This article was written by The Zillennial Zine’s summer editorial intern Emma Zumbo. Find her on Instagram at @emmarzumbo. If you would like to share an article with The Zillennial, send us an email at thezillennialzine@gmail.com.
Another day, another internet trend that seemingly pops up out of nowhere that you now have to pretend to understand. In this latest edition: aura points. If you’ve scrolled on TikTok recently, you’ve probably noticed the term, either in videos posted by users asking how many points they’ve gained or lost by doing a certain thing, or in comments on someone’s unrelated video letting them know how their behavior has affected their aura.
But, what are aura points? Let’s take a look at this trend, its origins, and what you can do to increase or decrease your aura.
What Is Aura?
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, aura can be defined as “a distinctive atmosphere surrounding a given source” or “an energy field that is held to emanate from a living being”. In spiritual and mystic thought, every person is said to have an aura, often associated with a particular color, that reflects their personality or true inner self. Some people claim that they are able to read people’s aura, aka that they can actually see the colors surrounding a person, and that they are then able to tell certain things about someone based off of that. But, even if you’re not someone who is able to see auras, you should still be able to feel them, which basically just means that you recognize that different people have different energies. In simpler terms, aura is the vibe you give off.
Now, you’re entitled to your own beliefs about auras, energies, astrology, and the like, but I think it is true that our emotions and moods influence how we interact with others and the type of energy they get from us. Have you ever noticed someone’s sour mood spoil a night for the whole group? Or maybe someone’s optimistic and friendly vibe bringing together a crowd of strangers and instantly turning them into friends? Yeah, that’s aura.
The meaning of aura has been shifted a bit in this latest trend, to mean something more akin to coolness. If someone “has aura”, that just basically means that they’re cool. This use of the term seems to have originated in the sports world, in a 2020 New York Times Article which made the claim that certain soccer players, like Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk are respected and revered because they have “an aura” that protects them from criticism. Despite making mistakes like any other player, it seems that certain athletes have an energy that carries them through bad performances unscathed in the eyes of fans and pundits. Sports fans on Twitter took this idea and ran with it, and the term gradually began to be applied to areas other than sports, eventually landing on TikTok earlier this year. One of the most popular early videos using the term was posted on April 16th by user @jonybrony, highlighting a type of person who is too caught up in having aura to have fun.
The term has spread like wildfire, with users now commonly using aura to make reference to how cool or charming someone is.
What Are Aura Points?
It’s unclear how exactly the idea that aura could be quantified came about, but users started making videos claiming that someone’s level of aura could increase or decrease based on their actions around May. For instance, on May 15th, user @securethabag.mel posted a video titled “Day In The Life Of Aura Day 1”, tracking how his points total changed throughout the day based on his actions. People quickly took notice – the third day of tracking his aura saw @securethabag.mel garner upwards of 14 million views. Since then, videos of people showing their aura points total have continued to go viral.
The system is completely arbitrary, as there is no set amount of points associated with particular things. The general understanding is that doing something cool earns you points, while doing something lame loses them. Obviously, the goal is to lead your life in ways that will earn you points, i.e. that you will make you look cool.
How Do You Gain And Lose Points?
So, now that you know what aura is, and what the points associated with it are, the question is, what sort of things earn you or lose you aura points? Well, the answer is, pretty much anything you do in your day to day life can affect your aura points. Many of the videos in the trend are related to romantic relationships, with people sharing stories of them being down embarrassingly bad for someone as instances of them losing major points. For example, going back to an ex after they cheated loses you points, as does going above and beyond for a crush that barely knows about your existence, but finally getting over a situationship, or getting someone’s number in real life, are ways to earn those points back.
The trend goes beyond relationships, and I’ve seen it be applied to pretty much anything. Walking in the same direction as someone after saying goodbye? – 500 points. Tripping while trying to hop the turnstile in the subway? – 2000. Reading an article on the internet explaining how to earn more aura points? – 5000.
What Do Aura Points Say About Us?
On one hand, this is just a silly trend that people are largely using to expose the embarrassing things they’ve done in the name of love, and there’s no harm done in calling ourselves out a bit. On the other hand, though, I think it’s fair to observe that people’s obsession with social media and of how they come across to others is at an all time high, and that constantly judging ourselves for very normal life interactions can be harmful, particularly for a younger audience. I will say the trend is eerily similar to the Black Mirror episode “Nosedive”, which imagines a future society where people can give each other ratings for everything, and where social ranking affects your socioeconomic status. The idea that certain people have a certain cool and attractive energy is nothing new, but the concept of aura points perhaps does ring a little dystopian. Now, do I think aura points will soon become an actual form of social currency that’s going to regulate whether you can apply for a mortgage or not, or determine which places you can and cannot enter? No, definitely not, but I do think it’s important to remember that our existence cannot solely be dictated by a desire to appear cool to others. Embarrassing things happen to everyone, and, at the end of the day, as mortifying as some situations might be in the moment, they probably won’t matter much in the grand scheme of things. It’s okay to poke fun at ourselves sometimes, but let’s not forget that being uncool is a normal part of life.
What do you think about the aura points trend? Let us know in the comments below!
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