The internet is a weird place where a lot of weird stuff happens. The most recent weird thing to go viral is the “zoom challenge,” which involves pretending to drive a car and then literally zooming away with some off-camera trickery. We’re not exactly sure where the “challenge” comes in, but our guess is that it probably has something to do with avoiding injury while executing the zoom.
The original zoom challenge video was uploaded on Twitter by Jaylyn Malone. According to Buzzfeed News, her younger sister Janaya remembered seeing a Vine from a few years back that had the zoom effect and she successfully figured out how to recreate it.
Janaya “zoomed” by sitting on the floor of her bathroom and launching herself from the side of her bathtub. She then played the video in reverse, which created the magical zoom effect.
But other people who have uploaded videos of themselves doing the zoom challenge, which is often set to Lil Yachty’s “Mickey,” have figured out a different, and more dangerous, way of zooming. These people have a helper waiting offscreen to pull their feet, and for the most part, this technique works pretty well.
Ahem…for the most part.
[fm_twitter url=”https://twitter.com/ebonypotatohead/status/1002640295106940934″]
[fm_twitter url=”https://twitter.com/camerondallas/status/1021442224058380289″]
[fm_twitter url=”https://twitter.com/jaylonjackson10/status/1021424683478966273″]
Other times, the zoom challenge ends with the star of the video being pulled too hard and banging their head on the ground behind them. Ouch.
[fm_twitter url=”https://twitter.com/ReekyBalboa/status/1021102850250870786″]
[fm_twitter url=”https://twitter.com/kimberlymondes/status/1020152502401077253″]
[fm_twitter url=”https://twitter.com/SLeigh__/status/1021443402074939392″]
[fm_twitter url=”https://twitter.com/THOTTRAINER/status/1020121691270262784″]
And when a zoom challenge goes wrong, one could potentially suffer from concussions, hip dislocation, and at the very least, an aching head.
[fm_twitter url=”https://twitter.com/nattyby__nature/status/1020142842684100608″]
So if you’re considering submitting to the #zoomchallenge on Twitter or Instagram, we highly recommend you go with Janaya’s technique — launch off of something and play your video in reverse. A viral internet challenge is not worth a trip to the hospital.
