Oops! The hydro flask got knocked over and now everyone has started saying “sksksksks.” Why? The answer is an internet phenomenon and social trend known as VSCO girls.

Coined as a term in 2017, a VSCO girl is defined as a girl that pertains to a certain aesthetic including messy buns, oversized shirts, scrunchies, hydroflasks, birkenstocks or crocs, and metal straws. A VSCO girl can also be characterized by excessive friendliness and a “Save the turtles!” approach to activism.

The app from which its users are derived, VSCO, originally started as a forum with a positive message, allowing users to post pictures without comments or likes overwhelming them. The developers wanted to provide an outlet to relieve stress, anxiety, insecurity, frustration, and depression.

With 75% of the users belonging to Gen Z, a commonality among the girls started to form as they expressed like fashion trends. However, VSCO girls did not begin to trend until January, 2019 when Greer Jones published the first video of it’s kind: “Becoming the Ultimate VSCO Girl.”

“Sometimes people want to follow a new trend or style,” sophomore Liv Minutillo said.

With the new style creating many imitations based on the iconic items, the look has begun to undergo scrutiny and mocking amongst the online community and real world alike. As this new label for a “basic” girl invades the halls of schools across the country, a new form of bullying has wreaked havoc on young girls’ minds everywhere.

According to the app’s study in September, 2019, 82% of Gen-Z refrains from posting out of fear of what others may think. This original intent of positive energy has been changed by the negativity towards VSCO girl culture. Despite the app’s efforts, social media users tend to judge everything as long as it is different, resulting in a homogenous society of people wanting to blend in.

“People want to fit in and one way to do that is mimic the VSCO girl aesthetic which is like the quirky, crazy, and swaggy girl” freshman Julia Bartron said.

A recent study by Matthew Pittman at the University of Tennessee found that social media creates an opportunity for teens to hide feelings and loneliness and to trick themselves into feeling satisfaction by posting a series of photos (Research Gate). These posts help them to feel more intimate with their peers and in turn makes them happier.

With 88% of teens saying that they have witnessed cruelty on the internet, it is no surprise that VSCO girls are yet another target for people to mock. Social media is teaching us to be negative about the same things as everyone else.

No one should speak destructively about a group of people, when the style has been around for years without the label. VSCO girls don’t deserve to have constant conclusions being drawn about them based on their appearance.

Just because this trend has replaced the “basic white girl,” doesn’t mean that that each individual VSCO girl is devoid of all originality. Clothing and accessories should not have the power to cause someone to be scrutinized when society doesn’t even know them. Nowadays, people cannot even wear a single piece associated with the VSCO girl look, because they may be accused of trying to copy the style and would be judged.

“I would mock them because they try too hard, except for the people who are just naturally VSCO girls,” said junior Kayla Howie. “They’re chill, but it’s just a lot and I think it is overrated.”

Now all that’s left to say is “And I DON’T oop.”