Since the cancellation of school and closure of most public places, I have witnessed a significant increase in social media activity among many platforms. Due to having other, more exciting commitments pre-quarantine, I rarely checked my Instagram, but now there isn’t much else to do. For the many years that I have been an Instagram user I have witnessed many “challenges” come and go, such as the ALS ice bucket challenge, where users are nominated by another account to post something specific, and then nominate other accounts to do the same. Because most of the world is faced with boredom from being stuck in their house, more challenges are circulating my feed than usual. Every time I refresh the page I seem to see at least 5 more accounts that I follow participating in one of the many challenges. Here are just a few that I’ve witnessed on my feed recently:

1. “See 10 do 10” – The premise of this challenge is that you film yourself doing 10 pushups, tag some accounts to nominate them to do it too, and post it on your story. This trend has gone viral, with many celebrities such as Jennifer Hudson and Tom Holland participating to motivate people to be active while practicing social distancing.
2. “Get out of bed challenge” – This one is my personal favorite. Created by magnet senior Rosie Booker, the only requirement of this challenge is to post a video of you getting out of bed and nominate others to do the same. The simplicity is genius and uses humor to inspire so many Instagram users to just get out of bed.
3. “Until Tomorrow” – By far the biggest challenge among them all. Most of the other challenges have taken place on the Instagram story feature, where they disappear after 24 hours and users can quickly click through each story. This challenge has gained nationwide traction as more than 300,000 users have participated. For those who are confused, the challenge requires that you post one or more embarrassing photos of yourself with the caption and hashtag “until tomorrow”, and whoever likes the post is nominated to do the same. Many users woke up on Wednesday morning with a feed infected with these posts, with an ambiguous caption that has many wondering “what will happen tomorrow?”. After doing some research, I discovered that participants are only expected to keep the picture(s) up until the next day, hence the caption. 

Despite their innocent intentions, the influx of Instagram challenges since the quarantine has caused some controversy. Many users are annoyed that their feed has almost been completely taken over by these posts. I admit it can be annoying to log on to the platform to find some source of entertainment only to see different variations of the same concept. Like the COVID-19, Instagram challenges are contagious through nominations, and have infected the feeds of many. 

Overall, these challenges are not worth causing a fuss about. We are all bored, and for many, these challenges are a fun way to connect, entertain, and provide comic relief through the use of social media. For those who are annoyed with them, take no shame in unfollowing accounts or taking a break from social media until this Instagram pandemic dies down.