Neknominate: dangerous or merely pointless?

The latest drinking craze to hit the nation has come in the form of the very controversial ‘Neknomination’ game. Simply put, the game requires nominees to down pints of alcohol in a funny or entertaining way. Quite frankly, looking at other drinking trends like ‘prinking’ and ‘circling’, neknomination definitely strikes me as another way of achieving the same outcome.

So someone is nominated to film himself or herself while downing a pint of a heavily alcoholic mixture in an extreme or supposedly funny way. Then this person nominates a friend to do the same. It is difficult to see the point in such a ‘game’.

British drinking culture is acclaimed for being the most wild and outrageous

Scrolling through my Facebook feed and looking at some of these videos, I am seeing nothing different to what many encounter on a Friday night pre-drinks session. British drinking culture is acclaimed for being the most wild and outrageous – the neknomination game is trying to further this, but looks to be chasing a lost cause.

Aside from the fact that the game can potentially be very dangerous, the issue with it is its lack of entertainment. As a non-drinker, I find it amusing to watch as friends start to feel the after effects of impetuously downing the remains of a bottle of Smirnoff. Watching them actually drink isn’t entertaining at all, even if they do manage to gulp down a whole pint in less than five seconds.

Many speak of how dangerous the game can be, but it is a simple case of making sensible choices. Students’ Union sports officer Zoe Buckland, concerned with the dangers of excessive drinking, expressed her concerns regarding the issue on a recent blog post. She wrote: “Everyone can, of course, make their own choices, but I encourage students to be careful, watch out for their friends, and check the facts on the dangers of alcohol.” It is frustrating to see campaigns warning young people to be aware of the dangers of playing this game, when common sense is enough to keep you safe if you wish to play this game.

Fortunately, there is one positive thing that has come out of this game. In response to the dangerous and pointless nature of neknominations, a new online trend has begun. Known as ‘raknominations’, participants are required to record themselves carrying out random acts of kindness. So now we can hopefully log into Facebook to see more videos of our friends buying a sandwich for a homeless man and less people drinking alcohol dressed up as iron man.

Neknomination has all the attributes of a temporary craze, as there are clear signs that it will not stay around for very long. It has come, spread like wildfire, received much press coverage and will soon be a thing of the past. As the neknomination videos begin to diminish in number, hopefully a more purposeful form of entertainment will crop up.

[divider] flikr.com/iwokeuptoday