Thais rising to viral challenges in social media

The challenge, which started early last week, is still running, making it one of the longest Thai viral campaigns on social media. 

The “Books Challenge” activity is not just about people reminding themselves of the happy times they had reading their favourite novels and other books, but also about letting their friends get to know them better via the books they read, which generally reflect their character. 

This looks to be a rewarding as a well as a fun activity because – apart from sharing one’s preferences – it results in participants learning about books that they themselves might never have considered before, especially if they are from different walks of life.

The campaign also shows that many Thais love reading, and that they read a lot more books than many might think. Many – not surprisingly, most of them bookworms – have commented that they love the “Books Challenge” and that is a great idea for encouraging people to start, or to continue reading. 

Google.com, meanwhile, also has a facility for users to mention the book they are reading. This appears when making an information search via the online giant.

Apart from the ongoing “Books Challenge”, there are two similar Thai viral campaign challenges over social media: a Thai website challenge, or #WebTH, and a movie challenge. 

The website challenge is running alongside the book activity, and is naturally more for tech/online-leaning people.

Some participants have said #WebTH enables them to explore interesting websites that they might not have known about before, thanks to their friends’ lists of favourite sites. 

A common thread found from observing this particular challenge is that most participants have a few news websites that they visit regularly, while most of their time spent on news consumption is done via links shared on social media. 

If for books, you are what you read, then for websites, you are what you visit regularly. 

Meanwhile, the movie challenge, which calls for users to list their 10 favourite films, is quieter than the other two campaigns.

Viral campaigns come and go, of course. One new campaign occupying social-media timelines right now is challenging people to post their ID-card photos online. Normally, people’s images on these cards are not very flattering, so the idea of the challenge is to show your own and dare others to do likewise. 

As a result, many people are posting their ID cards on social media, while some have chosen to post another type of card with a photo, such as their driving licence or student card. 

Another ongoing viral challenge is to call for friends to put too much powder on their faces and post a photo of what they look like having done so. 

Some campaigns – like the book and website challenges – involve creative thinking and are of benefit to the social-media community, while others such as the powdered-face activity are merely for fun. 

However, they all reflect the fact that Thais love to take part in social activities, and are increasingly doing so via the opportunities presented by the growing world of viral campaigns over social media.