The Charlie Charlie challenge is the Internet’s Ouija board
If you’re paying attention to what’s been going on social media, you might have noticed a sudden, mysterious uptick in the #CharlieCharlieChallenge. It’s all over the place, all of a sudden: More than 2 million people have used the hashtag in the last two days. If you have no idea what that’s all about, allow us to explain.
Think of it as a resurgence of the kinds of games kids play at sleepovers—anyone else remember Bloody Mary, or taking out the Ouija board and trying to ask it questions? The Charlie Charlie Challenge is very similar to that.
The way it works is by taking two pencils and balance them on a piece of paper in the shape of a cross. You then fill in the spaces formed by the pencil cross with “yes” and “no” answers. Players start by asking “Charlie, Charlie, are you there?” and start asking questions. The balanced pencils supposedly move to indicate the answers.
Who’s answering these queries? A mysterious entity known as Charlie. If Charlie is around to answer your questions, the pencils will roll towards the “yes” boxes. The game allegedly has its origins in a traditional Mexican demon-summoning ritual (or it’s just a prank based on gravity) but one thing’s for sure: It’s totally taken over the Internet.
There are a lot of people playing this —on Vine, especially—and someone combined a lot of great reactions to the pencil rolling (presumably “Charlie”) into a compilation of hilarity. It seems like the game is really just a good chance to freak out your friends—if they’re easily scared, that is. And who else remembers trying to scare your pals from time to time?
Of course, some people are just using it to try and find out when Justin Bieber will release his next album. Who better to reach out to than a great all-knowing spirit?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDyyMkrJ6FU
Just a disclaimer: we don’t encourage summoning spirits or Mexican demons or anything like that. But we are 100 % for sleepover games, always.
[Featured image via.]
