Momo Challenge - scaremongering or a real danger?

Deebles McBeebles

Danny_B wrote: »

And it begins.....

Jesus. That person could do with a valium and typing course.

Omackeral

whisky_galore wrote: »

You might as well ask a 6 year old to mow the lawn or drive the family car, just as irresponsible.

Why didn't you say ''momo the lawn''? It was right there for you.

Sheepdish1

I was researching about momo the other day and scared the daylights out of myself!

Unknown to me the chromecast on my tv picked up what I was searching on my phone so a giant picture of momo was staring at me from my tv when I looked up from my phone !! :-D

Dial Hard

AudreyHepburn wrote: »

How do you know people haven’t signed up for it? Do you honestly believe all these parents, children and law enforcement agencies are making it up? Come on I know you’re not that naive.

Because I literally haven't seen one single report of or even screenshot from anyone who has successfully signed up for or even found this app. Given the amount of coverage this is receiving, I find that very telling. I really don't think I'm the naive one here, tbh.

Omackeral

Danny_B wrote: »

And it begins.....

''ALL I ASKED CALLIE AND LOLA TODAY WAS''

People who give their children names like the above are the exact type of people I'd expect to regurgitate this shite. Full time mammies.

Boom_Bap

Dial Hard wrote: »

Because I literally haven't seen one single report of or even screenshot from anyone who has successfully signed up for or even found this app. Given the amount of coverage this is receiving, I find that very telling. I really don't think I'm the naive one here, tbh.

Given that kids are talking about it, kids know the game, they know the outcome, even if the app/video doesn't exist, is it a good thing to get more exposure to what kids are talking about and being encouraged to do online?

von Smallhausen

Omackeral wrote: »

People who give their children names like the above are the exact type of people I'd expect to regurgitate this shite. Full time mammies.

Didn't even notice the names in it...far too many caps to be looking at it right.

von Smallhausen

Deebles McBeebles wrote: »

Jesus. That person could do with a valium and typing course.

Or replace the keyboard because the caps lock is clearly broken...

beans

Omackeral wrote: »

People who give their children names like the above are the exact type of people I'd expect to regurgitate this shite. Full time mammies.

#NotAllFull-TimeMammies

Dial Hard

Boom_Bap wrote: »

Given that kids are talking about it, kids know the game, they know the outcome, even if the app/video doesn't exist, is it a good thing to get more exposure to what kids are talking about and being encouraged to do online?

I suspect the kids are talking about it because their parents have asked/warned them about it, tbh.

Man Vs ManUre

Could this new fame be the cause of the poor form of mo salah for Liverpool?? It can’t just be a coincidence. Looks like it will cost us the PL and champions league crowns this season.

iguana

AudreyHepburn wrote: »

How do you know people haven’t signed up for it? Do you honestly believe all these parents, children and law enforcement agencies are making it up? Come on I know you’re not that naive.

Remember back in 1985 when the scientific community was rocked by the discovery that solid rock was actually capable of self controlled animation. And how the whole trajectory of scientific knowledge and advancement was forever changed? No neither do I but I do remember how what seemed to be every second person was convinced they’d seen the statue at the local grotto wave at them or dance a jig or something equally impossible. It’s called hysteria.

Boom_Bap

Dial Hard wrote: »

I suspect the kids are talking about it because their parents have asked/warned them about it, tbh.

I suspect the opposite

EDIT: It's not the first time I've seen the image that is being used, I reckon it's some other 'challenge' being recycled.

Neyite

Dial Hard wrote: »

I suspect the kids are talking about it because their parents have asked/warned them about it, tbh.

Some of them have been clumsy at best tbh. I'm in a few mammy FB groups and there are women who showed the picture to their kids. Eh, well of course they are going to get scared if you show them or give them loads of detail. And children are little sponges. If their mother is freaking out, then they will too.

I spoke to my six year old. I had no idea it was a hoax at the time but even so, he would only come home with tales of this from school anyway -probably grossly exaggerated and terrified. So I would have had to address it regardless. Best to pre-empt and debunk it before it scares them.

He wasn't shown pictures, he wasn't told the name but was told that sometimes there are people who put scary stuff in the middle of a you-tube video to scare kids, and if that ever happened, he was to tell us. No hysteria, but it also reminded us of our intention to reduce his screen time, and to check security settings and all that again. We've also decided to change him over to a different tablet as the older he's getting he's more savvy on the devices and we need to be in tandem with that.

