24 January,2019 05:30 PM IST | | mid-day online correspondent
Pic courtesy: Trolling top10's Instagram
We are no longer just citizens, we are netizens who use the Internet for socialising online. In today's digital age, social media platforms have emerged as the biggest medium of communication among netizens and trends have become a popular fad to engage audiences
Every now and then, a trend pops up on social media and we are lured to keep up with it. While some trends are weird where a picture of an egg becomes the most liked picture on Instagram beating socialite Kylie Jenner's picture with her baby girl, there are trends that set the internet on fire.
By the way, have you taken the #10yearchallenge yet? It's one of the latest challenges that has taken the internet by storm.
What is a 10-year challenge?
The challenge involves sharing a self-picture from ten years ago alongside a current picture and comparing the two. To understand better, let us see the example below.
Pic courtesy: Karan Johar's Instagram
Although the #10yearchallenge as been used the most number of times, the same challenge is also taken by different names like #Howharddidageinghityou challenge and #Glowup challenge.
How did it start?
The buzz about the 10-year challenge started in late 2018 on social media. The challenge was started on Facebook. It is believed that the first person who took the challenge was Damon Lane, who is the chief meteorologist for KOCO News 5 in Oklahoma.
The likely reason behind the trend gaining popularity was that most of us love to see how we have transformed over the years, like how one used to look earlier and how one looks now.
The Controversy
What initially was nostalgic and a good throwback for people later revealed its sinister side.
Kate O'Neill, a tech journalist, half-jokingly suggested on Twitter that the data from these pictures could be used to train facial recognition algorithms and make them better at age prediction. Also, the data could help advertisers in creating digital marketing advertisements that are more aligned with what one is buying.
Speculations increased so much so that Facebook had to release a statement saying that the ten-year challenge was only a representation of the fun people have on Facebook and there was no other ulterior motive behind it. It said, "The 10-year challenge is a user-generated meme that started on its own, without our involvement. It is evidence of the fun people have on Facebook, and that's it."
Some of my acquaintances have posted heartwarming stories of coming out and from being an awkward college going girl to being an aspiring influencer and weight loss transformation as well.
Famous celebrities who took up the challenge
The challenge was taken by many celebrities. Right from everyone in Bollywood to K-Pop groups to Rajinikanth and the Prime Minister of Singapore.
Pic courtesy: Sonam Kapoor's Instagram
Sometime earlier, the #Kiki challenge had gone viral which involved people dancing along a moving car to the tune of Canadian rapper Drake's song, In my feelings. Before that, the Fitness Challenge had kept people occupied. As part of this challenge, people used to share their workout videos on social media. It was also taken by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi. The challenge was started by Union Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore to spread awareness about fitness. Another social media challenge which really caught the attention of the people was the Ice bucket challenge. This was the longest challenge as it continued for four years. People would dump a bucket of ice and water on their heads to raise awareness about the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) disease.
Along with this challenge, something that went viral was memes and that too hilarious ones! Memes have also portrayed things which never seem to change and take a dig at the relationship status of some celebrities. Check out a few of them below:
Pic courtesy: Celebrity Bulletin's Instagram
Pic courtesy: Lollerblading's Instagram
But before we blame anybody else for surveillance, it's important that we raise questions on our behaviour. So many people have taken the challenge without thinking about the cons of it. For a matter of few likes and comments, we are ready to leak important information. Let's accept that apart from your parents, nobody else cares how you looked like ten years ago. So don't take the challenge and leave your digital marks on the World Wide Web.
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