Planking

2011

Date: viral peak May-July 2011 · Place: Australia (peak), with antecedents in the UK · Figures: Acton Beale, Australian planker (d. 15 May 2011) · Sam Weckert and Gary Clarkson, UK Lying Down Game originators (2007) · Tags: Pose Meme, Performance Photography 01. The Lying Down Game Renamed The pose, lying face-down with body rigid and arms at the sides on increasingly unusual surfaces, originates as the Lying Down Game in 2007 with UK players Sam Weckert and Gary Clarkson documenting it on Facebook. In early 2011 the practice is renamed planking in Australia and explodes across Facebook and Twitter. By May 2011 dedicated Facebook pages have hundreds of thousands of followers and planks are documented on roofs, statues, livestock, and police vehicles. 02. A Death And A Reckoning On 15 May 2011 Acton Beale, a twenty year old in Brisbane, falls seven stories to his death while planking on a balcony railing. The Queensland Police Service issues a public warning. The fad recedes through the summer. Planking is the first major pose-photography viral, the template for subsequent stunts such as Owling, Horsemaning, and Tebowing. It is also the first viral practice to produce a widely-publicized fatality, prompting early discussion of platform responsibility for trend-driven physical risk. Sources • KnowYourMeme, 'Planking' • BBC News, 'Australian planking craze claims first life' (15 May 2011) • The Sydney Morning Herald, 'The lying down game: planking history' (16 May 2011)