TikTok Is Pushing Children to the Occult
(BrightPress.org) – Megan Alisa is an evidential psychic medium. She claims she can connect with the dead and offer proof. Psychics and mediums are nothing new, of course, but the introduction of social media means they’re not tucked away at carnivals or in little shops full of incense. For example, the hashtag #WitchTok has tens of billions of views on the popular video streaming platform TikTok. According to an article on the topic in Newsweek, young people turn to astrology and the occult during difficult or tumultuous times, looking for answers conventional wisdom may not provide.
How Popular Is the Occult?
Alisa has more than 234,000 followers on TikTok. The medium says the internet allows people across the globe to learn about her practice, and some even engage in it virtually. Alisa’s opportunities to reach the public using social media sites are limitless. She does free psychic readings on TikTok and Instagram and holds virtual meetings with private clients on Zoom. She told Newsweek the public readings build legitimacy for her craft.
Alisa’s isn’t the only type of paranormal activity available on the web. Joey Xoto, who has more than 184,000 TikTok followers, describes himself as an entertainer. He uses perception, specifically mentalism and hypnotism, to create an experience for his followers that mimics the paranormal.
One video with 1.7 million views attempts to connect his viewers with a spirit called Le-Ah, which he describes as a “perception of ideas,” mentioning the power of suggestion. Thousands of comments on the post prove that people believe something paranormal happened. The video terrified some, and others reportedly had purple marks on their hands after viewing it. Xoto says some of the reactions are unexplainable by science.
Dangerous Trends
Youngsters should watch out for more than just the occult on TikTok. The platform has brought such dangerous trends as the “Benadryl challenge,” in which teens take huge amounts of the allergy drug to illicit hallucinations. Benadryl can cause seizures, heart attacks, and death in large doses.
Another was the “blackout challenge.” Players hold their breaths or choke each other until they pass out. While the game isn’t new — 82 children died playing a live version between 1995 and 2007 — an online version can potentially do even more damage.
Perhaps the most disturbing is the “penny challenge.” Users drop a penny behind a partially-plugged phone charger to watch the sparks and light show. The dangers of purposely starting an electrical fire seem obvious.
Online video hubs and social media sites can be a lot of fun. It would seem, especially for younger people, they can also be perilous.
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