About
Fold Challenge refers to a series of TikTok videos where TikTokers act out a scenario that creates disappointment causing them to literally fold or collapse in reaction. The challenge, typically performed to the song “Why Would You Play With Me” by Foolio or “Play Date” by Melanie Martinez, became popular in July 2020 under the hashtag #foldchallenge.
Origin
On July 10th, 2020, TikToker hooded_hoodlum uploaded a video where he acts out mistaking his mother for his brother and collapses (shown below). The video garnered over 219,500 likes in two weeks.
Precursor
On November 4th, 2015, Vine user CalebCity posted the video “When you get your soul punched out.” The video shows a man saying You better scramble like an egg, before you get folded like an omelette. The man is hit in the face and shown collapsing. The post received more than 88,000 likes, 41,000 revines and 5.1 million loops (mirror below).
In June 2020, TikTokers began folding in reaction to accent challenge videos gained over 300,000 likes in a month (shown below).
Spread
On July 13th, 2020, TikToker lilyuyu17 used the Melanie Martinez song labeled “original sound – Dafaatmja” in a fold video that received over 636,600 likes in two weeks (shown below, left). On July 20th, TikToker nathan_1424 uploaded another fold skit that accumulated over 3.4 million likes in 10 days (shown below, center). On July 23rd, TikTokers thegomillions uploaded a video reacting to people who would “ship” them because they are siblings (shown below, right). The video gained over 2.2 million likes in a week. StayHipp published an article on the trend.
Various Examples
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgmEtpcjcOU
Search Interest
Know Your Meme Store
External References
Source: https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/fold-challenge