At the intersection where drinking meets social media, there is a new trend called #neknominate. Believed to have started in Australia, the game consists of necking a drink, filming it, uploading it to some sort of social media channel, then nominating someone else to do the same. It’s basically a lot like those chainmails of the noughties, except instead of having to resend an email or risk missing out on a magic wish or losing the love of your life/your family/your friends, you have to neknominate or risk losing your street cred.
As it’s grown as a trend, people are doing weirder stunts for their #neknominations, such as dancing about in their boxers before necking a pint, or, perhaps more dangerously, drinking dirty pints (so dirty, in fact, they sometimes include goldfish and urine) downing entire bottles of spirits or funnelfuls of jagerbombs in a short period of time. And they're getting a reaction.
So far, so silly. But this week it seems the trend has spiralled, with the death of two men apparently down to their #neknomiations. Jonny Byrne, 19, and Ross Cummins, 22, both Irish, died in separate events of #neknominations, and their families have called for websites to pull pages dedicated to #neknominations. Another Irish neknominator, Rachel Carey, is facing death threats for swallowing a goldfish in her clip, which was filmed on her travels in Australia but has since gone viral.
As a result anti-alcohol and anti-bullying charities are now speaking out against the trend, and after some hesitation, Facebook has pulled down the Northern Irish #neknomination page, replacing it with an alcohol awareness advert.
But will it stop the #neknominate trend? Not according to India, 22, from Cumbria, whose #neknomination involved her downing a pint at 7am next to a lake while wearing little more than a bikini. Weirder still, she was #neknominated by her, er, dad.
What was your #neknominate?
I did mine in the morning because I had quite a busy day. I drank a pint of beer the other day at a lake at 7am, wearing a bikini, a sarong and sunglasses.
Did you do it with a group of friends?
My housemate drove me.
Did your housemate join in?
No! No she was in charge of driving and being sensible.
Why did you do it so early in the morning – was there an urgency to get it done?
Not really, it’s just I had lectures for the rest of the day so it was more practical!
How were your lectures after that?
They were fine. It sounds really bad but I had lectures at 7 and when it got to 9 I had a bacon sandwich and that was kind of fine. It was just a pint of beer.
What are the more extreme ones you’ve seen?
Sometimes it’s a mixture of the things people drink. I saw someone who did theirs naked on the side of a motorway. That was different.
Have you noticed an increase in the craze?
I’ve noticed it since Christmas with my friends up north and it seems to have come down south over the last few weeks.
Are people that do #neknominate drinking more than they usually would?
I’ve seen quite a difference in either people doing quite imaginative ones and people just drinking in extreme quantities. Or they’ll start with beer and then Jäger and then gin and then something else.
Do you know people that have thrown up afterwards?
(Laughs) I actually saw someone who was about 40 drink a pint of beer in a hairdressers and then throw up.
Who nominated you and did you feel under pressure to step up to the challenge?
It’s sort of embarrassing to admit – my Dad nominated me.
What had he been #neknominated to do?
We live on a farm and we’ve got ruins on part of the farm – my dad did his in there. He put candles all around it and pretended it was a house.
What did he drink?
Just a pint of beer.
Have you heard about the two men in Ireland who died, apparently after doing #neknominate?
I haven’t, no. That surprises me.
Lots of people are saying it’s a craze that people should be worried about. Do you agree?
I don’t because I think that people who drink too much doing it are probably people who are going to drink that amount when they’re going out anyway.
Do you think there’s a lot of extra pressure because it’s on social media or do you think there’s that pressure to drink anyway?
There’s probably more pressure to drink anyway. But it might do if you’re in a certain group where people do more extreme things.
Are you planning on doing another one?
I don’t think I’ll do another one. I don’t think I’ll be nominated to.
Do you think once someone’s done it that’s it?
I would say that, but then I have seen some people do more than one. But I think it probably just depends on the person.
When do you think the craze will jump the shark?
It will probably just fade away. I think it wasn’t long ago people were doing something weird with milk. It will probably just disappear like that.
A lot of people said Facebook would jump the shark when parents started joining, but obviously your dad is involved in #neknominate, which makes us think that’s not the rule for this…
I’ve seen quite a few people who have had family members nominate them and stuff like that. I do think it depends what you’re doing.
Have you seen people doing #raknominate - random act of kindness?
Oh yeah, I do think that’s a bit trite. In a way I think that’s more showing off than drinking a pint.
Why's that?
They're trying to prove their worthiness, if that makes sense. I think in a way it’s more self-interested than drinking a pint quickly.
So there you have it. Definitive words from a #neknominatee.
Follow Sophie on Twitter @sophwilkinson
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.