Talk:Planking (fad)/Archive 3

Is it a "fad"?

Even though we've just moved the article, I would like to move the article again to something that does not refer to planking as a "fad". The term isn't very descriptive, POV, and crystal-balling. How about Planking (activity) or Planking (game) ? Barrylb (talk) 05:44, 25 July 2011 (UTC)

I agree. The term "fad", however accurate, seems to be applied here as a kind of written sneer. The purpose of the article is to document the phenomenon, not to pass judgment on it. The "fad" nature of the phenomenon would be better incorporated in the article in its own paragraph or section containing (reliably-sourced) information about the development of planking as a social phenomenon. Augurar (talk) 22:11, 25 July 2011 (UTC)

I would disagree that it is not a "game" despite its name. Rather, it would better fit as an internet phenomenon or fad. Although performed in real life, the point is often to garner attention to oneself online, rather than draw attention as Tom Green did. Also, the article itself should incorporate more information about planking's status as a facebook and youtube phenomenon. Perhaps the controversy of planking could be better described as well.I feel the specific events currently in the article do little to convey the general atmosphere surrounding planking (some seeing it as a joke, others as pointless, etc). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.11.51.209 (talk) 08:06, 26 July 2011 (UTC)

Fad is a POV term, period. However, per 69.11.51.209. it isn't a game either. Perhaps activity is what we're looking for here, as Barrylb suggested. Planking (activity) has my full support. Puchiko (Talk-email) 20:55, 26 July 2011 (UTC)

Personally, don't think that fad is a POV, but perhaps activity would be more descriptive anyway. In any case, if you want the article to be moved, my suggestion would be to start a requested move. Jenks24 (talk) 08:51, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

This discussion here is a sufficient process if we can establish consensus. I have no objection to moving to Planking (activity) and I am happy to do the move. I'm not sure if enough people have seen this discussion yet for us to be certain whether there are any objections. Barrylb (talk) 05:39, 28 July 2011 (UTC)

We had a discussion just ten days ago. This should not be considered uncontroversial and I think it would be best to start another requested move to guarantee that enough people have seen that this is being discussed. Jenks24 (talk) 05:46, 28 July 2011 (UTC)

Fad is not a POV term, it's a perfectly neutral and descriptive English term. It can be used pejoratively, but so can most any term (with the right intonation). It's not a game: there is no scoring, for starters. The question of whether it's a "fad" depends on on its longevity. True, we can't at this time know it's long-term prospects.

However, I think it's instructive to consider older entities -- crossword puzzles, for instance. Crossword puzzles arose suddenly (about 100 years ago) and very quickly became very popular. They still are, and it would be foolish to describe crossword puzzles as a "fad" now. But it would have been appropriate in 1922 and if the Wikipedia had existed in 1922 it would have been fine to have an article titled Crossword puzzle (fad). At some point, by 1930 say, it would have been moved and seconded and passed that this title was probably no longer accurate given that crossword puzzles were showing some staying power.

In (say) 2018, if the lying down game is still popular, we can rename the article. But so far it a short-lived phenomena -- a fad. (However, if people don't like "fad", how about "craze"? I like "craze".) Herostratus (talk) 05:51, 28 July 2011 (UTC)

Jenks24 we are having a requested move discussion already. Herostratus, there is a degree of POV because using "fad" characterizes the activity as a temporary phenomenon. It's a choice of characterization that we can make. We could characterize it as an "activity" which doesn't make claims as to longevity. Craze also makes claims as to longevity. As you say we can't know it's long-term prospects so that is enough of a reason to rename. I don't see any need to build in any time dependence into the title. Barrylb (talk) 06:41, 28 July 2011 (UTC)

Fair enough. I oppose per Herostratus. Jenks24 (talk) 06:47, 28 July 2011 (UTC)

Let us take a look at Wiktionary definitions of the suggested titles

• Activity

2. something done as an action or a movement The activity for the morning was a walk to the store.

3. something done for pleasure or entertainment, especially one involving movement or an excursion. Quilting can be a fun activity.

• Game

1. (countable) A pursuit or activity with rules performed either alone or with others, for the purpose of entertainment. In many games, the objective is to win by defeating the other player or players or being the first to reach a specified goal, while in others, role-playing or cooperation is emphasized.

Shall we play a game?

2. (sports) A contest between two individuals or teams. A game may refer to the entire encounter between the two (e.g. a basketball game), or to just one contest of several required to win (e.g. a tennis game).

