Pressure behind posts

Online trends move fast, and while they can be funny or creative, they often influence students to take risks they wouldn’t normally consider. When your feed is filled with people doing a challenge or stunt, your brain begins to see the behavior as normal — especially since teens are wired to care about social belonging.

Many viral trends are designed for attention, not safety, and often involve dangerous pranks, stunts, or “hacks” that may be staged but still recreated by viewers. Even without direct pressure, silent online pressure can make students feel like they need to join in to appear fun, confident, or connected. Algorithms also amplify extreme content because it drives engagement, making risky behavior seem more common than it actually is.

To stay safe, students can pause before participating:

• Ask themselves whether they’d do the trend offline

• Remember that many viral videos are fake or edited

• Curate their feeds by unfollowing accounts that glorify dangerous behavior

• Talk with friends about trends before engaging

  
  

Ultimately, trends aren’t going away, but understanding how they shape decisions helps students stay in control and make choices that protect their well-being while still enjoying social media in a healthy way.