Holding Up Four Fingers On TikTok — What Does It Mean?

One of the easiest ways that people communicate a simple message is by holding up or gesturing with one or more of their fingers.

The meaning of “thumbs up” or thumbs down” is obvious. The “A-OK” circle made with the thumb and forefinger is said to have originated either with US Army pilots or NASA astronauts. “Horns” formed with the index finger and little finger is commonly seen at rock and roll shows, in anime, and among Texas Longhorn football fans (to mean “Hook ‘em horns”).

And of course, no one needs to be told what an extended middle finger means.

Recently on TikTok, a new “finger trend” has emerged: users holding up four fingers in a video or in their TikTok profile picture. What does it mean?

What Holding Up Four Fingers Means on TikTok

Someone using the four-finger sign on the social media platform might be using it old-school. They could be showing their support for people dealing with mental health issues (a common use of the sign in the late 2010s), showing solidarity with their South Florida hood (some claim that one’s a gang sign), or even indicating the start of the 4thquarter of a football game.

Other meanings of the hand signal are even less likely to be seen in TikTok content. In the early 2020s, four fingers extended and then tucked over the thumb meant that someone was in danger or dealing with domestic violence, and a joking trend on the app back in 2022 was to say that someone holding up four fingers was afraid to come out of the closet.

These days, however, chances are that a TikTok user with their four fingers extended is signifying their love for or loyalty to a single person, or that they’re “off the market.” 

The sign became popular in TikTok videos in 2024, but no one’s sure who started the trend. It’s had more longevity than most TikTok trends, though, with “four-finger” TikTok videos receiving well over 100 million views,

This would be a bad sign, though: someone proudly displaying four fingers — and then a few weeks later, flashing their middle finger instead.