For many, social media is often thought of as a “highlight reel” of your best moments: cute selfies, fire OOTDs, and dumps of you being fun and social with all your best pals. But for certain types of people, it’s also a platform to be authentic, share your inner thoughts, and connect with those who feel the same way. If you’re one of those people — or you want to try out some public vulnerability and see what it’s like — then TikTok’s yellow font theory might be for you.
You might’ve seen the yellow font theory in action already. Basically, creators are posting photos or videos with overlaid text, and usually, whatever they write is pretty open and honest — like, more so than they might be in a typical social media post — followed by the words “yellow font.” And the color of that text? You guessed it: yellow.
“I hate how I yearn for constant reassurance yellow font,” one post reads. Another says, “Sometimes you need to stop seeing the good in people and start seeing what they show you yellow font.” Basically, people are getting vulnerable on main, and they’re using the yellow font theory as permission to express themselves. Many of these posts are set to the song “(You Made It Feel Like) Home” from the movie Bones and All (yes, the cannibal film starring Taylor Russell and TimothĂ©e Chalamet), which lends to the emotional and relatable vibe of the trend.
It’s not totally clear how — or why — the yellow font theory began making the rounds on TikTok. The first videos using the phrase “yellow font theory” appear to be from late November, and the trend is still going strong well into December. And if you’re feeling weird about not understanding the trend (until now — you’re welcome!), don’t worry; a ton of the posts under the #yellowfont tag are just videos of people asking what the trend means. So, you’re not alone in your confusion!
If you want to get in on the yellow font theory trend, all you have to do is write your truth over top a photo or video, and hit post. And, of course, don’t forget the yellow font!