"Goblin mode” is spending the day in bed while scrolling endlessly through social media, pouring chips in your mouth, downing Eggo toaster oven waffles with hot sauce over the sink because you don't care to put them on a plate. Leaving the house in your pyjamas and socks to get a Diet Coke from the bodega. Goblin mode is not an identity, but a frame of mind that can be switched on and off. It's about a lack of aesthetic.

The era of goblin mode

Goblin mode is the opposite of trying to improve yourself. On TikTok, #GoblinMode is fixed to everything from "smoking weed alone and getting scared", to "not taking your meds". The trend is a departure from the hyper-curated "cottagecore" influence of early pandemic days -  a 2020 trend that included pastel colours and showcasing wholesome homemaking skills such as baking and embroidery. But as the pandemic wears on endlessly, people are tired of such goals and is feeling kind of wild.

Reason for the goblin mode

On TikTok, this hashtag has 366,000 views and features videos of users proclaiming to be the opposite of "that girl" - a highly curated aesthetic. The "that girl" trend sets an unrealistic standard for girls to think that if they aren't waking up early to exercise, their lives are not put together.

#goblinmode hashtag

Goblin mode embodies a certain air of harmless mischief. The power of goblin mode is that it takes over. You act crazy and enter a very mythological space where you want to make trouble after years of pandemic induced disappointment.

Healthy goblin mode and destructive goblin mode

The term embraces the comforts of depravity and a direct departure from the ‘cottagecore’ influence of early pandemic days

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Slobbing out and giving up: why are so many people going ‘goblin mode’?

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