• Fad

1. A phenomenon that becomes popular for a very short time.

Activity is universal enough.
According to wiktionary, scoring is not a prerequisite for being a game (does the game of tag have scoring?), however it still does not fit at all.
Wiktionary convinced me that fad is not pejorative. However it brings problems with the definition of very short. Further more, I think the article title should be timeless, just like we should not use "this year", we should not use a title that might be outdated if it proves to be long lasting (I do not consider that very likely, but there is a noteworthy chance). --Puchiko (Talk-email) 15:48, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

"Fad" fills the bill. An editor objected to "fad" on the grounds that "there is a degree of POV because using 'fad' characterizes the activity as a temporary phenomenon". But it *is* a temporary phenomenon so far. Right? Unless someone can find evidence it was brought back to Europe by the crusaders or something, it has a very short lifespan *so far* and has 100% of the characteristics of a fad and 0% of the characteristics of anything else, such as an organized sport or a long-term sea change in leisure activity or whatever. If and when that becomes no longer true -- when formal planking competitions are organized, when planking results are reported on the newspaper, when parents start to pass their planking tips and gear on to their children, when kids are sent to planking camp, or whatever -- we can change the article title then. Herostratus (talk) 16:20, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

I actually don't think the term "fad" applies to this, yet. While the lifespan of the game[1] has yet to be proven either way, there is absolutely no way for us to know whether this will last ten months or a decade, and in an attempt to retain objectivity as well as a lack of judgement we cannot pass this off as merely being a fad just yet. Once it has died down we'll be able to categorize it as such, maybe. On the other hand you might just see coaches beginning to use Planking to help illustrate and find creativity in people.
Point being, activity is a very fitting description for this at the time being. As to it having all the characteristics of a fad, well so does Lady Gaga, Hammer Pants and Sushi (for the time being) but none of those would be described as fads (okay maybe the Hammer Pants) as that's not what we can define them as right now.
Definitions are always put in hindsight.
[1] Which it is really as the purpose is to outdo your peers in creativity - much like a freestyle dance battle is. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.71.135.117 (talk) 00:08, 3 August 2011 (UTC)

The article has now been moved to Planking (meme) by User:InverseHypercube. Basically, two options had some consensus here: fad and activity. Meme was not discussed, yet that's where the article is now. I don't think that's right. Puchiko (Talk-email) 18:40, 7 August 2011 (UTC)

Perhaps we need to have another discussion about moving something that has been referred to in numerous places as the lying down game to planking, seemingly because very recently it's become well known in australia as planking? Although perhaps I've just missed the boat on that one- maybe planking is the more common term worldwide now. I've not seen the discussion.

More to the point, referring to something which seems to have been going on fairly continuously for around 4 years showing no sign of stopping as a "fad" just because "we can't yet show it will last" (paraphrase of Herostratus) certainly seems to violate both WP:NPOV and WP:CBALL to me. Even if the lying down game was an activity which swept the world for 6 months in 1973 it wouldn't be encyclopedic to refer to it as a fad unless a reliable source had called dubbed it as such, and even then it would be very hard to ever argue the use of "fad" in an article title. On the contrary, that is not the case, it's a current activity with at least 2 years of popularity globally of which only time will tell of it's longevity. If you feel that the lying down game is a fad, and a great deal of external sources back you up, then consider an addition to the main body of the article- not the title of the article itself... Or, are you also in favour of moving Albert Einstein to Albert Einstein (non-swimmer)? --88.104.33.54 (talk) 23:20, 8 August 2011 (UTC)

I would suggest meme, it has no pejorative connotations and is an accurate description of the activity or behaviour and also includes description of it's spread. Have a look at [1] --Mrjohncummings (talk) 21:32, 15 December 2011 (UTC)

Some research

Alright, let's do a quick test. I Google "planking" and the first result I come up with (after this article) is "Planking Craze". I like "craze" and think it has more cachet than "fad". But that's a YouTube page, so, ignoring sites such as YouTube, blogs, and other unreliable sources and taking just the reputable-source Google results in order, as defined by the criteria "Herostratus has heard of them and knows them as reputable journalistic sources", and not including instances where "planking" is used with no descriptive adjective:

