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The power of social media
In the previous part, I broke down the Kiki challenge and how it came to be. In this part, I will take a look at the online world that allows such challenges to rise to viral status.
Social media is one of the world’s greatest creations. It’s a platform for people from across the world to network and help them build their brands.
The power of social media made Drake’s ‘In my Feeling’ rise in popularity unexpectedly and overnight, much like anything that goes viral. Shiggy was able to successfully transform the song and make it relatable to everybody, driving tangible value for Drake and helping him soar to the top of the charts to achieve his fourth Billboard Hot 100 number one hit.
But, what about the negative impact? What about the younger generation? Here is how the criticism snowballed. Shiggy himself does not actually jump out of the moving vehicle, he is just standing on the street. But online denizens decided to up the challenge one extra notch by jumping out of moving cars to dance while drivers, with one hand on the steering wheel, documented the dance with the other hand. The trend proved risky for some with some clips revealing oblivious dancers crashing into posts and poles, falling out of the vehicles, and even getting run over by others. This prompted police officials all over the world to issue warnings against the careless ‘adventure’.
Police forces in the UAE and other countries, including Egypt, Kuwait, Spain, and many other countries have been urging people to stop the challenge, and have already arrested people in the process.
We’ve seen many challenges making a buzz on social media that were fun and safe, including The Mannequin and Ice bucket challenges of past; Kiki is a lot of fun too, as long as the performance is in a safe area and does not involve a moving car.
PS: Please don’t jump out of a moving car for the #InMyFeelings challenge
Lyn Jawharji is Lead Influencer Liaison at Cicero & Bernay Public Relations, an independent PR agency headquartered in Dubai offering new-age public relations consultancy to the UAE and across the MENA region. | www.cbpr.me