Your Friends Posting Giraffe Pics Are Not So Smart After All...
Pictures of giraffes are mysteriously appearing on Facebook in place of profile pictures, as users struggle to solve a rather lame riddle. (PS: Answer is at the end of the story).
By Sadho Ram — 30 Oct 2013, 02:03 AM — Updated over 10 years ago
You must be wondering why would all of your Facebook friends start changing their profile photos to a giraffe?
It’s a simple riddle that you post as your status and ask your friends to “message” you the answer. It’s important that they message you so the answer doesn’t become readily available in post comments. Then if you get it wrong, you have to change your profile picture to a photo of a giraffe for three days.
indianasnewscenter.com
Many Facebook users have been changing their profile picture after losing to The Great Giraffe Challenge.
Image via abcnews.comThe Great Giraffe Challenge began just three days ago and has taken Facebook by storm and will soon be invading other social media platform feeds and email chains.
go.comNo, they weren't hacked. They failed to solve a riddle that's spreading like wildfire across Facebook. If you get the riddle wrong, you have to change your profile photo.
The riddle poses the question:
‘It’s 3am, the doorbell rings and you wake up. Unexpected visitors! It’s your parents and they are here for breakfast. You have strawberry jam, honey, wine, bread and cheese. What is the first thing you open?’
telegraph.co.uk
The challenge originated on a Facebook page created by Andrew Strugnell, who posted a video on YouTube explaining the challenge.
According to the page, each week a new riddle will be posted. Within the first day the page got 20,000 “likes” and now has over 75,000 “likes”. The original riddle post has been shared over 4,600 times.
indianasnewscenter.com
So, what's the big deal with it? Why is everyone doing it?
As for how something like this goes viral so quickly on Facebook, one school of thought would refer to basic human instincts.
cinemablend.com
For one, people want to feel like they are smart and they want their friends to think they are smart. The riddle addresses that need by bolstering a user’s confidence when they think, “Aha! I have the answer”.
abc15.com
Then there is also the need to be a part of a group. It’s no secret that social media has complicated societal interactions but it also reflects regular social interactions. In short, users want to change their profile pictures to the picture of a giraffe, because "all their friends are doing it”.
time.com
The second concept completely negates the first because in this situation you only become a part of the group by getting the riddle wrong. But, both play a role in making this kind of posting spread like wildfire across the internet.
go.comOk, so what is the answer?
The Facebook Giraffe Riddle Committee (FGRC) is accepting either of the following answers as correct:
A. The door, or
B. Your eyes