What Is ‘Aura Farming’? Find Out What The New TikTok Trend Is and Why It’s Taking Over Social Media
'Aura farming' is having a viral moment—but what does it mean, and why are politicians doing it too?
Every generation has its own phrases and words that make no sense to the generations before them and with TikTok, there are a dozen new trends and phrases every week. If you’ve heard the phrase “aura farming” recently, whether from kids, grandkids or straight from TikTok, you’re probably wondering what it means.
Sometimes using context clues can be helpful to figure out what these words mean, but that’s not exactly the case here. Trying to understand what “aura farming” means can get a bit tricky if you use just the obvious definition of each word. Figuring this out will take a bit more digging so let’s unpack exactly what “aura farming” really is.
What is ‘aura farming’?
“Aura Farming” is the newest trend going viral on TikTok but if you’re wondering what it means, you’re not alone. First off, you’ll have to understand what each word means. Aura refers to how cool or uncool a person is. Aura is something you can gain by doing something cool, but it is also something you can lose if you do something uncool.
Of course, farming is planting the seeds for something to grow or come about. So, “Aura Farming” refers to intentionally doing something, or planting the seeds, that can convince people that you are impressive or cool, without drawing attention to the thing that is impressive.
How did ‘aura farming’ start?
Like all viral trends, they come from one person just posting a video and ‘aura farming’ began after one user posted a clip of a young child standing on the prow of a racing boat while dancing and keeping perfectly still. While he keeps a stoic face, he moves his hands and blows kisses as if he is a celebrity being greeted by fans. See the video here.
The video, which features 11-year-old Rayyan Arkan Dikha, currently has nearly 65 million views. He is the Togak Luan, which is a boat dancer whose role is to boost the rowers’ morale. He also was the start of this viral trend.
What is an example of ‘aura farming’?
There is one specific example of ‘aura farming’ that has exploded on TikTok and it can give you more context about what this viral trend is. TikTok users are posting videos of “accidentally” dropping a piece of paper in front of a stranger, who then picks the paper up and hands it back to them. When this happens, the person who dropped it reaches out and signs the paper as if the stranger were asking for an autograph.
Why ‘aura farming’ is in the news
Obviously, “aura farming” is one of the slang phrases that Gen Z has been using and it might not have an impact on your life. But the phrase has also recently appeared in headlines and it’s thanks to a congressman who took part in the trend but he didn’t gain any aura points for his video.
Representative Suhas Subramanyam recently posted a TikTok of himself, dancing on the congressional subway and wrote “on my way to hold this administration accountable.” While Congressman Subramanyam was likely only trying to participate in a fun trend on TikTok, viewers were less than pleased with his video.
Users commented things like “Our taxpayer money hard at work…” while another wrote, “Please do your job. Use your time better by speaking the truth. You are the voice of people depending on you.”
One person even commented “-1000 aura,” which further proves this is an “aura farming” TikTok gone wrong.
So now, if you see a TikTok or a news item that discusses “aura farming,” you won’t need to wonder what the term really is.
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