Online challenges create quite the hype on social media.
The planking challenge and then the ice bucket challenge were major hits in the previous years. In 2018, dance challenges such as Harlem Shake, Running Man and Dab took the internet by storm.
These days, a new challenge is spreading across the online sphere.
This time, it involves a material that many find disgusting — garbage.
Called #trashtag, the new challenge started with Byron Roman’s intention to encourage “bored teens” in making a difference using the internet as a platform.
Roman is from Phoenix, Arizona and posted a photo of his friend in Guatemala, who took before and after photos of a messy area that he cleaned up.
Roman posted it with an English caption: “Here is a new #challenge for all you bored teens. Take a photo of an area that needs some cleaning or maintenance, then take a photo after you have done something about it, and post it.”
After a few weeks, the post amassed over 100,000 likes and 300,000 shares on Facebook alone.
Netizens from all over the world including the Philippines, both inspired and challenged by this trend, jumped into the bandwagon and began picking up litters and cleaning up dirty areas in their respective hometowns.
Over the years, social media challenges have evolved from mediocre to the mundane.
The #trashtag challenge is one that truly utilizes the power of social media in moving people to do something positive.
This challenge created an impact and raised awareness; thanks to Byron Roman’s initiative to challenge “bored teens” to do something significant.
With the approaching Earth Day commemoration on April 22, think about how you can be a positive contributor to a healthy environment. It is time to step into the #trashtag challenge and use the power of social media to create positive change.
Living our mission of journalism that builds communities, CDN Digital will come out with a series of articles on the protection and conservation of our planet in celebration of World Earth Day. We are running this series in partnership with Metropolitan Cebu Water District.
