NekNominate, the controversial drinking craze, has polarised students around Oxford University over the last week.
Students who are “nominated” by their friends post a video to Facebook of themselves preparing and drinking an extreme concoction. This is often heavily alcoholic, or includes items of food and other unusual ingredients. They then “nominate” several friends to perform a similar challenge within 24 hours.
The craze is believed to have begun in Australia early last month, but has since become popular all over the world, fuelled by the popularity of the #neknominate hashtag. It has become more controversial since two men died in Ireland after completing a challenge. Public health organisations including Drinkaware have condemned the practice and have warned of the dangers of drinking excessively in a short space of time.
Some students consider this a harmless and enjoyable phenomenon. A first-year Chemist, whose NekNominate drink included beer, white wine, peanut butter and congealed fat retrieved from a communal kitchen sink, said, “I don’t think there’s much inherently harmful in the idea of NekNominate, it’s just that some people are inevitably going to take it too far, as is the case with most things.
“Personally I enjoyed doing my nomination, and the reaction it has got from some friends, as well as watching a lot of other NekNominates (of varying) quality.”
Nominees have faced varying degrees of pressure to drink. One first-year at Magdalen said, “The majority of college friends that I’ve seen nominated haven’t actually done it.” Others, however, have felt more social pressure. “It just looked like something people were posting for Facebook likes” said Ryan, a first-year medic. “I’m hoping it will die down soon so that I can repair my broken online image.”
The ubiquity of videos on social media is attracting disapproval from some. “Can people please stop Neknominating. It makes it very hard for me to still like you”, one New College third year has warned.