• LA Times, "Planking has achieved notoriety as an online fad", and it's described as a "tactic", but only because this article is about a protest where planking was used.
• BBC News, "the internet phenomenon of planking", "Planking is a prank", "the activity was named planking" and "Flashmobbing, like planking, is an example of a meme". Meme appears twice, and also "term". The other uses don't include an adjective. So: phenomenon, activity, prank, term, and (especially) meme.
• CBS News, "potentially dangerous trend" and "seemingly harmless trend", "We've seen all kinds of crazy games... And then, there's planking" and "the game originated in 1997" and "seemingly harmless activity" and "many are participating in the craze". So: trend, game, activity.
• The Guardian, "internet craze", "The planking craze", and "The craze began to garner...". The Guardian is sticking with craze, it seems.
• Washington Post, "planking, a popular game", "The media, which has called planking a 'Web craze'..." (but here they are referring to another story (the CNN story which serendipitously comes up directly below) rather than making an editorial judgement themselves, so we won't count that) and "The arrival of several other Internet memes... seem to show planking is all about the risks required to play the game" which uses both "meme" and "game" in the same sentence. So: game, meme.
• CNN "Planking' death puts spotlight on bizarre Web craze", "An obscure activity called 'planking'", "the spotlight has helped the activity reach a wider audience", "Others are just offended that the media circus has plucked their hobby from obscurity" and (quoting someone who is perhaps speaking tongue in cheek) "'Planking is an extreme sport'". So: craze, activity, hobby, sport.
• Wall Street Journal; this is a video which I can't access, but the title is "Planking Craze Kills Australian".
• USA Today, "Gilbert Arenas, Dwight Howard and others join in on the 'planking' fad", "Taking photos in weird places and posting them through social media websites adds a separate element to the game", "'planking' adventures", "gotten into the 'planking' game". So: fad, game, adventure.
• Huffington Post (and I know that HuffPost is marginal as a reliable source), "planking might just be the stupidest thing ever" and that's it, they just call it a thing.
• The Telegraph, "Planking, the latest craze", so just craze.

Well, that's ten, and by now we're getting thick into the demimonde of actual planking sites and so forth and I am becoming frightened, so we'll stop there. So what do we have? Well, there are some terms that are used only once and have other problems: "tactic" and "adventure" just won't do (I think most will agree) and "term" and "thing" don't really make proper article titles (although Planking (thing) might be an interesting compromise article title). Terms that are OK but are only used once are "phenomenon", "trend", "prank", "hobby" and "extreme sport". We have to thin the field somehow so absent further research let's put those aside for now and see what's left.

Counting only the number of articles, and not giving weight to how many time the adjective appears in the article nor whether its in the title, the body, or elsewhere, we get:

• Craze is used in 40% of the articles.
• Activity is used in 30% of the articles.
• Game is used in 30% of the articles.
• Fad is used in 20% of the articles.
• Meme is used in 20% of the articles.

Hmmm, even the most common adjective appears in fewer than half the articles, so there clearly is no one right answer. But, you know, we have to call the article something. "Craze" is the most common, but certainly not by a statistically significant margin.. But since "craze" 1) comes up first in this sample and 2) has no pejorative connotations, let's call it Planking (craze) and put this to bed, shall we? Herostratus (talk) 03:27, 9 August 2011 (UTC)

Correction: FWIW I used qrobe.it rather than Goggle, if if matters. Herostratus (talk) 15:03, 9 August 2011 (UTC)

I think planking (craze) is more neutral than planking (fad) certainly, altough it's still not a very encyclopedic title. I'd rather see planking (activity) as an activity is simply anything you do, and seems a little more sensible a thing to call an article, but craze fits the bill MUCH more than fad. --Veggieburgerfish (talk) 10:45, 9 August 2011 (UTC)

What I'd like is a Google search where I can say "Find instances of the term 'planking' that occur within five words of the term 'fad'" (and then repeat, substituting "craze" etc. for "fad"). I would think that you would be able to do this with Google, but I can't find how right off. FWIW -- and it's probably not worth much" I searched for exact matches and got these results:

• "planking craze" -- 716,000 hits
• "planking fad" -- 162,000 hits

I think that other adjectives are even less like likely to get a meaningful result -- if one is referring to planking as a game, for instance, one wouldn't necessarily use the exact term "planking game". FWIW I got "planking game" -- 95,500 hits, "planking meme" -- 2,300 hits, and "planking activity" -- 2,000 hits. Herostratus (talk) 15:12, 9 August 2011 (UTC)

Protection Status

Can we get this article protected for good? Every time the protection expires it attracts a huge number of spammers and vandalism. NS39340 (talk) 06:03, 25 July 2011 (UTC)  Done - but not long-term; normally pages are not fully-protected long-term initially. However, if after the first fully protect the spamming & vandalism reoccur, please re-list at WP:RFPP. Thanks :) Skier Dude (talk) 02:10, 26 July 2011 (UTC)

applause. needed protection from personal-page boosters. Cramyourspam (talk) 18:33, 26 July 2011 (UTC)

The use of the term "inventing"

