Weird, weird craze!
dead pose challenge creeps into Zim
THERE is no doubt that social media has been fostering communication around the world, bringing people together as they share ideas around the web.
Social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Linked In and Instagram where people share comments, pictures and videos has established relationships among users worldwide.
As users carry out their businesses and other personal uses, the online society also create social trends to entertain themselves, raise awareness and even raise funds for charity
The most popular social media campaign to break the internet was the ice bucket challenge sometimes called the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.
The activity involved the dumping of a bucket of ice and water over a person’s head, either by another person or self-administered.
It was followed by the mannequin challenge which went viral where people would take a video while they appeared to have been frozen in time like the mannequins with only the camera moving around.
The mannequin challenge became very popular with prominent people like Michelle Obama, Destiny’s child and Britney Spears taking part in it.
Zimbabwe’s very own media personality Ruvheneko Parirenyatwa started the red chilli challenge which aimed to raise funds to make blood transfusions accessible to financially disadvantaged patients.
While people were trying so hard to recover from the Mannequin Challenge craze that got people posing like Mannequins all over social media, another cyber madness just emerged and it is hash tagged #deadpose challenge where people have to pose like they are dead to take photos.
Many of the depictions appear to show people who have been brutally murdered, often with blood all over them.
Pictures and videos of people with axes on their necks, some pretending to hang themselves and bodies that are twisted into unnatural positions have flooded Facebook and Twitter
In others, fatty cuts of meat are placed on the body and red liquid poured over it, with axes and other weapons placed nearby
Some prominent people like South African rapper AKA have posed pretending to be dead.
The craze has now crept into Zim- babwe where some people are doing the strange activity.
Local Afro-jazz musician Gary Tight is among Zimbabweans that have joined the challenge, which many have described as evil.
Gary said he did not think it was serious and he had done it for many of his 5000 followers that had challenged him to do it.
“I did it for my fans that had challenged me to do it. I saw it as just a game”, he said
When asked about what he thought about people who are lashing out at the activity calling evil and insensitive to human life, Gary said people have different views and to him it was nothing but a game.
“Every story has a negative and positive side of it depending on how you take it. To me it was just a game” he said.
The strange trend is said to have been started by an 18 year old South African boy named Karabo.
The teenager told the Pretoria News that he was not going to stop the #DeadPose till he reached his target which was getting 40 000 followers on Facebook making him the most followed “faleb”, ( Facebook celebrity)
“I have 26 000 followers and I’m only on phase two of these posts; I will clearly get what I aimed for as these phases escalate,” he said.
Mnisi is currently number six on the most followed South African Facebook celebrities and with his wowing number of followers, he has given them his Whatsapp number where they can send him their dead pose pictures and he will post the ones that intrigues him
“I shared my WhatsApp numbers on Facebook for people to send their pictures so I can share them.
“I only share the ones that impress me,” he said
When asked about why he had started the challenge, Mnisi said the #DeadPose was inspired by Hector Pieterson’s picture from the Soweto uprising.
“The 1976 picture portrays that there was a struggle and someone died; I am changing the struggle history in a ‘swaggy’ way,” he said
The trend has received mixed reactions with some calling it funny and some saying it is satanic.
Many have taken to social media to complain about the horrific craze which has seen the creation of the hashtag #stopthedeadpose
People were even more furious with a video that went viral of a mother that fooled her son while doing the ongoing challenge.
In the video the mother is lying motionlessly on the stairs pretending to be dead whilst the concerned son tries to wake her up.
Some took to social media to shame the mother for being insensitive.
A twitter user identified as @shatlee posted on twitter saying she felt sorry for the kid.
“I saw a video of a kid crying because her mother participated on the #deadpose, poor kid” she said
“This is not fair for such a young mind, this is terroristic” said another user named Katariso
Some are even shocked that this craze has originated in South Africa where murder cases are very high
“In a country where 50 murders are recorded every day, and where the Law Reform Commission estimates there are, the dead pose is no joke” said Tafara Mbaondiri, a facebook user
Another user named Sean Achando said this was the devil’s trend to control people’s minds every beginning of the year
“The dead pose is just a way for Satan to know how much influence he has in your life.
“That is why every first week of Jan- uary there is always something that is brought up for an example the dub pose. Be careful with the signs you use”, he warned
To add on to the madness, a South African medical student died while taking part in the challenge that has seen a lot of scary pictures flooded the internet.
Nineteen year old Tshidi Ngwenya, who had earlier posted a series of pictures performing the challenge, had decided to step it up and perform a daring pose leading to her unfortunate death.
Her friends’ cheered thinking she was in the dead pose challenge mode but when they found out that she was in trouble, it was too late
The girl’s parents said she had a history of seizures and might have suffered one while performing the #deadpose.
However the founder of the controversial trend told Pretoria News that it was only the beginning and he would only stop after achieving his goal.
“We are only on phase two. Phase three is going to be more dreadful if I do not reach my target” he said
The dead pose challenge pictures have left many reassessing the extent of human dumbness and insensitivity.