DEEP DIVE

There are many ways to decide to get a piercing. It could be through deep thought and lengthy deliberation, on a dare or whim, or now, as part of a TikTok challenge. The TikTok Piercing Challenge involves using Snapchat’s piercings filter to determine where to get a facial piercing.

This trend has been around since as early as April 2019. In #PiercingChallenge videos, TikTokers film themselves with a Snapchat filter that makes various piercings appear on their faces. Whatever piercing the filter ends with, they may go out and actually get that piercing, or occasionally DIY it (note: do not try this at home).

The background music in TikTok Piercing Challenge videos is a remix between “Loving is Easy” by Rex Orange County and “No Ex’s” by Sage The Gemini. The lyrics go: “loving is easy you have me…f**k s**t b**ch/ don’t ask me who I be on/ I’m just tryna hit it while my Gucci on/ Netflix and chill put this…”

As with other outrageous-seeming internet and TikTok challenges like the Bouncy Egg Challenge or Shell-On Challenge, these videos are often deceptive and less dangerous than they appear. There’s no way to verify if these videos are actually inspiring many people to get piercings, or if they are just showing ones they already have or using magnets and other effects to make it look like they have a piercing. TikTok Piercing Challenge videos’ comments sections are usually full of debates about whether the piercing is “real” or not.

At present, the hashtag #PiercingChallenge has over 67 million views on TikTok.