How do you invent planking? I am more than certain that, 'playing dead' or lying face down has been around for a long long time. Possibly since we climbed down from the trees. I don't know but giving two people credit for 'inventing' planking is pretty far fetch I reckon. YuMaNuMa (talk) 07:13, 28 July 2011 (UTC)

Planking also involves putting a picture on the internet; it's not planking if you don't do that, and the first person to advertently do that would be the inventor, I suppose. Herostratus (talk) 16:27, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

Didn't Kids in the Hall have a sketch featuring planking on their show? I remember the sketch but am unable to find it. Their show was 1988-1994 so it would most likely predate all other claims listed if I'm correct. DeMyztikX (talk) 05:18, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

Merge Owling (internet meme) to Planking_(fad)#Owling

The article Owling (game) was subject to an AfD discussion in which the consensus was to merge it to Planking (fad). Owling (internet meme) is on the same topic as Owling (game), however the article was not created after the AfD, so is not subject to WP:G4. The sources are slightly better than Owling (game) had, though they do discuss owling in relation to planking. A merge of Owling (internet meme) to Planking_(fad)#Owling seems appropriate as planking and owling appear to be related activities, and it would be appropriate to discuss one in relation to the other, so having them in the same place will aid editors build the article, and aid readers who do not have to switch from one article to the other, reading duplicated material in the process. SilkTork ^{✔Tea time} 08:42, 28 July 2011 (UTC)

A similar attempt by the Australian media to promote a safer way to do something 'stupid' was introduced several days after planking went viral. The act was called teapotting1 and it involved bending your arms in the shape of a teapot. It was promoted by all 3 main television stations in Australia so maybe this can be added somewhere in the article under a new section? YuMaNuMa (talk) 09:19, 28 July 2011 (UTC)

Hah, I'd forgotten about that. I agree that teapotting probably merits a sentence or two in the article and I also agree that Owling should be merged here. Jenks24 (talk) 09:29, 28 July 2011 (UTC)

Just FTR, the owling AfD discussion clearly doesn't apply to this article, and I do think that in terms of notability, this could stand alone. However, in terms of length, it would probably be more convenient for owling to be covered in this article per SilkTork. Swarm 23:17, 30 July 2011 (UTC)

Tom Green planking in 1990

This video is older than the video mentioned in the article, which is locked: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OrC7C3YCeU --Username2038532 (talk) 04:25, 4 August 2011 (UTC)

There is no verification of when this 'interview' was made, the footage is in analogue means it can range from anytime between 1990 - early 2000s. This cannot be used as confirmed sources for reasons above and the length of the video. YuMaNuMa (talk) 05:13, 7 August 2011 (UTC)

- That video has to be 1990-1992 because that is when Organized Rhyme, Tom Green's group, came out. Marty2Hotty (talk) 05:05, 31 May 2013 (UTC)

Stray Comma

After "North East England"; article locked. 76.167.253.199 (talk) 03:18, 7 August 2011 (UTC)

 Fixed. Thanks, Jenks24 (talk) 03:20, 7 August 2011 (UTC)

Article History

Where is the history for the article when it was known as lying down game? It had hisroy going all the way back to 2009 I think but all I can find on the planking article is a history that goes back to may 2011... There are 2 parallel content forks here- but it's important that the history of both is preserved, especially as one goes back years further than the other. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Veggieburgerfish (talk • contribs) 10:52, 9 August 2011 (UTC)

Requested move

The following discussion is an archived discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: not moved. Favonian (talk) 15:15, 16 August 2011 (UTC)

---

Planking (fad) → Planking (craze) – A more detailed description of my research is above at Talk:Planking (fad)#Is it a "fad"? in the "Some research" subsection, but the short version is:

• Some people have objected to "fad" as being pejorative.
• FWIW a survey of the first ten reliable journalistic sites that come up for a Google search of "planking" shows that there is no one term that is generally used -- people use "fad", "craze", "activity", "game", and many other terms -- but "craze" appears in 40% of the articles and "fad" in just 20%. Admittedly not statistically significant, but it's something.
• FWIW a Google search on "planking craze" gives 716,000 hits while "planking fad" gives only 162,000 hits. Admittedly of limited value since "fad of planking" and so forth wouldn't show in this search, but it is a better than 4-to-1 advantage for "craze", and that has to mean something.
• Other possible terms such as "game", "activity", and "meme" could also be in the running, but they appear in few articles than "craze" in the survey and each has some objectionable qualities (is it a "game" if there's no scoring, and is it really a "meme" in the proper sense of that word, and "activity" is pretty vague).

