It seems like everyone these days are pulling the most goofy facial expressions for clicks on YouTube, and it’s certainly no coincidence.
The Soy Face is an internet meme that has existed forever, but the main idea is that somewhere, someone made an incorrect link between Soy product consumption and declining Testosterone levels.
While the “Wojack Soy Meme” shown above is a satire of the hyperexpression shown by grown manchildren, the idea of this over the top expression ties back to mass consumerism. The internet would clown on supposedly weak and effeminate men who took pride in their consumption of pop culture, and it would be these very men who practised the ‘soy face’ that we see now so often on YouTube.
Why Is It Called The ‘Soy Face?’
There is an incorrect association between Soy product consumption and declining testosterone levels. While Soy does have an estrogenic effect, the effects in reality are quite mild. However, since the group of consumerism men from before often displayed their love of Soy products, the link between Soy milk and Low Testosterone was quickly established, leading to anything that these men do being labelled “Soy___” such as “Soy Boys” or the “Soy Face.”
Are There Any Ties To Low Testosterone?
There is established research that men with higher testosterone smile less broadly than men with lower testosterone. The hyper-expressiveness of the ‘Soy-Face’ or the ‘Youtuber Face’ subconsciously indicates lower Testosterone, whether this is true or not is irrelevant; it’s all about perceptions in social psychology.
Coincidentally this face also appeals greatly to children, the highest paying Youtube demographic. Who else has time to watch 6 hours of content back to back? The dopamine rush of overstimulating content starts at the thumbnail where the expressions of grown men and women indicate a high energy, fast paced and ultimately satisfactory video. This is why the video gets clicks, but at the same time, degrades the intelligence of the audience.
Youtuber’s make the surprised face expression for their thumbnails because it works to get clicks by virtue of indicating that the content is fun and playful. However, with the large majority of Youtuber’s doing it now, it has become a sort of ‘anti-clickbait,’ creating ad-blindness where once it was used to stand out, now makes it clear that the video in question is likely to be clickbait of some sort and cannot match up to the hyper-expressiveness of the thumbnail. Viewers are just getting smarter and the children are growing up.
