Inside the Secret World of ‘Aura Farming’: Why Gen Alpha Can’t Stop Talking About It
Ever caught yourself staring at social media posts wondering if the youth these days are speaking an alien language? Well, dear mid-millennial, you’re not alone in feeling like the cool train left the station without you—though, let’s be honest, some of us were never even on it. Enter the viral phrase “aura farming”—a term that’s accruing more hype than your last attempt at a TikTok dance. But what on earth does it actually mean? Spoiler alert: it’s nothing to do with tractors or crop rotations. Instead, it’s all about folks going the extra mile to flex their undeniable coolness, almost like being “extra” but with a shiny new positive spin. So, if you’re itching to perplex that Gen Alpha in your life or at least pretend you’ve got your finger on the pulse of digital antics, it’s time to crack the code on aura farming before it’s yesterday’s news. Ready to flex your newfound knowledge?
People have explained what the viral new term ‘aura farming’ actually means.
As a mid-millennial, you become increasingly resigned to the fact that you are no longer ‘one of the cool ones’, though to be fair, some of us never really were to begin with.
You eventually reach a point in life where if you’re using a ‘cool’ and ‘new’ slang term, that means that term is now neither cool nor new.
In the words of Grandpa Simpson: “I used to be with it, then they changed what it was.”
The plus side is that after a certain age, this starts to matter less.
But, if you are wondering what on earth ‘aura farming’ means, perhaps so you can hijack it to make a Gen Alpha in your life cringe, then look no further.
What does ‘aura farming’ actually mean? (Catherine Falls Commercial/Getty)
This is one of those terms which has become increasingly popular on social media, and it has nothing to do with an actual farm.
The ‘farming’ part of this refers to someone trying to make more of a certain thing, like how someone might set up a system in a video game to ‘farm’ a certain resource.
In this case though, it’s not a physical thing that’s being farmed, but more of a sense of someone being very cool or very awesome.
‘Aura farming’ is when someone is going the extra mile to do something to appear cool, sort of like being ‘extra’ if we go by old slang, but more positive.
Take that Gen Z, your slang is now obsolete too.
But don’t just take that definition from this dinosaur of a millennial (rawr!) take it from the internet itself.
Someone took to Reddit to share their question on what ‘aura farming’ actually is, and got a variety of responses.
I’m sure you know what this gesture means, but we’re not talking about that today. (Matthew Fowler/Getty)
One person replied: “Okay, so ‘Aura’ is basically a term for someone doing something really badass. Coming from a Gen Z’er, it’s kind of an unnecessary phrase, we already have words for aura, called ‘cool’ and ‘badass.'”
They added: “It’s used a lot for anime characters, specifically the ones with a lot of cool shots of them stanced up looking hard as f*ck. For example, when Ichigo don’s his hollow mask, people would see the pose he makes and say his aura is immaculate, basically saying he looks cold as hell.”
Another had a slightly more succinct reply, saying: “When your trying to flex by doing something cool that is kind of unnecessary to do. Basically trying to do something to make you look badass.”
So, someone who is attempting a 360 at the skate park is no longer ‘radical’ but ‘aura farming’.
It could be worse, we could still be trying to make ‘fetch’ happen – don’t worry, you won’t get that unless you’re a millennial.
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