We have to call the article something and "craze" is a perfectly suitable adjective with a long history of describing these sort of things, isn't potentially pejorative, and does appear more than any other term in the literature, as far as I can tell. One objection to both "fad" and "craze" is that (unlike, say, activity or game) they imply a short life, which we can't be certain will be true forever. However, it's true now so OK for now, I would say.

• Support as nom. Herostratus (talk) 15:41, 9 August 2011 (UTC)
• Oppose, because it's difficult to think of a more trivial title change than this. Making this change renders absolutely no benefit, not to clarity, to recognizability, to consistency... none at all. It just wastes discussion time. (And I fail to see how the word "fad" is more pejorative than the word "craze", which implies craziness.) Powers ^T 16:55, 9 August 2011 (UTC)
• I would support planking. I would not support changing the disambiguater now because it would have negligible effects. Marcus Qwertyus 00:53, 10 August 2011 (UTC)
• Oppose. Er, surely if anything this goes in the opposite direction as far as POV, and it has the side effect of derailing any sense that this is going to be a scholarly or encyclopedic take on the subject. I'm at a loss for what to suggest other than game though if fad is objectionable. John Slocum (talk) 07:58, 10 August 2011 (UTC)
• Oppose, it's not an improvement. Activity or similar, but not improvement. -- Zanimum (talk) 13:14, 15 August 2011 (UTC)
• Oppose as Zanimum, I'd love to see this moved to activity. But craze doesn't address the crystal ball, POV, and other issues raised in the discussion that preceded this (Talk:Planking_(fad)#Is_it_a_.22fad.22.3F). Puchiko (Talk-email) 18:25, 15 August 2011 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

Notability Incidents

I am not going to removed the entry on 2nd August but is that really notable? I am fairly certain most celebrities have heard of planking and most have probably tried it or condemned it. YuMaNuMa (talk) 11:39, 15 August 2011 (UTC)

I didnt know planking on a police vehicle was a criminal offence.. -Matt — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.141.135.250 (talk) 06:13, 18 August 2011 (UTC)

Symbolic

While the people in Thailand were lying down in protest, they were not planking. They weren't taking pictures of themselves in an unusual location and posting it online. There's a difference. Nowhere in the article does it mention planking, they were simply lying down to protest. Also, the paragraph wasn't even in proper English and didn't read well. NS39340 (talk) 20:44, 24 August 2011 (UTC)

Horseman(n)ing

If horsemaning is supposed to be in reference to a/the horseman, it should be spelled horsemanning. Otherwise it suggests some connection to a horse's mane. --109.193.211.159 (talk) 15:21, 26 August 2011 (UTC)

Oops, I just stumbled across this existing wikipedia article: Horsemanning. Looks like this is the correct spelling dating from the original craze around 1920. --109.193.211.159 (talk) 15:25, 26 August 2011 (UTC)

The Title

I do believe that this is referred to more properly as "Lying Down Game", my source: http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/lying-down-game--Mr. Nile (talk) 19:32, 26 August 2011 (UTC)

That's what the title used to be, but a recent poll established a consensus to move it to the current title. OhNoitsJamie ^Talk 20:07, 26 August 2011 (UTC)

Edit request from Kaseykasket, 30 August 2011

This is an edit request to add a variation to 'Planking' - "Gargoyling" is a variation in which the person perches like a gargoyle on either a small object over three feet in height, or in a place in which there could be a gargoyle statue. The gargoyle position is squatting with arms on ground in between legs, with their fingers gripping over the edge of the surface the person is on (dark expression is optional). It was started on August 6,2011 by Natalie Caskey and Kasey Kasket in St. Petersburg, Florida. A picture was originally posted on Facebook with the title.

Kaseykasket (talk) 16:02, 30 August 2011 (UTC)

Not done, its not notable unless you have a source that isn't just a facebook photo--Jac16888 ^Talk 16:05, 30 August 2011 (UTC)

Ostriching

Hey, I'm new to wikipedia but I believe ostriching should be included with the other variations. It has gained some notoriety on the web and it was first done on my website tryingonpants.com as a joke. http://tryingonpants.com/2011/07/02/plankers/ It has since become a legitimate variation.--Tryingonpants (talk) 02:54, 25 September 2011 (UTC)

Please see WP:NOTMADE or supply some reliable independent sources, or else we can't take it.Jasper Deng (talk) 02:56, 25 September 2011 (UTC)

here is a reliable source: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Ostriching&defid=5976142 --Tryingonpants (talk) 03:00, 25 September 2011 (UTC)

Urban Dictionary is not a reliable source. Neither is any social networking site, in general.Jasper Deng (talk) 03:02, 25 September 2011 (UTC)

Unclear wording

What does this:

some "plankers" engage in the activity by planking only their upper body and feet while leaving the back suspended.

mean? Does it simply mean that the whole body is straight, resting on supports at the ends, suspended in the middle? Ccrrccrr (talk) 21:53, 13 October 2011 (UTC)

Planking as a Meme

Meme, as per Wiktionary:

meme (plural memes)

1. (philosophy) Any unit of cultural information, such as a practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another. Examples include thoughts, ideas, theories, practices, habits, songs, dances and moods and terms such as race, culture, and ethnicity.

