Early planking adopter David Williams celebrates his try during Manly Sea Eagles v Newcastle Knights NRL game. Picture: Brett Costello Source: news.com.au
- Craze of extreme lying down swept the nation
- At least one death came from planking
- No one really does it anymore though
THIS is part two of our Care Factor series, where we look at the issues that provoked outrage or grabbed the nation's attention more than anything else.
Part one: Live exports and whether the demands of protesters - shocked by graphic footage of cruelty on ABC’s Four Corners - had been met.
Today we take a break from the highly-charged and emotional and instead look at one of the silliest fads of the year - planking.
Otherwise known as ‘extreme lying down’, if you’re not sure how it works, here’s a handy diagram.
Graphic: Vincent Vergara
Source: news.com.au
For whatever reason, planking grabbed people’s attention more than almost any craze in the past.
The craze has been around for a while now but reached fever pitch earlier this year.
It was an activity almost any able-bodied person could take part in, and online networks made sharing/bragging/laughing at your latest attempt very easy. The challenge was where you did it.
In the beginning planking was mostly unheard of, and part of the fun came from confusing the unsuspecting public.
Top photo sharing website Flickr was one place plankers congregated to show off their latest stunt. More than 28,000 images of people planking were uploaded in 2011.
Facebook was another obvious go-to network for meeting fellow plankers. According to the Facebook Memology study, planking was the top status trend for Australians this year and 174,000 people signed up to the Planking Australia facebook group. The group’s creator also built an iPhone app called Plankingme.
Planking moved from social networks to the mainstream news in May with the arrest of a Queensland man for lying face down on a police car.
"The activity is potentially dangerous, as proponents of the movement try to out-do each other by planking on structures and in precarious positions, putting themselves and others at risk of harm," Gladstone police Sergeant Matthew Russell said at the time.
Sadly he was right.
Less than a week later 20-year-old Acton Beale fell to his death from a balcony seven storeys up.
“It’s what we’ve been fearing,” said Queensland Police Deputy Commissioner Ross Barnett.
"Ultimately, is it worth life in a wheelchair to take a funny photo to impress somebody you don't know on the internet?" he added the next day.
Worldwide Google searches for “planking” peaked in May - around the time of Mr Beale’s death.
Despite the warnings from authorities planking continued, thankfully in a safer manner most of the time, and it was well and truly in the spotlight.
TV morning show hosts Karl Stefanovic from the Today Show – several times - and Kerri-Anne Kennerley both got in on the fun.
Sunrise tried to make teapotting happen but, well, it didn’t.
It’s never trendy when your dad gets in on the joke, less so when he’s a politician, so when New Zealand Prime Minister John Key appeared in a photo with his planking son in May,he was accused of having brought the joke to an end.
But as you can see by the graph of Flickr uploads, planking wasn’t over yet. Flickr photo submissions reached their highest point two months later.
Now? Planking is so yesterday. Other photography-themed memes tried to take its place. The aforementioned teapotting, owling, and horsemanning – two people creating the illusion of separating one’s head from their body - never gained the popularity of extreme lying down.
The Planking Australia Facebook page still has its diehard fans, but the art has dropped off the pop-culture radar in the same way all crazes die. Once your parents and politicians get in on the act, it’s really not cool anymore.
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