It was also a good opportunity to remind him that secrets are for fun stuff like birthdays or treats. That no secret should be kept if it makes you sad or scared. That's an ongoing general one we've always had.

Anthonylfc

Omackeral wrote: »

People who give their children names like the above are the exact type of people I'd expect to regurgitate this shite. Full time mammies.

spot on :pac::pac::pac::pac::pac::pac::pac::pac:

Autecher

At the risk of taking the thread off topic what is with all the dismissive "full time mammy" comments here? Is their a backstory I'm unaware of?

xzanti

Autecher wrote: »

At the risk of taking the thread off topic what is with all the dismissive "full time mammy" comments here? Is their a backstory I'm unaware of?

Apparently it is synonymous with being on the lower echelons if you have "Full Time Mammy" as your profession on FB.


Or so I gather.

Autecher

xzanti wrote: »

Apparently it is synonymous with being on the lower echelons if you have "Full Time Mammy" as your profession on FB.


Or so I gather.

Ah I see so it's similar to they way people who put "full time mad bástard" as their profession are looked down on by some others?

Autecher

Autecher wrote:

Ah I see so it's similar to they way people who put "full time mad bástard" as their profession are looked down on by some others?

Pretty much. The kind of people who post day in and day out about how hard it is being a "full time mammy for my angels" yet have enough time to be on Facebook all day and in the pub each night.

blanch152

AudreyHepburn wrote: »

Of course not but clearly what’s happening is not as simple as that and there is clearly something scaring children and leading them to do horrible things.

And I don’t understand why people are so reluctant to acknowledge this.

Life?

Friends?

Peppa Pig?

Oscar the Grouch, boy was I scared of him at the age of 4?

Can you give us concrete evidence of whatever it is that is clearly "scaring children and leading them to do horrible things."

NIMAN

I can see the decision now that many parents have to make.

Do they tell their kids about Momo and how its all a made up pile of nonsense and nothing to worry about, tell mum and dad if anyone says anything to you?

or

Say nothing, cos they might never hear about it anyway?


If you go for the 1st option you might end up telling them about something they never would have heard about.

Maybe a more generic "if you ever get anyone telling you anything scary, tell mum and dad" might be better option?

iguana

NIMAN wrote: »

If you go for the 1st option you might end up telling them about something they never would have heard about.

Maybe a more generic "if you ever get anyone telling you anything scary, tell mum and dad" might be better option?

I went with option 1 because the stupid nonsense keeps appearing on my social media, as a thumbnail on news sites etc. So I showed it to my 6 year old and explained that what it is. It’s better to see it with me when I can present it in a way that removes anything fearful about it than see it by accident because ‘concerned’ adults keep making sure it’s seen by as many people as possible as frequently as possible. He wasn’t scared by it because I didn’t treat it as scary.

He did choose to dress up as Pennywise the clown (Tim Curry version) last Halloween when he was 5. So a sculpture of a mythical creature isn’t going to scare him. And I would be careful about teaching him about ‘scary’ people online. It’s the overly nice, overly familiar connections that kids need to be wary of.

Gimme A Pound

seamus wrote: »

Recent polls and tests suggest that people under 25 (i.e. those who don't remember a world without internet) are much better at spotting fake news, scams and scaremongering, than those over 25. The 50+ age group are most susceptible to bullsh1t and most likely to circulate it.

Fairly pointless response in relation to someone commenting that young kids (obviously that means much much younger than 25) are gullible.

Fiftyfilthy

NIMAN wrote: »

I can see the decision now that many parents have to make.

Do they tell their kids about Momo and how its all a made up pile of nonsense and nothing to worry about, tell mum and dad if anyone says anything to you?

or

Say nothing, cos they might never hear about it anyway?


If you go for the 1st option you might end up telling them about something they never would have heard about.

Maybe a more generic "if you ever get anyone telling you anything scary, tell mum and dad" might be better option?

Primary schools have the teachers discussing it with the classes and another school had the gards in talking to the pupils

freshpopcorn

Fiftyfilthy wrote: »

Primary schools have the teachers discussing it with the classes and another school had the gards in talking to the pupils

Safer internet day was a few weeks back.
They are loads of talks and chats for the kids in school.
There's one for the parents to and the attendance isn't great from what I heard.

upinsmoke

From what I'm reading online it's not an app or anything like that.

