Cyberspace has become a breeding ground for new slang and fresh terms. Just before the year ends, Oxford announced 2025’s word of the year, hailing rage bait on top. This pertains to content created to provoke anger or outrage, aiming to boost clicks, views, or engagement online. Since we’ve covered ragebating before, we might as well explore one word that was shortlisted — aura farming.
Aura farming
Oxford defined aura farming as the “cultivation of an impressive, attractive, or charismatic persona or public image by behaving or presenting oneself in a way intended subtly to convey an air of confidence, coolness, or mystique.” The term is believed to have been popularized thanks to a viral video of 11-year-old Rayyan Arkan Dikha. In the video of the annual Pacu Jalur race, Dikha can be seen dancing on the bow of a racing boat while maintaining posture and coolness. It gained so much traction that celebrities like Wiz Khalifa and Travis Kelce joined in the social media trend. Dance tutorials are also prevalent on YouTube and other social media accounts.
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Aura farming is also frequently linked to fandoms, where it’s commonly showcased through characters exuding effortless charisma, style, or power. It might sound amusing, but in highly stylized fiction, aura farmers are often portrayed as characters whose sheer presence is enough to excite a crowd. One mainstream example would be Timothee Chalamet’s portrayal of Paul Atreides from Dune. Here, his character demands respect when he declares himself the emperor of the universe — and while that sounds cringeworthy, the people eventually believe him.
Is it good or bad?
Aura farming isn’t inherently negative, as it describes how one could cultivate “coolness” or a strong vibe. For others, it becomes cringe when the actions done are obviously for attention, clout, or solely performative. After all, it is about looking cool without seeming like you’re trying to. In that sense, it reflects how social media can be an extension of self-expression. As netizens would say it, and as long as the content does not hurt anyone, “you do you.”
Photo credit: The feature image is symbolic and has been taken by Vitaly Gariev.
Sources: Oxford University Press /Benjamin Hoffman (The New York Times) / Bertin Huynh, Luca Ittimani, and Alyx Gorman (The Guardian)
