Smack!
The clip begins with a loud smack aimed at me, like I just got an ear file. Then the lecture continues in military style, it's always some gorgeous Tiktok girl in a tank top who points menacingly and hisses:
"You're gonna work. You're not gonna bitch. You're not gonna moan. You're gonna listen to every motherfucking word that comes out of my mouth..."
The slightly sadomasochistic meme, inspired by the TV series "Euphoria", has been circulating on social media for some time with the vignette "The great lock in 2026".
Those of you who question the expression "lock in" can rest easy - I did that too. But you will not only get an explanation of the concept, but also why parts of the circle of acquaintances seem to have disappeared without a trace. Perhaps you have even started to worry that something terrible has happened to your younger friends and relatives? But if they belong to Generation Z, it is more likely that they are engaged in just "lock in" than that they have been kidnapped.
The custodial expression thus stands for focus, as in concentrating before an exam. Doing a "lock in" (there is also a swedish variant, "lock in") in front of a defined task seems to be an everyday expression among teenagers nowadays. Making "The great lock in", on the other hand, involves a much more complicated – and terrible – process. This means that you should spend the last months of the year (first September to last December) going underground, staying at home, living ascetically and self-sufficiently.
It can be getting up at five in the morning (and making the bed!), exercising a lot, walking a lot of steps, eating healthy. But it can also be to form
It can be getting up at five in the morning (and making the bed!), exercising a lot, walking a lot of steps, eating healthy, drinking water. But it can also be getting an education, improving your finances, finding a lucrative hobby, giving up distractions like screen time and partying. Everything written down in journals and according to rigorous schedules. Deviating from the plan is not okay. ("You're not gonna bitch. You're not gonna moan"… and so on).
Precisely the strict and disciplined seems to be the point of the lock in project. Unlike last year's September trend, New Year's Eve (a bunch of friends in fluffy sweaters get together and drink pumpkin lattes and make plans for the fall), there isn't much room for coziness. The older part of Generation Z may want to be soft and chill, but their younger generation peers seem to have a weakness for the militant. Maybe as a reaction to the curling upbringing that was in vogue when they were little?
That, for example, Theo Wahlgren in the new season of Wahlgren's world sees himself forced to do the dirty work because of all the hard curling he has been exposed to, feels very contemporary. The reality series "Secrets of the Elite" and "The Company" as well.
However, I find it difficult to understand how one can voluntarily enter into this stifling and performance-heavy isolation during the darkest months of the year. What's the matter, like? Gen Z colleague H, who is of course going full throttle into the fall, patiently explains that it's about becoming "the best version of yourself".
On New Year's, you're supposed to show up and stun the world by being "completely unrecognizable"
From the evocative Tiktok clips, I understand that this going underground is also part of the drama before "the reveal". On New Year's, one is supposed to show up and stun the world by being "completely unrecognizable." (All lock in gurus seem to assume that your current self is so intimidating that you can barely hang out with people).
Just as I've decided that this is a trend I really shouldn't get into - I don't want to become completely unrecognizable or mentally ill from isolation and by the way September has already passed - Gen Z colleague M says she must combine her lock-in workout with wine and salmon sperm face creams. And, she adds encouragingly, now Locktober begins.
The moment I hear the word Locktober, I know I'm hooked. The time has come to go underground and lure in.
