I thought it was dumb and would not try it but it was funny to watch my brother try it and other people do it

Context: He and his sister took turns telling me stories

Thoughts:

This challenge, like the Kylie Jenner Lip Challenge has a proven outcome of pain, yet both are so immensely popular. In this case it seems like what is attractive to people to participate is trying to act tough and like you can do it. But I find it so interesting how many of these challenges on the internet, besides ones like the mannequin challenge, sort of end in hurt, but we participate in the anyways. Internet challenges continue to confuse but also fascinate me.