Aura farming explained: How viral internet memes became street competition?

The viral meme terminology has evolved into a real-world phenomenon as “aura farming” battles sweep across Latin America, drawing teenagers into public spaces to compete for charisma points.

The term combines two distinct concepts, with “aura” referring to a person’s style, attitude, or charisma, and “farming” borrowed from gaming terminology, meaning repeating actions to accumulate points or rewards. Together, aura farming means performing actions to symbolically earn charisma points.

The term gained traction early in 2024, after going viral via videos of 11-year-old Indonesian boy Rayyan Arkan Dikha showing high levels of maturity while dancing on the bow of a ship. The boy was called to have "high levels of aura," and the term became a trending topic online.

Today, the online trend has manifested physically as street challenges in Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, and even in Spain. The individuals, ranging from 14 to 20 years old, go against each other in the public square while doing viral dances and gestures judged by confidence and creativity.

In Mexico City, 14-year-old Carlos Irving Quintana won cheers by recreating Cristiano Ronaldo's “siuuu” celebration and performing the “mewing” jawline trend. His opponent countered with the “6-7” hand gesture, a meme so ubiquitous that Pope Leo has been seen performing it.

Aldhir Gonzalez, organiser of a Mexico City battle, said: “There’s no fixed criteria, but whoever looks the best, shows it off, gets the most laughs and has the most confidence wins.”