Lorde's 'Man of the Year' TikTok Trend: Moving Past Toxic Relationships By Coping With Humour

Lorde's 'Man of the Year' TikTok trend has gained traction by helping users express grievances with past toxic relationships online. In what feels like the Gen Z Pandora's Box, creators are posting videos sharing negative experiences with their ex-partners. Plus, most of the content following this trend comes with receipts.

Most of the videos start with the creator's selfie. It then follows a slideshow format revealing a series of text messages, voice notes, etc. While the song itself is about gender identity, the trend has seen to it that the lyrics are misunderstood.

As reported by USA Today, more than 63,000 posts are listed under the hashtag #manoftheyear. The topics covered in the videos include domestic violence, infidelity, and pregnancy scares. It also opens up a discussion on how the youth use humour to cope with trauma.

Lorde's Response to the Trend

The song was released at the end of May, part of Lorde's upcoming album 'Virgin.' While it's meant to address gender identity, the trend repurposed the song for exposing toxic relationships instead.

Lorde herself was compelled to respond to the trend she unwittingly started. She posted a TikTok captioned 'These messages...' with her expression being a telling story of disbelief by itself.

A commenter replied saying 'Girl,yes, it's got me scared.' Lorde replied saying that she couldn't look away, while another funnily responded with 'Guys, you're stressing out Lorde.'

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Lorde said 'Man of the Year' was inspired by three things. Her recovery from an eating disorder, healing from a breakup, and reflecting on her gender identity. Funnily enough, TikTok users were quick to note the paradox of straight women using the song to cope with ex-boyfriends.

Effect on Gen Z: Coping With Humour

As per a 2023 study by Gallup and the Walton Family Foundation, only 15% of Gen Z said their mental well-being was excellent. Most respondents are prone to negative emotions like anxiety, loneliness, and stress.

In comparison, 52% of millennials in the same age range said their mental health was excellent. This translates to a huge decline over a decade. However, Gen Z is more open about mental health compared to past generations.

This addresses how comfortable the people under this bracket are with leveraging social media as a platform for expression. It explains why the youth use humour to cope with underlying trauma from past relationships.

Granted, some videos shared are genuinely disturbing. They detail harrowing accounts of physical and emotional abuse. While some may see this as downplaying an issue, it can also be seen as a means of 'letting it out' or even managing guilt.

All things considered, it's a good example of how to use social media to discuss mental health. It also helps that TikTok is a trend-driven platform that focuses on user engagement.

In some capacity, building up the comment sections on a creator's video is a means of gathering support. While these people are only witnessing your story, a sense of connection and solidarity can be felt from the responses despite the polarising discussions that come with it.