Tag Archives: internet challenge

Charlie, Charlie

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Arizona
Performance Date: 4/9/22
Primary Language: English

Background: Charlie Charlie is a children’s game similar to a ouija board in which a group of kids get together and ask a spirit, Charlie, to answer their yes or no questions. My informant S is a 19 year old girl who played the game when she was in middle school. We were talking about our childhoods and trying to find some similarities between the games we played.

S: So the game is simple, you have a piece of paper with “yes” and “no” written on opposite corners of the paper, so like, yes across from yes and no across from no y’know, and you cross two pencils in the middle so neither are pointing at the corners, one on top of the other so it kind of balances on top of the bottom one. And then everybody asks “Charlie, Charlie, are you there?” and then the pencil on the top moves and points and everyone loses their minds. Charlie is supposed to be a demon or something.

Me: I think I’ve seen something like that. It was kind of an internet thing wasn’t it?

S: Yeah it was during Vine in like, 2013. I found out about it because I saw videos on youtube and then everyone in school was trying it. It was like everywhere for a while.

Me: It’s crazy how I don’t even remember it. I wonder if kids still play it. So, do you think it was real?

S: No of course not, someone would always like, blow on it so it would move. But if one gullible kid lost their shit, it was a good time. 

My thoughts: The prevalence of this game is interesting because it was so widely spread online, and it reached kids from all over the country and possibly the world who played it for themselves. It was such a short lived cycle because it took place in the early 2010’s when short videos, such as Vines, were growing in popularity, and people began to consume more pieces of smaller media. Things would become rapidly popular and then become rapidly replaced, a trend cycle which has continued into the 2020’s with apps like TikTok.

The Mannequin Challenge

Nationality: American
Age: 14
Occupation: High School Student
Residence: Claremont
Performance Date: 4/16/2018
Primary Language: English

The following informant is an 8th grader. In this account she is explaining what the Mannequin Challenge is. This is a transcription of our conversation, she is identified as SA and I am identified as K:

SA: So, the mannequin challenge was something you heard about online. We found it on Instagram, and it’s basically you play a song and you have to stay still like a mannequin. and someone takes a video of the room, and you can act like you are having a party or like doing sports or whatever, and they just take a picture of you still not moving

K: do you have to use a particular song?

SA: yes, Rae Sremmurd’s “Black Beatles,”

K: What grade where you in when this became viral?

SA: Well it was last year, so 7th grade

K: Did you participate and make a video

SA: Yeah we did it with my English class and someone recorded it and someone posted it on instagram

K: Do you know who started the challenge?

SA: No we just heard about it when it went viral. I think the first one was at a high school.

K: What did you think when you first saw it?

SA: I thought it was like really cool and a funny idea, and then a lot of people were doing it at our school so I wanted to do it too

Context: She told me this while at my house one weekend.

Thoughts:

Like with other internet trends and challenges I struggled to define them. It kind of feels like a ritual, in that you have to do a certain thing like freezing and playing that song, in order to say its that challenge and then post it online, but you are still aloud liberties, like doing it in a classroom, or stage, or anywhere really.

 

I could not get permission to post the video the informant did with her class, so instead Im providing a link to the top 15 celebrity mannequin challenges

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZwaTqpxgj4

Kylie Jenner Lip Challenge

Nationality: American
Age: 14
Occupation: High School Student
Residence: Claremont
Performance Date: 4/16/2018
Primary Language: English

The following informant is an 8th grader. In this account she is explaining what the Kylie Jenner Lip Challenge is. This is a transcription of our conversation, she is identified as SA and I am identified as K:

K: So what is the Kylie Jenner Lip Challenge?

SA: its when you get like a shot glass and put it over both of your lips and suck in and then you pull it off and you have huge lips. I tried it and it turned my lips purple tinted

K: Ouch! How did the challenge start?

SA: Kylie Jenner did not start it… but like at the time, everyone was focusing on her and saw how she went from small lips to big lips, but she claimed she never got injections so people wanted her big lips and some person found a way to do that and it eventually found the challenge and put her name on it

K: So who exactly participated in this challenge?

SA: A lot of young girls tried it, especially Kylie Jenner fans. It felt kind of weird but also cool. Oh but also I know some people their like lips burst! Like started bleeding and everything.

K: Wait, if it hurt then why did people participate?

SA: Well because they probably wanted to try it and you can post pictures and videos of you trying it on Instagram

Context: She told me this while at my house one weekend

Thoughts:

Doing something you know might hurt you out of pure curiosity and not wanting to be left out is what I think makes challenges so attractive to people. I mean obviously you can severely damage your lips doing this challenge, but it was still immensely popular.

Cinnamon Challenge

Nationality: American
Age: 12
Occupation: Student
Residence: Claremont
Performance Date: 4/16/2018
Primary Language: English

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.

Salt and Ice Challenge

Nationality: American
Age: 12
Occupation: Student
Residence: Claremont
Performance Date: 4/16/2018
Primary Language: English

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

J: The salt and ice challenge is when you put salt and ice on your hand and you keep rubbing and it burns a lot

K: Did you try it

J: Yeah I tried it with my friends after seeing it on YouTube … it was not really a viral challenge but we heard about it and wanted to try it

K: Wait why would you try it if you knew it would hurt

J: Well I did not think it would actually hurt… and like who could do it the longest

Context: He and his sister took turns telling me stories

Thoughts:

This is another challenge where the outcome is known to end in pain, but people still partook in it. I think it builds some sort of camaraderie between the people who tried it because you can say you have done it and others have not. It also allows you to connect with people across the globe who are engaging and posting about the same activities you are trying.