BBC Homepage
  • Skip to content
  • Accessibility Help
  • Your account
  • Notifications
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • More menu
More menu
Search BBC
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
Close menu
BBC News
Menu
  • Home
  • InDepth
  • Israel-Gaza war
  • War in Ukraine
  • Climate
  • UK
  • World
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Culture
More
  • Tech
  • Science
  • Health
  • Family & Education
  • In Pictures
  • Newsbeat
  • BBC Verify
  • Disability
  • BBC Trending

Step up to the invisible box challenge

  • Published
    5 December 2017
Share page
About sharing
Ariel prepares to step upImage source, @ariel1220
Image caption,

Ariel prepares to step up

Sherie Ryder
BBC UGC and Social News

As challenges go on social media, stepping over an invisible box has proved to be quite tricky for some people.

It might sound easy - there's nothing there - but it takes a fair amount of skill and strength to create the illusion there is a box present.

When Ariel Olivar, a cheerleader in Manvel, Texas, USA, showed off her dexterity at defying gravity, her video on Twitter was retweeted 136,000 times, external (and counting) and liked by over a quarter of a million users.

This X post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on X
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
Skip X post by ariel

Allow X content?

This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
End of X post by ariel

The trick - which started circulating back in 2014 - is to touch the imaginary box, then keep one foot in the air while the other steps over it. Some people were close, like Maley Moak's friend Maggie, external.

This X post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on X
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
Skip X post 2 by Maley Moak

Allow X content?

This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
End of X post 2 by Maley Moak

Some may or may not have had some help, like E J Valdez, external.

This X post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on X
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
Skip X post 3 by E.J. Valdez

Allow X content?

This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
End of X post 3 by E.J. Valdez

While others - like Holly, external - didn't quite get it right.

This X post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on X
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
Skip X post 4 by Holly

Allow X content?

This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
End of X post 4 by Holly

You might also like:

  • The teenagers behind the Mannequin Challenge madness

  • Vine star recreates Black Lives Matter shootings for Mannequin Challenge

  • When the Ice Bucket Challenge spread to Iran

Ariel's fellow cheerleaders also got in on the act, by kicking away the invisible box, external and, again, garnering tens of thousands of retweets and likes.

This X post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on X
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
Skip X post 5 by ariel

Allow X content?

This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
End of X post 5 by ariel

It is yet to be seen how this challenge will compare with previous, popular online trends.

The mannequin challenge gained worldwide notoriety and beyond, with the International Space Station filming their own astronaut challenge, as did recipients of the Presidential Medals of Freedom at the White House.

There was also the ice bucket challenge, where people from all walks of life, and a few celebrities poured cold water over themselves to raise awareness and money for the neurodegenerative motor neurone disease.

By 2016, the challenge had raised enough money to fund discovery of a gene contributing to the disease.

Another internet craze called 'planking' - where someone lies flat on their stomach in unusual situations and posts photos on social media - hit the news for the wrong reasons in 2011 when an Australian man plunged to his death whilst participating in a stunt.

Likewise, although hugely popular in 2013, recreations of the Harlem Shake dance craze saw a college librarian sacked, and police officers disciplined.

More on this story

  • Farc rebels do the Mannequin Challenge

    • Published
      8 December 2016
    Image the Farc used to promote their version of the Mannequin Challenge
  • 'One in six' did ice bucket challenge

    • Published
      12 September 2014
    Montage of ice bucket challenges

Around the BBC

  • BBC World Service - Sportshour, The Man Behind the Ice Bucket Challenge

  • 'Mannequin challenge' pauses university graduation ceremony - BBC News

  • Stabbed police dog Finn in 'mannequin challenge' - BBC News

  • Mannequin challenge at the White House - BBC News

Top stories

  • Live. 

    UK tells Russia to stop 'senseless killing' after strikes on Kyiv leave at least 19 dead

    • 4823 viewing4.8k viewing
  • Lives torn apart in Kyiv after Russia's heaviest bombardment for weeks

    • Published
      2 hours ago
  • Froome airlifted to hospital after 'serious' crash

    • Attribution
      Sport
    • Published
      3 hours ago

More to explore

  • Lives torn apart in Kyiv after Russia's heaviest bombardment for weeks

    Ukrainian Red Cross members provide first aid to a wounded woman at the site of a Russian missile strike on a residential building on August 28, 2025 in Kyiv,
  • 'Cowering Amorim image hard to shake' - can he come back from this?

    • Attribution
      Sport
    Ruben Amorim sat in the dugout looking down
  • What are Rachel Reeves' options on property tax?

    A woman walking her dog stands outside of an estate agent's window looking at prices
  • The Summer I Turned Pretty fans told to stop abuse of cast

    Christopher Briney, Lola Tung and Gavin Casalegno in a promotional photo for The Summer I Turned Pretty
  • Jacqueline Wilson on the 'easiest and hardest book I've ever written'

    Jacqueline Wilson
  • Minneapolis mourns two children killed in shooting - here's what we know

    People gather outdoors while holding candles at a vigil for the victims of the shooting,  at a local park at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis on Wednesday evening.
  • Woman says Zou raped her hours before other attack

    Treated image of Zhenhao Zou featuring his police mugshot. He is looking straight at the camera with a serious expression. He has straight dark hair with a long fringe and is wearing a white t-shirt and black shirt.
  • Spain and Portugal wildfires drive worst EU season on record

    Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite image acquired on 16 August shows multiple fires in northern Spain.
  • A charity is giving people money to stop homelessness - and it says it's working

    A woman in a leopard print top holds a young boy in glasses and a blue top
loading elsewhere stories

Most read

  1. 1

    Met special constable found guilty of child rape

  2. 2

    Electric cars eligible for £3,750 discount announced

  3. 3

    Froome airlifted to hospital after 'serious' crash

    • Attribution
      Sport
  4. 4

    US Fed Governor Lisa Cook sues Trump over his attempt to fire her

  5. 5

    Epping hotel order could spark protests, court told

  6. 6

    Reform council boss bans local newspaper's reporters

  7. 7

    Ariana Grande announces first tour for seven years

  8. 8

    Man arrested over racist abuse sent to Jess Carter

  9. 9

    'The whole town is on a high': What Grimsby's dramatic win over Man Utd means to fans

  10. 10

    What are Rachel Reeves' options on property tax?

BBC News Services

  • On your mobile
  • On smart speakers
  • Get news alerts
  • Contact BBC News

Best of the BBC

  • The ups and downs of a 30-year marriage

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    Marriage
  • Bewitching drama from Anne Rice

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    Mayfair Witches
  • Lies, forgeries and fraud worth $86 million

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    The Great Art Fraud
  • A celebration of Britain's finest composers

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    Great British Classics at the Proms
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • Terms of Use
  • About the BBC
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies
  • Accessibility Help
  • Parental Guidance
  • Contact the BBC
  • Make an editorial complaint
  • BBC emails for you

Copyright © 2025 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.