A wave of terminology originating from online incel and “looksmaxxing” communities is increasingly appearing in mainstream social media discourse, highlighting the cross-pollination between niche internet subcultures and global youth culture. The trend is characterised by the viral spread of specific jargon and practices centred on the obsessive optimisation of physical appearance, often promoted by influencers on platforms like Kick and TikTok.
The core concept, “looksmaxxing,” refers to the systematic pursuit of maximising physical attractiveness. The term emerged from incel forums during the 2010s and has since evolved beyond basic self-improvement advice like fitness and skincare. It now encompasses a spectrum of activities, from pseudoscientific techniques like “mewwing” (a claimed method of jaw reshaping via tongue posture) to extreme and dangerous body modifications. A particularly notorious practice is “bonesmashing,” promoted by influencers such as Kick streamer Clavicular (Braden Peters), which advocates deliberately causing trauma to facial bones to stimulate growth—a medically unsound and high-risk procedure.
This lexicon is underpinned by a deterministic ideology often termed the “black pill,” which posits that physical appearance
