The “Moon Phase” trend has taken the TikTok platform by storm. The hashtag “Moonphasetrend” has almost 332 million views, not counting other hashtags that are also very popular, such as #moonphase (more than 533 million views), #moonphasetrendcouples (more than 100 million views) and #moonphasesoulmates ( 19.4 million views). Nothing surprising in this since the trend combines romance and astrology, two themes that are popular on the Chinese social network. The last one even has the right to its own universe at TikTok: Astrotok!
How to know your love compatibility?
In the quest for a romantic partner, the latest TikTok trend takes the concept of soulmates to a celestial level: turning to the Moon to find your other half. The principle is simple: just drag the phases of the Moon from the day of birth of both partners, if a full Moon forms... you are soul mates!
Do you find it too good or too simple to be true? You are right. So, if the phases don't line up, wait a bit before packing your bags! In any case, this is what Ben Radford, deputy editor-in-chief of the scientific magazine Skeptical Inquirer, recommends when interviewed by space.com: “What this trend is missing is a real logical link between the phase of the Moon and the personality or the relationship compatibility. Why on earth would the phase of the Moon have any connection or effect on relationship compatibility? ".
But if some users got caught up in the game, a large number preferred to use this trend with humor, by testing their compatibility with friends, family or even with their pet!
“Moon phase”: What does science say about it?
According to NASA, the Moon has only eight phases: new Moon, crescent-waxing, first quarter, waxing gibbous, full Moon, waning gibbous, third quarter, and waning crescent. Which means that based solely on the “moon phase” criterion, the “moon phase” method only allows four possible combinations to make a “whole moon” (new moon and full moon, third quarter moon and first quarter moon, waning gibbous and crescent-waxing, and waning crescent and waxing gibbous.) If we relate the number of possible combinations to the (approximately) 8 billion inhabitants of the earth, and we start from the principle that a category is only compatible with one other category (are you still following?), this means that each person should have around a billion possible “soulmates”... A criterion that the many tiktokers proudly displaying their compatibility (while incompatible souls depress) do not seem to have taken into account.
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