You May Hear Gen Alpha Use the Term “Aura Farming,” But What Does It Mean?

If you play video games, then you're probably familiar with the term "farming." Just like real-life agrarians, gamers try to accrue resources by completing a series of repetitive tasks.

When it comes to social media, "aura farming" carries a similar meaning. But it doesn't necessarily carry a positive connotation.

According to WikiHow, folks who farm aura are attempting to build up an online reputation or reinforce a specific perception. Usually, one that's cool.

The word "aura" is usually utilized by Gen Alpha kids and is a synonym for reputation.

As Parade points out, this terminology is usually found more online than in day-to-day speech and in-person interactions. The more "aura points" one accrues, the better a person is received or seen as cool.

Negative aura is attributed to folks who find themselves in embarrassing situations or humiliated in front of a group of people. If you have an open shot at a soccer game, for instance, and still manage to miss the goal, that's negative aura.

Additionally, if you do something to try and look cool, like a dance move, and end up falling on the ground in a particularly demeaning way, that'll also drop your aura level.

This phrase can also extend to an overall vibe of a person, place, or thing.

In keeping with video game comparisons, one YouTube user created a list of different characters from a variety of titles that embody high levels of "aura."

Sephiroth from the Final Fantasy series and other Square Enix titles was mentioned in this list, as was Dante from Capcom's Devil May Cry games.

And while saying, unironically, that someone has aura, claiming that they're "aura farming" is a whole other matter entirely. That's because a person whose accused of doing so, is saying that they're attempting to garner aura points through a series of intentional posts change how they're perceived online.

This means that they're not concerned so much with living a lifestyle that is inherently cool, but rather, as coming off that they're cool for the rest of the world to see.

The same WikiHow article cited several examples of what aura farming could look like, such as leaning against a wall in an attempt to look nonchalant, or staying quiet and giving terse responses so you can seem mysterious.

According to the website, "Aura farming is often used in a joking manner to poke fun at people trying to look cool."

And while coolness is a matter of opinion, almost everyone can agree that there's fewer things as uncool as trying to look cool.

Some users online have highlighted some specific behaviors as instances of aura farming, like Piccolo's entrances in Dragon Ball Z, where he's accused of constantly showing off his outfits.

While mentions of fictional characters "aura farming" are mostly jocular, ones involving real-life people usually aren't.

Like when streamer Duke Dennis recorded himself plucking some grapes out of a bag, shaking them in his hands, and then popping them into his mouth. Some folks accused him of "trying to look cool" whilst eating the fruit, and response videos popped mocking the behavior.