People are getting a sim card, setting up WhatsApp on their phone and naming themselves MoMo and setting their profile picture.

They are then whatsapping people they already know and will have information on the user.

It's quite scary to be honest, anyone in a school say could target anyone vulnerable and basically hidden unitl police get involved when then it could be too late.

Edit: Could be any messageing platform, not just whatsapp

Church on Tuesday

This business had the most peculiar beginnings...

Starts at the 2'' mark https://youtu.be/3tQe7SijZn4

scamalert

upinsmoke wrote: »

From what I'm reading online it's not an app or anything like that.

People are getting a sim card, setting up WhatsApp on their phone and naming themselves MoMo and setting their profile picture.

They are then whatsapping people they already know and will have information on the user.

It's quite scary to be honest, anyone in a school say could target anyone vulnerable and basically hidden unitl police get involved when then it could be too late.

Edit: Could be any messageing platform, not just whatsapp

you basically described bullying that goes on each day, and no one seems to give much fck about it until some serious crap happens, yet some creepy pic and few made up stories gets mass attention.


theres not a single day in online gaming where someone wouldnt say go ****ing kill yourself: cs go,rust, even crap games like minecraft id imagine has plenty of eejits and toxic kids playing each day, except none of em would fall for that $hit as its so ingrained in gaming communities where its the norm.


Now that aside if some 5-7yr old manages to sit on FB or have whatsapp account that parents have no clue how to monitor kid and sees this as some sort of issue, they should maybe look into actual parenting not giving mobile device to kid who might do stupid things because parents are to busy to look after their angles, instead letting em sit online 24/7 as it keeps em busy.


as a bit pathetic nowadays weather got warmer full streets of 4-7 yr olds driving in middle of estate on bikes with busy enough traffic with no ****s given on parents part or seen any of em outside looking after their kids, same over weekend in cafe kids climbing all over place entire family out parents take out phones and stare at screens.


maybe more real life interaction and less dramatization would go longer ways if those so concerned did actual parenting.

quokula

upinsmoke wrote: »

From what I'm reading online it's not an app or anything like that.

People are getting a sim card, setting up WhatsApp on their phone and naming themselves MoMo and setting their profile picture.

They are then whatsapping people they already know and will have information on the user.

It's quite scary to be honest, anyone in a school say could target anyone vulnerable and basically hidden unitl police get involved when then it could be too late.

Edit: Could be any messageing platform, not just whatsapp

upinsmoke wrote: »

From what I'm reading online it's not an app or anything like that.

People are getting a sim card, setting up WhatsApp on their phone and naming themselves MoMo and setting their profile picture.

They are then whatsapping people they already know and will have information on the user.

It's quite scary to be honest, anyone in a school say could target anyone vulnerable and basically hidden unitl police get involved when then it could be too late.

Edit: Could be any messageing platform, not just whatsapp

Thanks for shedding some light on the reality, this makes far more sense than the nonsense about a magic app that pops out of nowhere.

So basically it’s just another form of bullying. Which is of course being exacerbated by overreacting parents scaring all the momo share stories and inspiring more bored teenagers to do this because they think they’re being funny.

upinsmoke

quokula wrote: »

Thanks for shedding some light on the reality, this makes far more sense than the nonsense about a magic app that pops out of nowhere.

So basically it’s just another form of bullying. Which is of course being exacerbated by overreacting parents scaring all the momo share stories and inspiring more bored teenagers to do this because they think they’re being funny.

Yes and after another bit of research there seems to be random numbers popping up on peoples phones mainly from Chile, Japan and the USA adding people on Whatsapp pretending to be MoMo so cam be a random person as well.

Fr_Dougal

LirW

There should be a mandatory "the internet is full of sh1t"- talk for children.
Issue is just that most parents aren't aware of the above either.

Cee-Jay-Cee

SteM wrote: »

Why is a 6 year old allowed on any sort of social media platform?

They were using their mothers phone on kids YouTube and the videos selected were entered/picked by the mother. Parental Controls were set and being used. They have no idea how it happens, if it’s a pop up or how it appeared on the phone.

Dial Hard

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote:

They were using their mothers phone on kids YouTube and the videos selected were entered/picked by the mother. Parental Controls were set and being used. They have no idea how it happens, if it’s a pop up or how it appeared on the phone.

Sure Jan.