2. (philosophy) A self-propagating unit of cultural evolution having a resemblance to the gene (the unit of genetics).

3. (Internet, slang) A quiz or survey that is copied from one webpage or online journal to another, each participant filling in his or her personal answers.  [quotations ▼]

4. (Internet, slang) Something, such as a funny event or story, song, video, photo, or catchphrase, that becomes viral (spreads rapidly between users).

I'd say that planking falls pretty well under #4.

Fad, as per Wiktionary:

Noun fad (plural fads) A phenomenon that becomes popular for a very short time.

I'd say fad is less descriptive than meme, and that "very short time" could, as other editors have pointed out potentially give the wrong impression (i.e. is biased).

As such, I recommend that Planking (fad) be moved to Planking (meme) Aero-Plex (talk) 02:30, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

• while that's interesting original research, it would better serve to show reliable sources of the highest quality call it a meme. Fifelfoo (talk) 02:39, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

here's one http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/lying-down-game --Mrjohncummings (talk) 21:41, 15 December 2011 (UTC)

Planking is a old as the 1970s

Planking is much older than shown on this page. I created some will known photographs of Devo in 1977 Planking, and they called it Planking then! I am Richard Alden Peterson, and those photos will be in museum and museum related exhibits in 2013. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.8.22.35 (talk) 06:27, 12 November 2011 (UTC)

cool. add info. add refs. Cramyourspam (talk) 07:21, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

See Richard Peterson, Devo Planking! 1979, courtesy Gildar Gallery and Carmen Wiedenhoeft Gallery. (From "Richard Peterson and the Art of the Warrior Tribe" at Gildar Gallery, similarly discussed here.) —BarrelProof (talk) 03:11, 8 April 2013 (UTC)

photo loss

where'd the 'planking the streetlamps' photo go? i liked that. though, it DID need to be corrected from its sideways orientation. can anyone flip it and return it please? (sorry it is beyond my capability.) surely there are a few more photos that could be added. we're currently down to two.Cramyourspam (talk) 03:18, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

I have restored the image. I don't understand how the orientation needs 'correcting' though. The person is on top of a post which is vertical, so how else should it be? Barrylb (talk) 04:14, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

The image was incorrectly oriented at the time of removal. If I remembered correctly the person was upright and the lamppost was horizontal. I would definitely not have removed the image if it was corrected rotated. In fact, check image history, it was correctly rotated by a bot on the 10th Dec.YuMaNuMa ^{Talk Contributions} 04:57, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

thanks for the image restore. that pic always pleased me. for some reason the pic was sideways recently. nice to have the pic and its orientation restored. well done! Cramyourspam (talk) 07:20, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

Differences between playing dead and planking

There are many differences between playing dead and planking, whilst they connected I would suggest they are separate activities. The main difference is in planking one position is used where the body is generally rigid. Where as in playing dead the body can be rigid or in any other position, the objective is to look dead, often suggesting the cause of death in the photo. have a look at http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/lying-down-game

--Mrjohncummings (talk) 21:46, 15 December 2011 (UTC)

In addition they also have different origins:

Playing dead is a reference to (or maybe people just the idea from) Crayon Shin-chan, where the main character plays the game, which became popular in South Korea.

Planking has arguable creators of western origins

--Mrjohncummings (talk) 21:52, 15 December 2011 (UTC)

Requested Move to Planking (meme)

• Planking (fad) → Planking (meme) (move) – more accurate, avoids possible perception of fad being pejorative Mrjohncummings (talk) 23:03, 15 December 2011 (UTC)

• To me, it looks like a fad. --99of9 (talk) 23:32, 15 December 2011 (UTC)
  • Yep, it's a fad. It's not really a meme, which is a unit of transmittable cultural data. It's a fad, like phone-booth stuffing or pole sitting or hula hooping. Powers ^T 00:34, 16 December 2011 (UTC)

Honestly to me fad and meme both seem a tad ORish, is there no better way of describing it? Maybe "Fad (activity)"? after all, that's how the article describes it--Jac16888 ^Talk 00:40, 16 December 2011 (UTC)

