Does It Really Matter? / Earth Zoom Out To Universe

Submission 12,552

Part of a series on Space. [View Related Entries]

About

Does It Really Matter? or Earth Zoom Out To Universe is a TikTok trend in which creators share an insecure, inner thought of theirs and then compare it to the size of the universe through a 4K satellite zoom-out of planet Earth, therefore proving how insignificant their insecurity is. The trend started in mid-2022 as users made videos with the Frank Ocean song "Pink + White."

Origin

On September 16th, 2019, the YouTube^[1] channel UNIVERSE DOPE shared a video titled "Zooming out from Earth (4K)" in which they visualized a zoom-out from Germany to outer space, passing through the Milky Way galaxy and beyond. Over the course of three years, the video received roughly 1.4 million views and 22,000 likes (shown below).

On July 16th, 2022, TikToker^[2] blackstarastro reposted the 4K Earth zoom-out video, earning roughly 29,900 plays and over 660 likes in one month (shown below, left). On July 22nd, TikToker^[3] mrmiyagiiooo shared a video of him painting at his desk with Frank Ocean's "Pink + White" from the 2016 album Blonde playing as the audio. In four weeks, the video received roughly 2.6 million plays and 645,100 likes (shown below, right).

On July 24th, 2022, TikToker^[4] jason.dom used mrmiyagiiooo's sound^[5] for a video that transitioned from him lifting with text overlay reading, "I'm scared to post because of what people think of me 😔💔," to the 4K Earth zoom-out. The video received roughly 380,500 plays and 76,000 likes over the course of four weeks (shown below).

Spread

On July 25th, 2022, TikToker^[6] lucasgauger uploaded a TikTok that followed the trend with a similar caption, earning roughly 1.5 million plays and 252,300 likes in three weeks (shown below, left). Also on July 25th, 2022, Spanish-speaking TikToker^[7] javisiciliam uploaded a video that followed the trend, earning roughly 519,900 plays and 91,600 likes in three weeks (shown below, right).

The trend continued to gain iterations going into August 2022, additionally earning more likes and plays. For instance, on July 29th, 2022, TikToker^[8] willisdaskillus posted a video about shaving "the flow" off his head, earning roughly 2.4 million plays and 432,800 likes in two weeks (shown below, left). On August 1st, 2022, TikToker^[9] iforgave uploaded an iteration with text overlay reading, "'Bro everyone is going to think we weird' / does it really matter?" The video received roughly 11.5 million plays and 2.8 million likes in two weeks (shown below, right).

Satirical usage of the trend was also inspired. For instance, on August 4th, 2022, TikToker^[10] danetolton joked about how drinking 60 beers and crashing into an orphanage was no big deal compared to the universe. It received roughly 2.6 million plays and 546,800 likes in 11 days (shown below, left). On August 5th, 2022, TikToker^[11] @iluvchin similarly joked about a different objectively evil act being insignificant in comparison to the universe, earning roughly 3.3 million plays and 413,700 likes in ten days (shown below, right).

On August 8th, 2022, the YouTube channel See Tok uploaded a TikTok compilation of "Does it really matter?" videos, earning roughly 16,000 views and over 500 likes in one week (shown below).

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