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Viral social media challenges have erupted across multiple social media platforms. While social media users participate in prosocial challenges designed to support good causes, like the Ice Bucket Challenge, some challenges (e.g., Cinnamon Challenge) can also potentially be dangerous. To understand the influential factors, experiences, and reflections of young adults who participated in a viral social media challenge in the past, we conducted interviews with 30 college students (ages 18-27). We applied behavioral contagion theory as a qualitative lens to understand whether this theory could help explain the factors that contributed to their participation. We found that behavior contagion theory was useful but not fully able to explain how and why young social media users engaged in viral challenges. Thematic analyses uncovered that overt social influence and intrinsic factors (i.e., social pressure, entertainment value, and attention-seeking) also played a key role in challenge participation. Additionally, we identified divergent patterns between prosocial and potentially risky social media challenges. Those who participated in prosocial challenges appeared to be more socially motivated as they saw more similarities between themselves and the individuals that they observed performing the challenges and were more likely to be directly encouraged by their friends to participate. In contrast, those who performed potentially risky challenges often did not see similarities with other challenge participants, nor did they receive direct encouragement from peers; yet, half of these participants said they would not have engaged in the challenge had they been more aware of the potential for physical harm. We consider the benefits and risks that viral social media challenges present for young adults with the intent of optimizing these interactions by mitigating risks, rather than discouraging them altogether.
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Factors Contributing to Adolescents’ and Young Adults’ Participation in Social Media Challenges: A Survey Study
Background: Online challenges, phenomena that are very familiar to adolescents and young adults who spend large portions of time on social media, range from minimally harmful behaviors intended to support philanthropic endeavors to significantly harmful behaviors that may culminate in injury or death. Objective: This study investigated the beliefs that lead adolescents and young adults to participate in these activities by analyzing the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Ice Bucket Challenge (IBC) to represent the former and the Cinnamon Challenge (CC), the latter. Methods: We conducted a retrospective quantitative study with a total of 471 participants between the ages of 13 and 35 who either had participated in the ALS IBC or the CC or had never participated in any online challenge. We used binomial logistic regression models to classify those who participated in ALS IBC or CC versus those who didn’t with the beliefs from the Integrated Behavioral Model (IBM) as predictors. Results: Our findings showed that both CC and ALS IBC participants had significantly greater positive emotional responses, value for the outcomes of the challenge, and expectation of the public to participate in the challenge in comparison to individuals who never participated in any challenge. In addition, only CC participants perceived positive public opinion about the challenge and perceived the challenge to be easy with no harmful consequences, in comparison to individuals who never participated in any challenge. Conclusions: The constructs that contribute to the spread of online challenge vary based on the level of self-harm involved in it and its purpose. We recommend that intervention efforts be tailored to address the beliefs associated with different types of online challenges.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1832904
- PAR ID:
- 10211858
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- JMIR Pediatrics and Parenting
- ISSN:
- 2561-6722
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.2196/24988
