Experience the Most Outrageous Flight Simulator Ever!
The Viral Trend of Rawdogging on TikTok Goes Digital
In the world of TikTok, the viral trend of rawdogging was originally invented as a way to avoid digital stimulation. In this trend, a person (usually a man) simply sits and stares into the distance, refraining from any activity—whether it be watching a movie, listening to a podcast, or even reading. Some have referred to this as “rawdogging.” Others have called it “mindful boredom.”
Now, in an undeniably stupid turn of events, rawdogging is going digital. Someone decided to create a rawdogging flight simulator, where you can pretend to stare into space from the comfort of your own living room. The game is a free online game where players board a flight, choose a seat, and then proceed to sit and stare into the distance for as long as possible. The game claims to use “eye tracking technology” to ensure that you stay focused on your computer screen and don’t cheat by looking away.
When you finish rawdogging, the game records how long you played for, and if you are one of the top rawdoggers, your results are published on a public leaderboard on the game’s website. As of the writing of this article, it appears that a player known as “mew no last name” is the reigning champion, with a recorded playtime of 18 hours and 40 minutes. Goodness gracious.
The Phenomenon of Rawdogging
Rawdogging recently became popular on TikTok, a breeding ground for a multitude of equally mindless “trends.” Many of these trends are not so much real-world phenomena as they are tricks performed by influencers to increase their follower count. It is unclear if people in the real world actually rawdog flights with statistically significant regularity.
As far as I can tell, rawdogging was actually pioneered not by attention-seeking Generation Z fools, but by Seinfeld, which in 1997 aired the episode “The Butter Shave,” in which Elaine’s on-and-off boyfriend David Puddy infuriates her by refusing to read, sleep, or do anything else except stare ahead in a near-braindead trance: We salute you, Puddy. You were a true rawdogger—perhaps the only one.
