What is an Aura Battle? The viral Gen Z trend of competing for confidence points

Social media is all about trends that emerge from the general public and are quickly copied, adapted, and shared by millions of others. The latest trend to take over social media reportedly comes from Mexico, where young participants are turning confidence and charisma into a form of competition. This new trend has been given the name “Aura Battles.”

This social media battle that has taken over the streets of Latin America has the young participants dancing on the streets, doing innovative moves and steps that are enough to make you watch the

short clips on social media.

What is ‘Aura farming’ and why has it suddenly become a trend?

Just like the name, this trend is all about aura, which means how cool a person's persona is. For videos on TikTok and Instagram, the young participants gather on the streets and do creative and funny moves to prove who has more aura. Meanwhile, farming has come from the gaming world and has been used as a metaphor.

In a video game, farming means doing something to collect rewards or points. So in, “aura farming” IT means repeatedly doing funny or impressive things to gain “aura points” from the crowd.

Now this "aura farming" has spilt over onto the streets of Latin America. It has also gained popularity in Argentina, Brazil, Peru and Bolivia.

What is an aura battle?

An aura battle usually has two participants facing off against each other, with a crowd watching them. They perform steps, dances, walks, and dramatic gestures. The audience reacts to their performance, and the one who manages to grab the most attention wins.

For those wondering how these battles actually play out, take, for example, Carlos Irving Quintana, a slim 14-year-old with purple hair, who wins cheers of approval with his enactment of the iconic "Siuuu" leap of Portuguese football star Cristiano Ronaldo when he scores a goal.

He continues by "mewing," a TikTok trend. Meanwhile, his opponent responds by juggling his outstretched palms in a "6-7," a viral youth meme that has no fixed meaning, but it got so famous that Pope Leo has been seen doing it.

The participants in this trend are mostly teenagers aged 14 to 20, and they are judged on how many viral memes and videos they can reference and how many cool points they can collect.

There is no official scorecard. It’s all about vibe. Someone who handles an awkward moment with composure can earn aura points, while someone who tries to look cool and trips might instantly lose them. The trend has now become organised in Mexico and Buenos Aires, with participants winning actual prizes. Kaled Rosales Salazar, who took part in the game, recently, won 3,000 pesos (about $177) in prize money.