Social media users have come up with ways to keep themselves entertained during the lockdown period by engaging in as well as creating challenges at home.
Kurian Joe
After various countries were locked down due to the ongoing pandemic, there has been a surge of new trends and challenges on social media platforms like Instagram, Snapchat and Tiktok to name a few. With millions of people stuck in their homes, their attention has now been shifted to these platforms where they constantly update their profiles and socialise on a much larger scale through their feeds and posts. Users, especially among the youth, have been following and coming up with amusing fads which they then post on the platform .
The world is currently obsessed with a certain way of making a cup of frothy thick coffee. Who knew preparing a cup of coffee would go viral? This trend of making Dalgona coffee originated in South Korea. Its speciality is its frothy thick texture and the way it’s served. Basic ingredients for a coffee are whipped till it becomes foamy and dropped in cold milk.
“I didn’t find anything special about the Dalgona coffee, it tastes the same and takes more work than making normal coffee as you have to hand mix the coffee powder, sugar and water till it becomes thick foam which takes time. Although there’s nothing better to kill time at the moment,this was something fun to do,” said Joshua Abraham, a college-going student.
The push up challenge is another trend where users take a video of them doing 10 or more push-ups, and tag friends and acquaintances to do the same and keep the cycle going . From pushups it moved to crunches and other workout exercises and has had users sweating and active.
“I normally follow a daily workout routine, this wasn’t a challenge for me but it was fun tagging my lazy friends who don’t even get off the sofa and see them workout,” said Samuel Felix, who is a mixed martial arts trainer.
The bingo template is also exploding on the internet. It consists of a table with square boxes filled with activities that people have done or not done in their lives.People have to tick the things they have done in the past and post a screenshot of it . The boxes can contain anything from “had a pet fish” to “got drunk two days in a row”. They also nominate their peers to post their bingo box. Tik Tok videos have made a comeback with the lockdown. This platform enables users to make short, engaging clips where they act with background audio.
“I think these trends on social media have made the lockdown a bit more fun for the youngsters and are keeping them active. But they should keep in mind that increased usage of devices can also lead to lethargy and impair vision so they should limit their screen time,” said Vivek U, a psychologist.
