Throning is like gold-digging’s Gen Z cousin but aimed at fame and influence rather than fortunes and Ferraris. Think Instagram followers instead of yachts and Youtube views instead of luxury villas. This is Keeping Up With The Kardashiansmeets The Crown in the context of modern love and ambition.
What is Throning?
You see someone who’s practically glowing with online clout. They’ve got the verified blue tick, they’re influential, and they can get you into all the best parties without standing in line. That’s a potential throne, and you’re about to make a strategic love play.
“Throning is about dating someone who has the social standing, the connections, or just the cool factor that you want for yourself,” says psychologist Kirti Agarwal in Hyderabad. It’s a little like dating for Instagram bragging rights.
Why Is Gen Z Doing It?
Psychologists say it’s nothing new. We’ve always been wired to seek status. Says Agarwal, “Humans have a natural drive for social validation, and in a highly digital world, throning becomes an extension of this drive. Only now, we’ve got a label for it and a whole generation embracing it. People want to date someone who reflects well on them.” We’re all out here trying to “upgrade” ourselves, and dating someone influential has become the fast pass to social validation.
Is throning superficial? Sure. But as Agarwal points out, “The quest for validation is deeply rooted in human psychology. Social media has only amplified this need, giving people a platform to display their lives and seek affirmation.” In simpler terms: we all want to be noticed, and if dating someone popular does the trick, so be it.
Gen Z's Quest For Clout
If you’ve spent your teens watching influencers make entire careers out of posing with lattes and staging perfect sun-dappled breakfasts, it’s easy to see the appeal of proximity to fame for this generation. For Gen Z, social media is a whole economy, and followers are currency. With throning, dating someone with a little social clout can be the shortcut to expanding one’s own influence.
Image for representation only (Freepik) In many ways, throning is the “get-rich-quick” scheme of social status. Instead of working hard to gain clout through personal achievements, why not date someone who already has it? It’s like leasing a Ferrari instead of saving up for one.
How Is Throning Different From Gold-Digging?
Let's address the elephant in the room: how is this any different from gold-digging? Gold-digging typically involves material wealth and a desire for financial stability. However, throning is all about fame and status. You’re not after their bank account. You’re after their followers, their network, their influence.
It’s like “dating up,” but instead of financial assets, it’s social capital. Remember Lala the influencer in the film Kho Gaye Hum Kahan? She is dating her personal trainer IRL but cozies up to a rich businessman on social media for the optics. Throning is more audacious and a lot more public than gold digging. We’ve entered an age where dating someone because they can boost your follower count is as valid a reason as “he makes me laugh.”
Is Throning Here to Stay?
Throning probably isn’t going anywhere. As long as social media equates to social currency, there’ll be people looking to “upgrade” their status by association. It’s the dating equivalent of hitching your wagon to a rising star, except now the stars have hashtags and collab potential.
Everyone is curating, editing and hashtagging their “authentic” selves, so a little throning seems almost inevitable. Either way, if you’re dating someone who tags their every move, remember: they might not just be in it for you. They might be in it for the likes.
