A child is snatched in front of you. Do you a) put yourself in danger and chase after the culprit, b) call the police immediately, or c) assume it’s some kind of prank and carry on with your day?
These are the dillemas millions of social media uses are facing every day as soon as they click on a so-called ‘social experiment’ video.
The alarming phenomenon, which first began to surface more than a decade ago, has exploded on TikTok and other platforms, as creators generate terrifying false narratives in a bid to go viral.
One such video by @andr3w_wave shows him going up behind a young boy and ‘kidnapping’ him to see how bystanders will react. So far, it has received 46 million views. A similar video from creator Matthew Bandeira has hit 53 million views.
And the moral dilemmas posed to viewers don’t just involve kidnapping children.
There are some creators who fake being blind, waiting to see if someone will help them down the stairs. Others pretend to spike their date’s drink to test if anyone will stop them from taking a sip.
Even more disturbingly, some clips reveal people beginning to climb over bridge railings, as if they’re going to take their own life, to see if anyone will attempt to save them.
Not just a bit of fun
While those behind these viral stunts, like Andrejko (@andr3w_wave) insist they’re curated to ‘draw people’s attention to [these] issues’ – the reality is they are also creating a dangerous culture of inaction, according to clinical psychologist Dr Daniel Glazier.
‘Staging these artificial incidents and publicly shaming those who don’t react, runs the risk of seriously desensitising people to any real emergencies unfolding around them,’ Dr Glazier explains to Metro.
‘By manufacturing and monetising feigned crises for views, we’re conditioning a sense of scepticism. The more of these revealed as “pranks,” the harder it becomes for the public to distinguish true emergencies from staged ones.’
As far as he’s concerned, it’s a real life version of ‘the boy who cried wolf’.
‘If bystanders who do try to intervene or call for help realise too late it was contrived, they’ll be far more apprehensive to get involved next time’ he adds. ‘They will feel unable to discern what warrants urgent action, which could erodes goodwill and a sense of community care.’
However, running the risk of desensitising the public to real emergencies, isn’t the only problem.
‘From an ethical standpoint, we should all seriously take issue with the lack of consent and emotional manipulation involved,’ says Dr Glazier.
The online reaction to anyone who dares not get involved – despite the events being false – is also a cause for concern, he adds.
How it began:
In October 2014 one of the first filmed social experiments went viral.
A woman wearing a simple T-shirt and jeans walked around New York City for 10 hours while being secretly filmed. The aim? To highlight the street harassment women face daily.
Over the course of the day, the woman had upward of 100 catcalls and comments ranging from ‘beautiful’ to ‘God bless you’.
Men even followed and harassed the woman for not acknowledging their unwanted advances.
Curse of the comment section
In the comments of one fake kidnapping video, TikToker Juliana wrote: ‘I’m horrified how disconnected we are and the many mothers passing by and did nothing.’
Another added: ‘It’s scary to see just how many people did not even care about what was happening.’ , while someone called Sandystare commented: ‘WOW! One person [tried to help]! This shows the level our humanity is at.’
Dr Glazier points out that onlookers who decide not react are certainly not to blame.
‘Putting unwitting people into highly stressful situations without their agreement, then publicly mocking their reactions, is a breach of privacy and human dignity,’ he says. ‘The psychological distress of having inaction judged and lambasted online can be immense.’
In fact, the people who do nothing are not just victims of a cruel prank, they’re also potentially victims of ‘the bystander effect’ – a term coined following the 1964 murder of Kitty Genovese.
Who goes first?
When the 28-year-old was killed outside her home, there was said to be 38 people who saw the attack – none of whom stepped in to help her. The incident prompted a theory that the more people who are present in an emergency situation, the less likely it is someone will help.
Although the bystander affect has since been disputed, social psychologists John Darley and Bibb Latané, decided to put it to the test four years after the murder.
In a simulated environment where an emergency occurred – the room filled with smoke – John and Bibb placed two actors in with a group of unaware test subjects, who were instructed not to react.
Just 10% of people reacted to the emergency when in the group with the actors, however when alone in the same situation, 75% reported it.
Dr Glazier explains that this diffusion of responsibility, as well as a tendency people have to believe everyone else has a different opinion of the situation to their own, could cause them not to intervene. Especially as many of these social experiments happen in busy areas.
When things go wrong
And things don’t always go to plan. In a staged video by creator Matthew Bandeira that hit the 53 million views mark – a member of the public tried to stop the kidnap of a young girl by suggesting he’d shoot him.
The man who intervened said: ‘What’s her name? I’m about to say RIP, you don’t know what I’ve got on my back,’ as he reached under his jacket as if to pull out a gun.
One TikToker commented: ‘I’m about to say R I P – he was NOT playing,’ while another said: ‘These social experiments are going to get someone arrested.’
In a separate video, where a man attempted to take a child they pretended not to know for ice cream, a young guy stepped in to protect the little girl by shoving him and taking off his jacket for a fight.
Dangers aside, we also have to question the insensitivity of mimicking real world issues that have affected a lot of lives. Is it really appropriate to pretend you’re suicidal? To pretend you’re blind?
‘Rather than exploiting human behavioural tendencies for entertainment, that creative energy could be better channelled into educational campaigns around identifying genuine emergencies and the appropriate ways to provide assistance,’ Dr Glazier tells Metro.
‘The goal should be nurturing a culture of active community engagement and support -not eroding public trust through deceptive situations.’
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