• There's nothing wrong with "fad", it's a perfectly good English word with a more or less clear definition. Also, there's a requested move above (move to "craze", failed) and some other discussions. I think the article was called "Planking (game)" at one point also. Herostratus (talk) 01:58, 16 December 2011 (UTC)

• I say this needs to be renamed to "Planking (Meme)" as well. It better describes it which if you look here meme would correctly describe planking. Darkshadows9776 (talk) 19:03, 12 April 2012 (EST)
  • Know Your Meme incorporates a wide variety of "viral" entities into their scope, but merely appearing on the site doesn't make it a meme in any scholarly sense. Find a reliable source that calls it a meme and maybe we can talk. 'Til then, what' wrong with "fad"? You'll note that even Know Your Meme considers planking to be within the category "Photo Fads". Powers ^T 00:20, 13 April 2012 (UTC)
    • Mainly it is just a preference to me, if meme is too far fetched can we at least change it to "Activity"? Darkshadows9776 (Talk) 13:40, 13 April 2012 (EST)
      • "Fad" is shorter and better captures the essence of the craze. It's not really an activity but a lack of activity, and it's about more than just laying down in weird places, it's about the documentation of it as well. Powers ^T 17:54, 13 April 2012 (UTC)
        • I now have multiple pieces of evidence that it is a meme! This page says that it is a meme, Yahoo says so as well, here is another page that says so number four here. I believe the general public believes it is a meme. Darkshadows9776 (Talk) 18:00, 13 April 2012 (EST)
          • Your first link also calls it a "craze" and a "fad". What's wrong with "fad"? Powers ^T 16:04, 14 April 2012 (UTC)

fad (plural fads)

1. A phenomenon that becomes popular for a very short time.

The problem with this verbiage is that is implies that the activity is a transient thing. Whether or not you believe planking to be something that will only be around for a short time, describing a present activity as a fad is by it's nature WP:CRYSTALBALL. Even if that were not the case, I would also argue against tthe use of the word "fad" in the futre as it is an unnecessarily POV term that assigns an opinion about either the worth or the persistence of planking as cultural phenomenon.

• A neutral term is needed to describe it.

Now, which definition best fits planking:

Meme

(philosophy) Any unit of cultural information, such as a practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another. Examples include thoughts, ideas, theories, practices, habits, songs, dances and moods and terms such as race, culture, and ethnicity.

(Internet,slang) A thought, idea, joke, or concept that spreads online, often virally. Can be in the form of an image, a video, an email, an animation, or music.

or,

Activity

something done as an action or a movement

The activity for the morning was a walk to the store.

something done for pleasure or entertainment, especially one involving movement or an excursion.

Quilting can be a fun activity.

Or if of course someone else has another suggestion for a NPOV term that aptly describes planking? Fad is certainly not it. Αlex (talk) 15:24, 30 June 2012 (UTC)

It was popular for only a short time. That is already in the past. It was transient. If it were "persisting", the graph would look very different. IMO it clearly satisfies the definition of fad. How long will we have to wait without further change for you to change your mind?--99of9 (talk) 11:39, 30 July 2012 (UTC)

Jazz Hands ?!?

the only source for this addition is apparently the publicity-seeking company's own twitter site and the section is about a practice happening at that company. i'd say it should be cut until someone finds enough outside RS coverage to demonstrate an actual notable meme underway. Cramyourspam (talk) 16:34, 15 June 2012 (UTC)

Of course it should. Obvious self-promotion, though at least it came with pictures this time. Powers ^T 00:10, 17 June 2012 (UTC)

Controversial Move

User, FinallyEditingWithAUsername moved the article from Planking(fad) to Planking(activity) which is an extremely broad category and would also be appropriate for the article on planking as an exercise. All controversial moves, which obviously includes this one as it has been discussed and debated on numerous occasions should be brought to the talk page before being undertaken. I request that an admin move the article back to the previous title and start a discussion about the validity of the title, "Planking (activity)". YuMaNuMa ^Contrib 02:18, 29 June 2012 (UTC)

It was a WP:BOLD move but I think it was the right think to do. There will not be a perfect solution but 'activity' is better than POV 'fad'. Barrylb (talk) 03:12, 29 June 2012 (UTC)

IMO the title Planking (activity) will more likely be mistaken for the planking exercise than the previous title. As one of the guidelines for naming an article is "recognisability", the current title does not satisfy this guideline hence a more appropriate name should replace "activity", whether or not we should revert back to the previous title is debatable but I strongly oppose the use of the word activity. YuMaNuMa ^Contrib 04:04, 29 June 2012 (UTC)

