Young Vietnamese are performing increasingly absurd and dangerous acts in the name of Facebook likes.
A recent trend, known as “nói là làm”, or “do as promised”, has encouraged young people on the social media network to engage in some pretty strange behavior, reports Tuoi Tre. The craze involves young Vietnamese posting an odd or shocking act and vowing to perform said behavior if their Facebook post achieves a certain number of likes.
In September, for instance, a young Saigoneer sought 40,000 likes on his page, promising to light himself on fire and jump off a bridge in Tan Phu District if the goal was met.
“I will douse myself in gasoline and set fire to myself with a lighter,” he wrote, according to the news outlet. “Once I get enough ‘likes,’ I will do it. I give you my word.”
The post soon went viral, garnering over 93,000 likes. As a result, the young man did, indeed, commit the dangerous act, drawing a crowd of spectators when he finally carried it out. The young man’s actions were shared online shortly thereafter.
Since then, other young Vietnamese have stepped up to the plate, promising to complete silly, lewd and often dangerous challenges in the name of online popularity. According to Tuoi Tre, these challenges include “taking off my shirt in front of the camera”, “beating someone at school”, “running seven laps around the schoolyard naked” and “eating my own feces”.
Just three days ago, 13-year-old student Ngoc Han set fire to her Khanh Hoa school for 1,000 Facebook likes, reports Zing.
After reaching the target number of likes, Ngoc Han initially considered backing out of the challenge, however threats of violence from other Facebook users prompted her to go through with the promise. On October 9, the young student brought a half-liter of gasoline to school and set fire to the medical room, suffering minor burns on her legs as a result.
13-year-old student Ngoc Han, who set her school on fire after promising to do so in exchange for 1,000 Facebook likes. Photo via Zing.
Social studies expert Dr. Pham Thi Thuy told Tuoi Tre these actions are the fault of not only those who propose the challenge but also those who like such Facebook posts.
“This is a case of crowd psychology, as the mob rushes to ‘like’ those Facebook posts just for fun, which in fact leads to stupid acts by the young people involved,” Dr. Thuy told the news outlet.
[Photo via My Web Pro]
