Boat Jumping Challenge (TikTok)

About

Boat Jumping Challenge, also called the TikTok Jumping Out Of Boats Trend, is a dangerous stunt and internet challenge (purportedly stemming from TikTok) in which people on an actively fast-moving boat will jump out of the back of it, often for comical effect as part of an in-video joke. The challenge, which has been used to comical effect since 2020, sparked controversy online in July 2023 after it was reported in the news that four participants had died attempting the stunt in Alabama. The trend is similar to other TikTok challenges like the Slap A Teacher Challenge and Kia Challenge that were spread by the media but have little evidence of existing as a widespread trend on social media.

Origin

The act of jumping out of a boat as part of a stunt or frivolous activity existed prior to the internet. However, on March 15th, 2020, the earliest known TikTok-specific video to prominently focus on this aspect as part of a joke went viral, with TikToker @erikhornsten^[1] earning over 45,000 likes in three years for his TikTok video in which a friend of his drops his beer out the back of the boat and proceeds to dive in after it (shown below).

Spread

On May 9th, 2022, TikToker Karolynjward^[2] uploaded a video in which her family was in a boat moving at a high speed when one member of the group runs forward and jumps off the side, much to the enjoyment of the surrounding adults. This is one of the first instances of the trend going viral, receiving over 700,000 views in one year, with the entire point of the video being the jump and no other joke or details present (shown below).

2023 TikTok Trend / Controversy

On July 8th, 2023, the media began covering a reported TikTok trend referred to as "boat jumping" in which participants of the challenge jumped off the back of fast-moving boats, claiming it had resulted in four deaths in Alabama alone. For example, The NY Post^[4] reported on the deaths related to the trend that same day, noting officials were warning people not to participate in it. Captain Jim Dennis of the Childersburg Rescue Squad told the local news station WBMA^[5] in an interview:

"Last six months we have had four drownings that were easily avoidable. They were doing a TikTok challenge. It’s where you get in a boat going at a high rate of speed, you jump off the side of the boat, don’t dive, you’re jumping off feet first and you just kinda lean into the water."

Also on July 8th, ABC7 covered the trend in a news segment, which was later uploaded to its YouTube channel, receiving over 78,000 views and 250 likes in three days (shown below).

On July 9th, 2023, YouTuber and social commentator Moist Cr1tikal uploaded a video on his main channel^[3] in which he talked about the challenge, going over a July 8th news report confirming that four people had died in Alabama as a result of the challenge, earning over 2 million views in one day (shown below).

As of July 11th, 2023, many of the highest engagement videos on TikTok referencing the trend are compilations discussing the then-recent media coverage about the deaths and dangers related to it, with examples linked in news coverage from early July 2023 having since been removed from the platform.^[6]

Hoax

On July 10th, 2023, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency's official Twitter^[7] made a statement that the July 3rd news story was given false information, and that there was no link found between the deaths in Alabama and the social media app. This caused a wave of Misinformation outrage to spawn, directed at Mainstream Journalists who pushed the story, relating it to other hoaxes such as Momo Challenge and Blue Whale Challenge (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References