From being mildly late to sucking on people's tears – what is a 'beige flag' on TikTok?
The newest trend to hit TikTok from a relationship trend perspective: beige flags.
- The newest trend to hit TikTok from a relationship trend perspective: beige flags.
- For those unfamiliar with the platform, TikTok, is a video-sharing social media platform originally released by ByteDance as “Douyin” in China.
- As of February 2021, TikTok was downloaded over 2.6 billion times worldwide, and boasts approximately one billion monthly average users.
- A trend which allows for both discussion and change in the relationship space but may also reinforce pre-existing boundaries and norms.
What is a “beige flag”?
- In essence, the person wasn’t a “red flag” but a “beige flag” – for boredom.
- The TikTok beige flag definition refers to the odd quirks your partner may have – which bother you, but you are willing to accept.
- Those developing the content around beige flags are usually in a long-term relationship and the post is framed as satirical or humorous.
Romance on TikTok
- In this case, and via TikTok, users are playing into a well-known, white, western storyline: the romantic masterplot, and in particular the rom-com format.
- Indeed, many of these relationship reels on TikTok rely on humour to entertain audiences, through beige flags or other intimacy trends, which are usually exaggerated for comedic effect.
- By presenting these scenarios in a humorous way, TikTok can both entertain audiences and also help to normalise the idea that dating and relationships are processes fraught with potential missteps and pitfalls.
Sites of struggle and negotiation
- Academic Martin Nakata argues online spaces – such as TikTok – can be understood as digitally mediated “sites of struggle over the meaning of [our] experience”.
- Meaning that they are spaces where users can discuss, share opinions, contest and form new ways of thinking.