Does Facebook Bring Out The Worst In People

By Louis Hanks on May 21, 2011, 10:14 am

Is Facebook to blame if a teen decides to perform a dangerously stupid stunt? Well, there is currently no date available which states that social networking sites inspire reckless behavior in young people. Experts say that teens have always involved themselves in these types of behaviors except that in generations before, there were no publicly shared forums like Facebook.

Found Anywhere

Plankers can be found anywhere, on the roofs of moving vehicles, on rock formations and even across busy highways. Police in Australia are pretty fed up with the odd craze which has a heightened popularity there, and are cracking the whip by either ticketing or arresting anyone, who takes part in the risky public stunt which has a Facebook following of nearly 195,000.

Teapotting

Teapotting seems innocent enough but then again, there are always those death wish participants, who take the game to another bone-chilling level. The Facebook page has upwards of 3,500 followers, not including copycat pages and groups.

Pillaring

Planking and teapotting have now spawned another wannabe-extremist sport called pillaring. Similar to planking, pillaring is its cadaver-like cousin and requires standing straight and tall with no movement and again, placing yourself in odd places. Thus far, the lame alternative to planking has garnered some nearly 2,500 Facebook followers.

Riskier And Riskier

“The potential for disaster increases as more and more risks are taken to get the ultimate photo.” The obsession started off innocently enough, with plankers targeting landmarks, parked police cars, dishwashers or each other. But they gradually got extreme, with smokestacks, industrial machinery, animals and railway tracks all becoming planking sites. Despite the accidents, the craze shows no signs of abating.

 

Lying Down Game

Planking — also known as the Lying Down Game — is the seemingly harmless trend of lying face down, perfectly stiff, on various structures in public. It seems the game originated in 1997, and it became known as “planking” in Australia. Although a seemingly harmless activity, planking gained further attention recently after a Australian man was killed after trying to plank off his roof. He fell seven stories to his death. “There’s a difference between a harmless bit of fun done somewhere that’s really safe and taking a risk with your life,” Julia Gillard apparently told reporters according to The Australian.