The Girlfriend Effect

Submission 2,558

Part of a series on TikTok. [View Related Entries]

About

The Girlfriend Effect is an internet slang term and TikTok trend in which women show before and after photos of their boyfriends or husbands to show the difference between their looks before and after they started dating. These videos typically show men having a "glow up" after having their style groomed by their partners. Girlfriend Effect videos were popularized in September 2023. Some internet users notably contrasted the "Girlfriend Effect" with the "Boyfriend Air" trend from earlier in 2023.

Origin

Internet trends in which women show before and after photos of their boyfriends have existed since at least 2020, with an early viral example being a TikTok posted by user @sarah.swangim (repost shown below).^[1]

The earliest known video of someone participating in the trend called the "Girlfriend Effect" is a September 22nd, 2023, video posted by TikToker^[2] @babeshelle. The post shows @babeshelle discussing how men tend to look less physically appealing, dress better and have better personal style after receiving tips on grooming from their girlfriends. The video gathered over 1.8 million views and 200,000 likes in a week (seen below).

Spread

Various other TikTokers began posting videos about the girlfriend effect in the days following, with TikToker^[3] @clarazzoli posting a video on September 24th, 2023, participating in the trend and gathering over 1.5 million views and 190,000 likes in five days (seen below, left).

A September 24th post by TikToker^[4] @sexithriftqueen discussed the differences between how men and women begin to look after dating someone, with the idea being that while men are groomed to look better in a relationship, some women look slobbier. The post gathered over 2 million plays and 380,000 likes in five days (seen below, right).

On September 25th, 2023, TikToker^[5] @exeandalexia posted a video that gathered over 13 million plays and 2.4 million likes in four days (seen below, left). Also on September 25th, TikToker^[6] @andy.and.michelle posted a video participating in the trend and gathering over 7 million plays and 1.3 million likes in four days (seen below, right).