The Momo challenge started in the summer of this year, and grew to feverish proportions in July and August. Feverish in the sense that videos of the topic were being spit out by the dozen on YouTube and gaining good traction, as can be seen from the photo below.
The Momo challenge is a successor to self-harm “challenges” like Blue Whale, wherein the goal is to drive the participants to self-harm, and eventually death. The Momo challenge differentiates itself in two distinct ways: regionally and visually. Blue Whale was situated in Russia and Europe, in terms of origin and where it was reported the most. The Momo challenge is more widespread, having been reported nearly worldwide and generally getting more coverage. Visually speaking, Blue Whale has nothing besides its title animal. The Momo Challenge has a visual marker in the form of its title character, which is actually a sculpture created by Link Factory, a Japanese special effects firm. Below is an Instagram post that gives a full view of the sculpture, as the body is usually obstructed in thumbnails.
This visual marker gives an edge over all the other harm “challenges”, as the creepy image of the sculpture’s face gives news outlets and youtubers a clear picture to use for articles and videos. The sculpture is based on Japanese folklore, and is meant to be a depiction of a malicious spirit. As such, the intimidating visage of the creature has done wonders for clickbait. In terms of social dynamics, the Momo challenge is a form of cyberbullying wherein the perpetrators pretend to be “Momo”, and the victims are those who are messaged. Allegedly, the challenge originated on WhatsApp, but any messaging platform would hold the same effect. This cyberbullying was a “flavor of the month”, videos and reports were dedicated to it during the summer, and the trend died off in September. That in itself is both disappointing and troubling. Cyberbullying is now glorified if it’s “dolled up” enough; if there’s a spooky story behind it, it can be publicized in this manner. Most media outlets luckily condemned it, but the opposite can be seen on YouTube, as evidenced by the first image. It’s being lifted up from an unacceptable act to something trendy and exciting, which is appalling enough. As disgusting as it is, this sort of change is desirable for the internet, as can be seen by the sheer popularity of it. It reflects the desires of many, and is simply another chapter in the history of the internet. Perhaps the next cyberbullying incident will follow in Momo’s footsteps, with a stage name and mask.