New content is constantly featured online, but recently viewers have been curious about one thing in particular: What does ? mean on TikTok?
The brain emoji has been showing up on many TikTok For You pages and users are finding themselves confused.
Read below to learn the real meaning of the ? emoji, but don’t tell your parents!
So, what does the brain emoji (?) really mean?
Slang terms have existed in society for a long time and are constantly being used throughout social media platforms in relation to various things.
The term ‘brain’ is used as a slang term to reference oral-s*x.
The term ‘brain’ has been used by rap-artists such as Drake, Nicki Minaj, Lil Uzi Vert, Big Sean, Tyler the Creator, Rick Ross, Ty Dolla Sign and many more.
Why is this emoji ? used on TikTok?
This particular form of slang is used to sensor explicit terms in order to obey guidelines.
As a platform that celebrates creativity but not explicit content, TikTok specify in their community guidelines that the app does not allow n*dity, p*rnography or s*xually explicit content.
Due to the media platform’s sensory rules surrounding s*xual content, TikTok users have started using the brain emoji ? when creating content that involves a reference regarding oral-s*x.
This prevents users from explicitly describing the s*xual act that is being referred to, keeping content less serious.
Since TikTok’s algorithm enables any upload to show up on any For You page, this also prevents younger users from being exposed to this particular content.
Why is this emoji ? trending?
Mature TikTok creators have began using the emoji within their humorous content.
Below are 2 great examples of the use of the brain ? emoji.
Content creator, @iammikelyon uploaded a TikTok using a particularly funny audio when paired with the context.
Mike’s upload using the trending emoji ? gained a huge 1 million views and 279.1K likes.
TikTok user, @chloeefield shared a video in December 2020 which describe her funny thoughts whilst taking part in this:
Chloe’s video has now gained 596.6K views along with 76K likes, indicating that many viewers also feel the same.
So there you have it, ? explained!
