Bed rotting is a phrase from social media wherein a person stays in bed for an entire day without engaging in daily activities and chores. This concept emphasizes taking time to rest, recharge, and enjoy leisure activities like watching TV, reading, or scrolling through social media without the pressure to be productive.
On February 13, 2024, Dictionary.com announced that it added "bed rotting" along with more than 1,700 new or updated definitions to reflect recent online trends. It was defined as "the practice of spending many hours in bed during the day, often with snacks or an electronic device, as a voluntary retreat from activity or stress." [1]
Many who partake in bed rotting commonly spend their time on their smartphone or reading a book. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] The behavior may have a negative impact in individuals experiencing depression along with being a symptom of depression. While some see it as a way to prioritize mental health and combat burnout, it’s important to balance it with other activities to maintain overall well-being. The trend has gained traction on social media, where users share their "bed rotting" experiences, celebrating the art of doing nothing in a cozy, comfortable setting. [7]
Some observers have interpreted this as a reaction to stress and or anxiety. [8] [9] [10] Lifehacker has described bed rotting as "an aspect of JOMO". [11]
Edging, sometimes also referred to as gooning or surfing, is a sexual technique whereby an orgasm is controlled. It is practiced alone or with a partner and involves the maintenance of a high level of sexual arousal for an extended period without reaching climax. Orgasm control involves either sex partner being in control of the other partner's orgasm, or a person delaying their own orgasm during sexual activity with a partner or through masturbation. Any method of sexual stimulation can be used to experience controlled orgasm.
Generation Z, also known as Zoomers, is the demographic cohort succeeding Millennials and preceding Generation Alpha. Researchers and popular media use the mid-to-late 1990s as starting birth years and the early 2010s as ending birth years, with the generation most frequently being defined as people born from 1997 to 2012. Most members of Generation Z are the children of younger baby boomers or Generation X.
TikTok, whose mainland Chinese and Hong Kong counterpart is Douyin, is a short-form video hosting service owned by Chinese internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from three seconds to 60 minutes. It can be accessed with a smart phone app.
Generation Z, colloquially known as Zoomers, is the demographic cohort succeeding Millennials and preceding Generation Alpha.
"OK boomer" or "okay boomer" is a catchphrase and internet meme used to dismiss or mock attitudes typically associated with baby boomers – people born in the two decades following World War II. The phrase first drew widespread attention due to a November 2019 TikTok video in response to an older man, though the phrase had been coined years before that. It is used mostly by those of the millennial generation and Generation Z. The phrase has developed into a retort for resistance to technological change, climate change denial, marginalization of members of minority groups, or opposition to younger generations' values more generally. Critics of the term perceive it as ageist. It has been noted as a marker of intergenerational conflict.
The fashions of the 2020s represent a departure from 2010s fashion and feature a nostalgia for older aesthetics. They have been largely inspired by styles of the late 1990s to mid-2000s, and 1980s. Early in the decade, several publications noted the shortened trend and nostalgia cycle in 2020s fashion. Fashion was also shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic, which had a major impact on the fashion industry, and led to shifting retail and consumer trends.
TikTok food trends are specific food recipes and food-related fads on the social media platform TikTok. This content amassed popularity in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, given that many were inclined to eat at home while simultaneously turning to social media as a form of entertainment. While some TikTok users share their diets and recipes, others expand their brand or image on TikTok through step-by-step videos of easy and popular recipes. Users often refer to food-related content as "FoodTok."
Cheugy is an American neologism coined in 2013 as a pejorative description of lifestyle trends associated with the early 2010s. This aesthetic has been described as "the opposite of trendy" or "trying too hard". The term has been used positively by some who identify with the aesthetic.
Zillennials, or Zennials, is a social cohort encompassing people born on the cusp of, or during the latter years of the Millennial generation and the early years of Generation Z. Their adjacency between the two generations and limited age set has led to their characterization as a "micro-generation". They are generally the children of younger Baby Boomers and Generation X. Estimates of the U.S. population in this cohort range from 30 million to 48 million.
BookTok is a subcommunity on the app TikTok that focuses on books and literature. Creators make videos reviewing, discussing, and joking about the books they read. These books range in genre, but many creators tend to focus on young adult fiction, young adult fantasy, and romance. The community is cited with impacting the publishing industry and book sales. The creators in this community are also known as BookTokers.
BeReal is a French social-networking app released in 2020, developed by Alexis Barreyat and Kévin Perreau. Its main feature is a daily notification that encourages users to share photos with friends of themselves and their day-to-day life given a randomly selected two-minute window every day. Critics noted its emphasis on authenticity, which some felt crossed the line into the mundane. The name "BeReal" is a pun. Its primary reference relates to its focus on users uploading unpolished photos, while also being a pun of the term B-reel.
Hyram Yarbro is an American skincare influencer known for his videos on YouTube and TikTok. His videos consist primarily of product reviews, skin care advice, and reactions to celebrity skincare routine videos. In 2021, he launched his skincare product line, Selfless by Hyram, with Sephora.
An Internet aesthetic, also simply referred to as an aesthetic or microaesthetic, is a visual art style, sometimes accompanied by a fashion style, subculture, or music genre, that usually originates from the Internet or is popularized on it. Throughout the 2010s and 2020s, online aesthetics gained increasing popularity, specifically on social media platforms such as Tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram, and TikTok, and often were used by people to express their individuality and creativity. They can also be used to create a sense of community and belonging among people who share the same interests. The term aesthetic has been described as being "totally divorced from its academic origins", and is commonly used as an adjective.
Gen-Z for Change, formerly called TikTok for Biden, is an American non-profit advocacy organization, founded in 2020 that uses social media to promote civil discourse and civil action among members of Generation Z. It consists of a core team of 15–20 people and a coalition of over 500 content creators and activists, and partners with influencers, activists and celebrities to produce multimedia content. Its advocacy addresses a wide range of topics such as abortion rights, COVID-19, student debt cancellation, climate change, income inequality, social inequality, immigration, racial justice, gun control, foreign policy, voting rights, and LGBT issues. Collectively, Gen-Z for Change's members have 540 million followers and receive 1.5 billion monthly views on social media.
The millennial pause is a pause in speaking at the start of some videos, especially in short-form content and on social media apps such as TikTok. The pause is generally ascribed to millennials, the generation of people born from the early-mid 1980s to mid-1990s. The phenomenon is an example of the digital generation gap between millennials and subsequent generations.
Corecore is an Internet aesthetic and artistic movement aiming to capture post-2020 sensibilities. A product of youth culture in the 2020s, the corecore aesthetic can largely be found on TikTok, where it juxtaposes various video clips while emotional music plays.
Gyatt is a term from African-American Vernacular English originally used in exclamation. In the 2020s, the word experienced a semantic shift and gained the additional meaning of "a person, usually a woman, with large and attractive buttocks and sometimes an hourglass figure".
Smellmaxxing is a term describing a phenomenon where pre-adolescent and adolescent males use fragrances to enhance their musk. This trend occurred in 2024 and was fueled by social media, specifically TikTok. Designer fragrances are often used to achieve this, frequently at a high cost.
The "That Girl" aesthetic consists of an individual who takes care of themselves and puts an emphasis on wellness in all aspects of their lives. It is most often targeted to women, although not exclusive to women.