

But there is potential for the trend to cross over from humorous to harmful. Memes about the ick are predominantly at the expense of men, which can feel satisfying to engage in. Not all 'icks' are as harmless as they seem "It removes accountability and ownership of the feeling." "By saying 'it's the ick,' people are really saying it's just 'something that happens' in dating that is not their responsibility," relationship expert Sarah Louise Ryan told Dazed earlier this year. The most fascinating thing about "the ick," perhaps, is that it puts the burden for these feelings, which might well stem from our own emotional illiteracy or immaturity, entirely onto another person. Raquel Peel, a psychology professor at the University of Southern Queensland, wrote in The Conversation that a sudden ick could be about protecting ourselves when we see a red flag, or even an act of "self-sabotage" when we sense someone getting too close. Even though it sounds negative, she admitted, McBeal said it really meant "just not meant to be."ĭr. In " Once in a Lifetime," the 15th episode of the show's first season, the protagonist uses "the ick" to describe the moment she lost interest in a date. "It's really easy to build up imaginary pictures of what someone is like, then have it quickly shattered, and it's also really common for people to define themselves in opposition to other people." There are broader psychological reasons behind the appeal of 'the ick'Īs London-based dating expert Harley Quinn explained to Cosmopolitan last year, the origins of the ick can be traced back to a 1999 episode of US drama "Ally McBeal." "Social media platforms offer us a lot of shortcuts for making decisions on fairly limited information," he told Insider. Social media psychologist Ian MacRae, author of "Dark Social" and " Myths of Social Media," thinks the ick has taken off because social media platforms encourage us to simplify things down to stereotypes and sweeping generalizations.Įxploring icks is a way for social media users to define themselves.

But then if you 'get' a very specific ick and find it funny, you almost feel part of an even more special club." "So it's almost like the ick is an in-joke in itself.


"Even if an ick feels really unique, there are always people responding saying 'that's happened to me too!'" he said. Remmington thinks that more specific icks seem to do better online. Even if you don't necessarily agree with it, you can kind of put yourself in that person's shoes." "People lap up content about love and heartbreak because it's so relatable. "Most of my audience are women, so there's this tongue-in-cheek thing where we can mock men in a universal way, without it getting too deep," Remmington told Insider. According to Remmington, these posts receive the highest engagement on his social media.
EXPLAIN VIBE CHECK MEME CRACK
I can't shake it off."įrom men calling themselves " spontaneous" on dating apps, to doing stretches before bed, wishing footballers " good luck" before games, and not being able to crack an egg properly, there are a lot of very specific entries. "It's caught you, and it's taken over your body. If you've seen a boy and got the ick, it doesn't go," she said, explaining the collapse of her attraction to co-star Sam Gowland. It became linked to the show 2017 when Season 3 contestant Olivia Attwood used it. The phrase is used in a romantic context - primarily by people who are attracted to men - to describe the precise moment they lose interest in someone. But in live tweets about the show, two words keep coming up: the ick.
EXPLAIN VIBE CHECK MEME SERIES
It feeds into a desire to be a part of a trending conversation, but we may have reached peak "ick."Īs the eighth series of the British dating show "Love Island" airs in the UK, Twitter is ablaze with commentary and debate dissecting the latest events from inside the villa. Icks describe the precise moment you stop being attracted to someone. ITVĪcross social media, people are sharing a comedic meme: posting about "the ick." "Love Island" has helped popularize the use of "the ick" on social media.
