海角大神

Just as about every other human (and other animal) behavior has turned up in social media, so has 鈥渘eknomination鈥� (or 鈥渘eck nomination,鈥� 鈥渘eck and nominate,鈥� etc.). It keeps evolving, but it鈥檚 now a blend of a dare game (e.g., 鈥淭ruth or Dare鈥� or 鈥淭op This鈥�) and drinking game that鈥檚 thought to have started in Australia.

It began getting mainstream media coverage across the Atlantic this month after neknomination was connected to some deaths of young adults 鈥� including one in Northern Ireland, the聽.

Jonny Byrne, the 19-year-old who died in Northern Ireland, jumped off a bridge after 鈥渘ecking鈥� (speed-drinking).聽聽has other examples of how bad the 鈥済ame鈥� has gotten 鈥� to the point where a self-destructive need for 鈥渇ame鈥� seems to be an element.

Daring and shaming can be bullying

That鈥檚 where the latest version uses social media 鈥� taking video of oneself doing the drinking, then 鈥渘ominating鈥� three peers to top that by 鈥渢agging鈥� or naming them on a neknomination page. But this is not new. Researchers showed the聽聽of 2008 how people of all ages (usually younger ones) would dare each other to view the most disgusting possible videos and do crazy stunts in video-sharing sites to grow their followings. Neknomination is another form of both daring and attention seeking, but the 鈥渢op this鈥� element has made it dangerous.聽

Then there鈥檚 the bullying element. Certainly, speed drinking has long been a part of hazing, and there is always an element of peer pressure, but Mr. Byrne鈥檚 brother, who had tried to rescue him, told the BBC that neknomination is sometimes a form of bullying. He said that a friend of Byrne鈥檚 who鈥檇 been neknominated the previous week and ignored the nomination had been harassed and bullied for being a 鈥渃hicken.鈥�

RAKnomination: Spreading random acts of kindness

Neknomination has got to stop. The thing is, users themselves are taking action. For every type of negative (or destructive) use of social media, there seems to be a positive one.

Shortly after Byrne鈥檚 death, #RAKnomination started trending on Twitter and Facebook, encouraging people to nominate others to commit random acts of kindness, or RAKs,聽. Another positive countermeasure is 鈥渘ekdonations.鈥� A man in South Africa posted a video that inspired a man in Northern Ireland to聽聽鈥� donate 5 euros, 鈥渢he price of a pint of beer鈥� 鈥� to Temple Street Children鈥檚 Hospital and nominate others to do something similar.

As for Brent Lindeque, the South African man, he was neknominated by someone, so he videotaped himself giving a sandwich, drink, and chocolate bar to a homeless man and nominated three more people to commit kind acts themselves.聽鈥淯nderneath his video, which has amassed nearly 100,000 views [now 300,000+],鈥� reported聽, 鈥渉e writes: 鈥業鈥檝e decided to create something positive out of the random global phenomenon of NekNominations... Imagine if we all harnessed the power of social media to make a real difference in peoples lives. #OnlyGoodThings鈥�.鈥�

How to un-nominate yourself

If somebody you or your kids know gets 鈥渘ominated鈥� on Facebook, it means they鈥檝e been tagged by the nominator, and they can untag 鈥� in effect, un-nominate 鈥� themselves (in addition to not taking the bait, not encouraging the stupidity and not doing something stupid).

Most Facebook users already know how to untag themselves, but just in case they don't,聽鈥榮 how. They can also block the nominator if they are getting really annoying, so the person can鈥檛 tag or message them or appear on their timeline, or they can click on 鈥淎ctivity Log鈥� on their timeline page and delete the post from their timeline.

One other really good idea (for preventing annoying posts) is to turn on 鈥淩eview posts friends tag you in before they appear on your timeline.鈥� To do that, click on the teeny little gear icon in the upper-right corner of your Facebook home page or timeline, then on 鈥淪ettings.鈥�

Then, in the left-hand column of your Settings page, click on 鈥淭imeline and Tagging,鈥� which will take you to where you can pre-approve posts and tags. You鈥檒l also be able to control 鈥渨ho can add things to [your] timeline,鈥� 鈥渨ho can see things on [your] timeline鈥� and more 鈥� really good things to be able to control.