Neyite

Dial Hard wrote: »

Sure Jan.

You'd be surprised at some parents who, while they have the capability to download an app and stick stupid dog ears on their picture, are technically illiterate in every other way. A smart phone does not equal a smart owner

And many of those would be the first to point the finger at the school/ google/ Apple if their child stumbled across something unsuitable on YouTube. It wouldn't even occur to them to question their own culpability in the matter.

freshpopcorn

gctest50

Momo is actually trying to raise funds for a bit of corrective eye surgery

Gets terrible headaches at the minute, poor thing

kowloon

AudreyHepburn wrote: »

Essentially it’s an online app that sets out disturbing and dangerous challenges to the user involving self harm and threatening harm to others. It specifically targets children and teenagers and the final challenge is to take your own life. Momo threatens the user into completing the challenges. Tragically three youngsters have already taken their own lives as a result.

I'm almost certain there was a film with this plot.

_Brian

In fairness parents are allowing kids be exposed to risk.
My youngest is 10, most of her friends 9-11YO are in snapchat, Facebook, instagram, WhatsApp and few other anonymous messaging apps.
Teachers can’t get lads to stop talking about Fortnight which is an12 rated game, I know parents letting 7 & 8 yo play it.

Parents can protect their kids better by actually parenting and saying NO once in a while, going through devices and familiarising themselves with their kids activities online.

Widdensushi

Momo has told the British people that Brexit is a good idea.

Fr_Dougal

NIMAN

upinsmoke wrote: »

People are getting a sim card, setting up WhatsApp on their phone and naming themselves MoMo and setting their profile picture.

They are then whatsapping people they already know and will have information on the user.

Well if someone you know is doing that to you, its time to de-friend them. What @r$eholes.

But I'd be very surprised if 12yr olds are doing this to other 12yr olds, it seems like a lot of work for a prank tbh.

And surely it can't be happening to anyone younger than that cos kids younger than that should have their own mobile phone with WhatsApp etc installed? If they do, then the parents have no-one to blame but themselves.

EDit

It started out as a load of BS “urban myth” that has unfortunately fallen into the self-fulfilling prophecy territory as saddos will now be pulling pranks on people pretending to be MOMO. You only need to look at AH on an average day to see the how many of these saddos there are around (all the new regs/re-regs and their stupid threads)

beans

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/feb/28/viral-momo-challenge-is-a-malicious-hoax-say-charities

The official line is that it's all a hoax

article wrote:

Viral 'Momo challenge' is a malicious hoax, say charities
Groups say no evidence yet of self-harm from craze, but resulting hysteria poses a risk

von Smallhausen

Youtube had posted this on their FB page...

We want to clear something up regarding the “Momo Challenge”: We’ve seen no recent evidence of videos promoting the “Momo Challenge” on YouTube. Videos encouraging harmful and dangerous challenges are against our policies.

If you see videos promoting harmful or dangerous challenges on YouTube, we encourage you to flag them to us immediately. These challenges are clearly against our Community Guidelines. More info here: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2802027…;

Then this is from Virgin Media News last night

‘Momo challenge’ slammed as a hoax by internet safety experts, as schools across Ireland warn parents to be wary of the apparent new online bullying trend

https://www.facebook.com/VirginMediaNews/videos/674724576330916/

weldoninhio

Autecher wrote: »

Ah I see so it's similar to they way people who put "full time mad bard" as their profession are looked down on by some others?

"Full time mammys" and "full time mad bastards all seem to have attended "the school of hard knocks". I doubt it sends many people to college, or even to Leaving Cert level to be honest.

weldoninhio

But Cee Jay Cee had non-anecdotal (literally anecdotal) evidence that it happened in Donegal. :rolleyes::rolleyes:

TheChizler

Danny_B wrote: »

Youtube had posted this on their FB page...



Then this is from Virgin Media News last night

The media get twice as much coverage about this now, they must be delighted. First wind everyone up saying how dangerous it is, then a few days later tell people it's a hoax and give out about how people were saying it was dangerous!

Boom_Bap

In the school playground this morning, there were little huddles of kids all talking in whispers about momo and how they seen it last night or got a call from momo.
Even my own daughter was saying she got a call from momo, and he had a gadget free day yesterday.
Even though a hoax, it's having an impact on kids.

von Smallhausen

It's not like they have anything else to report on....Nothing like a good hoax to get the people all riled up.