Nek-no-minate: binge drinking craze spawns offshoots - video

THE deaths of two young Irish men apparently linked to the 'Neknominate' drinking craze has not curbed the popularity of the social media trend, which encourages people to film themselves "necking" one or several alcoholic drinks and post the footage online.

The fad has been condemned as "highly dangerous" and "potentially lethal" as it encourages chain binge drinking. After the first person posts footage of themselves drinking, they nominate a friend to follow suit. Those nominated are supposed to complete their challenge within 24 hours and try to outdo the person who first challenged them.

However, like most internet crazes, Neknominate has already spawned several unexpected offshoots that are designed to turn the ‘nominate’ phenomenon into a force for good.

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Here are four of the best:

Raknominate

RAK stands for 'random acts of kindness' and was the first counter-movement to challenge the Neknomination drinking craze. It is believed to have started in South Africa where many live on less than £1.20 a day, reports the Daily Telegraph. So when Brent Lindesque received a Neknomination from a friend in Australia via Facebook he decided that he wanted to use his nomination as motivation to do something positive. Instead of necking a drink, he filmed himself handing out lunch to a homeless man canvassing for work at a traffic junction in Johannesburg. He said: "Downing a can of Castle Light is easy... imagine if we all harnessed the power of social media to make a real difference in people's lives."

Copnominate

Irish university student Melanie Murphy was the first to be Copnominated by her friend Ronan O Dalaigh, who she says, "had this wonderful idea to drown out the negative with positive". Copnominating works by encouraging those taking part to do something "creative, original and positive", while also replacing the current Neknomination trend with something "more fun, individual and representative of the strength and potential of our youth," says Murphy. She completed her COP activity by dishing out free hugs to 32 random people in Dublin City. She said: "I think that anyone out there aiming to draw attention away from this ridiculous drinking game, or to put a more positive spin on it, is doing a wonderful thing."

DJ takes a stand

DJ and producer, Ashley Abernethie, became an internet hero this week when he received a Neknomination from a friend, reports the Daily Mail. Instead of guzzling a beer, the 25-year-old from Plymouth downed his mug of coffee and set off to work, stating that the drinking game was "getting a bit out of hand". He later revealed: "I've been overwhelmed with supportive messages, particularly from mums across the world worried about their kids." Ashley's one-minute video has amassed more than 51,000 likes on Facebook and has been shared nearly 12,000 times.

Horsing around

A County Durham woman took the Neknomination craze to new heights on Wednesday. The Guardian reports that Inky Ralph - 21 and from County Durham - rode her horse, Harvey, into a Tesco store in Bishop Auckland and then downed a bottle of Pepsi Max, while being filmed by a friend. Police in County Durham are currently investigating the incident, yet Ralph – an experienced horse rider at county level – told the Northern Echo: "It was just harmless fun. Everybody seems to find it really funny."