Watermelons, prices and Bitcoin: what Ukrainians pray in social networks

The Ukrainian Facebook segment is filled with invitations to events of an ironic nature, for example, “Meeting a barge with watermelons” or “Prayer for lower prices for public transport.”

Фото: Depositphotos

The Facebook page “Prayers for a reduction in public transport fares in Kyiv” was created after an increase in fares in the capital.

Now almost 3 thousands of users have confirmed their participation in the event, and 12 thousands more became interested in them.

The “prayer”, which is planned to be held in the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, was recently postponed to October 8.

However, this event is completely virtual and, like many other events with comical names that have filled the Ukrainian segment of social networks, will not take place in real life.

“Sick of travel prices rising and you no longer earning money? You have to travel by metro and trolleybus, but now this is a pleasure only for the rich? Come and pray with us for a reduction in public transport fares,” the organizers say ironically in the description of the event.

Readers compete in wit in the comments on the event page.

An event dedicated to the meeting of a barge with watermelons heading from the Kherson region to the Kyiv region also became popular on social networks. An ironic description of the event, which was supposedly scheduled for August 25, says: “Prayer, celebrations. Disco".

Specialists from certain industries have also joined the “prayers” trend. In particular, in the Ukrainian segment of Facebook, events are planned: “Prayer for an increase in the price of Bitcoin and the introduction of blockchain”, “Prayer for no amendments” organized by marketers, “Prayer for the health of iTunes” and “Prayer for clean code” for programmers, the participants of which are encouraged to “ repent of your sins during the development process.”

What does the church think?

In the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, where the “Prayer for a reduction in transport fares” was supposed to take place, notedthat the event was planned without blessing and coordination with the governor and monastery brethren.

“The Lavra brethren do not intend to participate in political actions hiding behind the authority of the church,” noted the Lavra’s press service.

Jokes in prayer are absolutely irrelevant, noted the head of the press service of the UOC-MP Archbishop Clement in a comment for BBC News Ukraine.

However, he added that believers’ prayer requests concern all areas of life. “Given today’s realities, the general prayer for a reduction in travel prices is very important,” said a church representative.

According to him, believers are grouped with the help of social networks and pray for common needs. In such groups, in addition to the laity, there are priests and even bishops, Clement said.

There are pages on social networks for real prayers. In particular, the capital’s Holy Ascension Church maintains a page for the monthly “Prayer for the Sick” event.

Users are prompted to indicate on the page the names of sick people who need prayer. Also offer to send the names of the sick to the group in Viber.

And members of the Facebook group “Fasting and Prayer for Ukraine” call for prayers for peace in the country twice a day.

For lovers of cat's feet and humor

Such flash mobs are a reaction to current events, for example, an increase in public transport fares, says Vitaly Moroz, head of new media programs at the Internews-Ukraine NGO.

He explains: “Obviously, the organizers have nothing to do with the church, this is really rather humor or even satire online, where everything is possible - burlesque, irony, hoax.”

Often, such flash mobs are “played” in advertising or digital agencies, notes an expert on new media. In this way, they test the reaction of Facebook users: see if they can attract the attention of many people or learn lessons necessary for their business.

Ironic “prayer services” on social networks are a continuation of the trend for events with fancy names, which feature a large number of participants, but which do not happen in real life.

This year's humorous events include “Festival of Victims of Procrastination,” “Anonymous Meeting of Cat Paw Lovers,” “Master Class for Victims of Circumstance,” and “How to Tie Sea Knots from Headphones.”

Many such events were created in the social network event agency for their own advertising.

In 2016, the “Conference on Garlic Growing Technologies” turned out to be unexpectedly popular on the Ukrainian Facebook segment, with 1700 users expressing their interest in the event.

Many of them were sure that this was another humorous hoax, and they turned out to be wrong. This was a real exchange of experience between farmers and scientists from agricultural universities in Ukraine.

However, it is possible that some of the virtual events may turn into real ones. So, in 2015, against the backdrop of the wild popularity of the page of the All-Ukrainian Festival of Panic and Hysteria “At the Depths,” the organizers decided to hold a real event, which attracted quite a lot of guests.

On Facebook, you can create a separate page for any event, where you can post information about the date and location of it. Users can view the page and indicate the status “Going” or “Interested”.

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