Influencer says she’s ‘greatly concerned’ by social media challenge which sees young people tying headphones around their waist to ‘prove they are thin’
- Danae Mercer, 33, slammed challenge of wrapping earphones around your waist
- Journalist, who is based in Dubai, said she is ‘greatly concerned’ by challenge
- It went viral on platform Weibo in February last year and is now on TikTok
An influencer has slammed a social media challenge which sees young people tying earphones around their waist ‘to prove they are thin.’
Danae Mercer, 33, shared a video on her Instagram showing a woman in a crop top and sports leggings wrapping earphones around her waist twice, before tying them in a knot.
The journalist, who is based in Dubai and has more than two million followers on Instagram, said that she is ‘greatly concerned’.
Alongside the video, Danae penned: ‘Above all else, I want to keep this platform a really happy place. A safe spot in a world that’s pretty heavy.
‘But when I see eight year olds talking about their diets, and 13 year olds sharing their BMIs, when I see 16 year old males talking about choking and spitting, and little children wrapping iPhone cords around their waists to check their size, I have to talk.’ [sic]
Danae Mercer, 33, who is based in Dubai, shared a video on her Instagram, showing a woman in a crop top and sports leggings wrapping earphones around her waist twice before tying them in a knot
She added: ‘I left out A LOT of the stuff I’ve seen or been sent. Mostly because it’s little girls, picking apart their bodies, or proving how they match certain body challenge trends.
‘As a journalist, I am tired of sitting back and hoping something will change. And as an eating disorder survivor, I’m so greatly concerned.’
The earphones waist challenge went viral on Chinese social media platform Weibo in February last year, Dazed Digital reported at the time.
The challenge appeared to start when one user made a post about challenges surrounding body measurements and introduced a new earphone cord challenge.
The journalist (pictured), who has more than two million followers on Instagram, said that she is ‘greatly concerned’
The earphones waist challenge went viral on Chinese social media platform Weibo in February last year before spreading to TikTok and appeared to start when one user made a post about challenges surrounding body measurements and introduced a new earphone cord challenge
The challenge picked up on TikTok, with users appearing to wrap headphones around their waist to ‘show how thin they are’.
It raised concerns that social media users would compare themselves and their image to the ones doing the ‘challenge’.
And following Danae’s concern, one Instagram user commented on the post: ‘Omg this is so scary!!!!’
Another penned: ‘This is horrific,’ while a third added: ‘I am so disgusted!’
It is not the first social media challenge surrounding body image and measurements, and is similar to the collarbone challenge in 2015, which saw people balancing stacks of coins in the groove of their collarbones.