The following discussion is an archived discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: page moved by Jenks24. BDD (talk) 20:18, 29 June 2012 (UTC)

---

Planking (activity) → Planking (fad) – Unilaterally moving this article was not called for, since previous moves have involved heavy discussion. (The editor making the move may not have been aware of the extensive previous discussions about the proper title for this article.) It's disputed, and I second the disputation, on the merits and also because the procedure was not followed. Please restore the status quo ante, and if a name other than "Planking (fad)" is desire, let an editor suggest this, post a requested-move template, and make his case. Herostratus (talk) 04:39, 29 June 2012 (UTC)

• Note. I've reverted the move. It was clearly controversial and should go to discussion. This RM can either be closed, or altered to be a discussion about moving to "Planking (activity)", if someone wants to make a case for that. Jenks24 (talk) 06:33, 29 June 2012 (UTC)

• I agree with restoring the prior name. The mover claimed it was WP:CRYSTAL to say that it is a fad, but I'd say it's already obvious that it was a fad. See the google chart cited earlier. Planking is over people! --99of9 (talk) 07:41, 29 June 2012 (UTC)

• I !vote we move it to Planking (meme) instead, as it appears to fit the description rather well without assuming how long the practice will last and is a bit more descriptive than "activity". What do y'all think? Rotorcowboy ^talk
  _contribs 09:11, 29 June 2012 (UTC)

Comment: Looks like meme has already been suggested, but not yet shot down. I still stand by it. Rotorcowboy ^talk
_contribs 09:15, 29 June 2012 (UTC)

Not yet shut down? I repeat my statement from earlier: "It's not really a meme, which is a unit of transmittable cultural data. It's a fad, like phone-booth stuffing or pole sitting or hula hooping." Powers ^T 18:14, 29 June 2012 (UTC)

• As the page has been restored to (fad), I'm going to close this discussion. If someone wants to formally propose a move to (activity), (meme), or whatever, he or she can open a new RM. --BDD (talk) 20:18, 29 June 2012 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

Recent additions

Yesterday, Loridep (talk · contribs) began editing this page, while adding unsourced commentary at first, but now started making writing essay-style edits with some unreliable sources. ZappaOMati 23:16, 17 September 2012 (UTC)

also, not sure how recent it is, but we've picked up a 'controversies' section whose overall tone makes it silly. today it says:

Pictures aren't the only thing found on the web about planking, controversy is also easily found. Many people are outraged by how ridiculous some of the photos are of people planking; such as a girl planking with her head in a toilet, and a man using a stripper pole to plank with. If the photos weren't enough the death of a 20-year-old man who was trying to plank on a balcony got the world's attention. A reason people find planking highly offensive is it's believed to tie into slavery. Planks were used as beds for slaves when they were traveling across the seas and the men and women were forced to lay side by side painfully close. With so much against planking it makes many people wonder about its future.

see? silly. Cramyourspam (talk) 17:44, 19 September 2012 (UTC)

(follow up) thanks to the fixer of the 'controversies' section. no longer silly. well done. Cramyourspam (talk) 13:07, 20 September 2012 (UTC)

Variations

This is probably too early, but if the Variations section grows too large, would a variations of planking (now a redirect) be a decent page idea? NFLisAwesome ^{(ZappaOMati's alternate account)} 01:42, 23 September 2012 (UTC)

about planking

actually in england (bristol) planking was a little bit before than 2011. cause i my self didint know about anything like that and i was doing pictures with face down which i called later as FaceDown at may or june 2010 and i still got them with dates on my facebook portfolio :) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mankeyno1 (talk • contribs) 15:11, 11 November 2012 (UTC)

Gallon smashing

Contributors to this article might be interested in helping to expand the gallon smashing article, which includes a comparison to planking. --Another Believer _(Talk) 18:17, 16 December 2013 (UTC)

External links modified

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Moving self-claimed first text to Talk

The following claim to the "first" occurence of the activity, ascribed to Amy and Marshall, in the following sentence, turns out to be solely sourced to a discontinued written by Marshall:

A planking-like activity – called face dancing by its participants – was initiated in 1984 in Edmonds, Washington, by Scott Amy and Joel Marshall. The two high school age boys were walking in a park when they came upon a baseball game. They decided to lie face down in right field to see if anyone would react.

The trace to Joel Marshall as MrMyth is based on ICANN whois lookup. See here. For this reason, until the event is sourced independently from the individual claiming credit, the text is moved here, as inappropriate as encyclopedic content.

Cheers, Le Prof 73.210.155.96 (talk) 20:38, 1 January 2017 (UTC)