What Is a “Frat Flick”? You’ve Definitely Seen It Before (And May Have Even Done It Yourself)

If you spend time on TikTok these days, you may find yourself flooded with videos of people doing a certain dance known as a "Frat Flick." Some videos feature people mocking the dance move, and other videos feature people ironically celebrating it.

But what is a "Frat Flick," and why are people talking about it so much? Here's a quick glimpse into the viral "dance" move and why it's become such a hot and trending topic.

All over TikTok these days, young men are filmed standing in clusters at parties, flicking their hands in the air to an approximation of tapping along with the beat of whatever music they're listening to. The move is usually accompanied by a lean, a head nod, and/or a baseball cap turned backward atop an outfit anchored by either a sports team shirt or a polo shirt.

This dance move has been aptly named the "Frat Flick" because it's seen most commonly among men of college age, who tend to cluster together in parties, stand on the sidelines, and bring out the Flick to seem like they're participating in the party. These men often belong, or hope to belong, to fraternities at a college. Young women do it too, but it mostly seems to be in mockery.

Notably, every fraternity and its attendant members seem to have a slightly different version of the Flick. Some do the overhanded Flick, with the pointer finger facing straight forward and the palm facing down. Some do a sideways, diagonal Flick, that almost looks like, "go over there." Others bounce their palms up and down in the air in a '90s-reminiscent move that looks like it's intended to "raise the roof."

But they all have one thing in common: The arm should be extended, and the Flick should be performed in a close approximation of the beat of the music at the party.

Of course, elder millennials and Generation Xers watching the videos may seem confused, and rightfully so, because TikTok seems to be claiming that this is a new move, and a new epidemic.

Yet the older social media consumers may take exception with that claim, because these moves have been time-honored traditions in the halls of fraternities all over the United States for generations.

Combined with other moves such as the aforementioned, "raise the roof" and the side-to-side nod-and-bob, the Frat Flick has always been the bare minimum effort that young men feel comfortable making when they're self-conscious about acting out in public but want to let loose.

Although the seemingly silly move is rife for mockery, there's a little bit of wholesomeness behind it. Young men cresting college age learning to let loose and party, trying to find themselves, their style, and their confidence; the Frat Flick is a manifestation of those first moves into adulthood.

Of course, when watched out of context and without music, it's a little silly to watch.