When you browse social media such as Instagram or TikTok, what do you look at? Whatever it is, you may have started to notice something. That something being the multiple people attempting dangerous stunts, such as the tide pod challenge and the cinnamon challenge, for views . Some people, more specifically kids, could potentially see these challenges as something fun to try and not realize how dangerous they really are. In this blog, we are going to look at both the Cinnamon and the Tide Pod challenges and see how dangerous they really are, as well as what could happen if you attempted them.
Cinnamon challenge
The cinnamon challenge
If you don’t already know, the cinnamon challenge is a challenge where people on the internet take a spoonful of cinnamon and attempt to eat it without drinking any water for sixty seconds after. The problem with this is the fact that cinnamon contains something known as cellulose, which in small amounts, is tolerable. However, if taken in a larger amount, cellulose can cause gaging, coughing, choking along with more serious reactions such as nosebleeds and vomiting.
Now that we’ve looked at the cinnamon challenge and some of the damage it can cause, let’s look at a case where someone actually tried it. 15 year old Andrea Velasquez had decided to try the challenge at a sleep over with some friends. Lucky for her and her friends, they only felt a burning sensation before spitting it up. As much as Adrea and her friends were lucky, others have not been.
On example of this is Kentucky mom, Brianna Rader’s four year old son. According to Brianna, her son had ingested almost a full bottle of cinnamon before choking to death. He had started to seize after inhaling enough of the spice to the point that he couldn’t breathe. Brianna’s case is just one of the cases where trying the cinnamon challenge has ended poorly for someone.
Tide Pod challenge
I’m sure you’ve also heard of this challenge to. The so called, ‘Tide Pod challenge’ is a challenge where someone takes a tide pod and bites into it, resulting in the cleaning product going into the person’s mouth. This is dangerous for a number of reasons including the fact that tide pods contain cleaning substances that are not meant for human consumption. If ingested, tide pods can cause severe mouth burning, damage to lung tissue and even death.
Although I could not find a specific case, the CBS has reported that at least ten deaths have been related to the tide pods.
Conclusion
As you can see, both the tide pod challenge and the cinnamon challenge can have very dangerous results so the next time you are on social media and see something that could be dangerous, make sure to alert the right people. Have you ever seen something on social media that could or should be considered dangerous? Did you do anything to stop it?
Facebook: Have you ever really thought about the things you see people do on social media? In her next blog, Bethany talks about the dangers of some of some social media challenges. Check it out! https://wp.me/p3QRy0-v30
Twitter: Ever heard of the cinnamon challenge? Check out Bethany’s thoughts on it! https://wp.me/p3QRy0-v30
#InternetChallenges #Dangers #Cinamon #Tidepods
Algonquin College Social Media Certificate Program 
Wow, great post. These challenges are awful. Another challenge is the bird box challenge. It is where you put a blind fold over your eyes and experiment how it is to be blind. To make it more exciting and worth more “likes” and “views”, you would try walking across a busy street, or do it while driving. Unbelieavable, what people will do for social media. They are not even getting paid.
Have I ever done anything to stop it? No, I have not, for I have never witnessed it in person. Would I stop it if I did? Absolutely. I wouldn’t live with myself if something tragic happened and I never tried to stop it.
Looking at this and other challenges that lead to injuries and death I wonder if the social media companies need to start stepping up to help stop them before they get popular. At the very lease should they not make those creating this content to attach a warning to their videos and post. Considering that whenever someone posts something about COVID-19 there is a link to reputable sources to stop the spread of misinformation it does seem possible that the companies can put some sort of warning in place when these types of challenges come up too.