A New Online Trend: The Rise of “Mog-offs” and Its Impact on Streaming Platforms
At 4 a.m. last week, 19-year-old Sammy Amz was browsing X when something caught his eye: a popular Twitch streamer was participating in a 1v1 “mog-off” with a stranger and losing.
The Emergence of Omoggle and Mog-offs
The next day, he opened the gaming site Omoggle and started playing. He quickly connected with another user: green dots appeared on their faces on the screen, while the website began to compare their measurements: canthal tilt, eyelid fissure ratio, nose/face width ratio, etc.
Omoggle allows one stranger to “dominate” another in a looks contest, called mogging in online slang. It uses facial recognition to scan and score competitors’ faces between one and 10. Omoggle’s ecosystem is based on Omegle, a now-defunct site that randomly matched strangers for online video chats.
“It’s not [scored] by looks, but it’s like the shape of your head, the shape of your face,” Amz said.
The Influence of Streamers and Platforms
A week later, Amz had already participated in hundreds of mog-offs, alongside some of the UK’s biggest streamers, emulating a trend that emerged in the United States. On Tuesday, Amazon-owned live streaming platform Twitch joined the group, changing its rules to allow “participation in current trends,” such as Omoggle. Previously, its Community Guidelines prohibited the use of websites that connect a streamer to a stranger’s video feed, due to the risks of accidentally exposing its users to harmful content.
The PSL Scale and Its Controversial Roots
To decide the winner of the mog-off, Omoggle uses what is called the PSL scale. The letters stand for “Perceived Sexual Marketability,” but originally stood for three incel sites: PUAhate.com, Sluthate.com, and Lookism.net. These online forums encouraged young men to develop an obsession with their physical appearance. For some, it was nihilistic and seemed to promote resentment toward women who were seen as only valuing the physical attractiveness of men. For others, the goal was to maximize their attractiveness potential, what we call “lookmaxxing.”
On Omoggle, which has thousands of concurrent players at any given time, you get points for winning or losing each match. You are then assigned a status level on the mogging scale in a chess-style Elo ranking system. This scale is an adaptation of the usual manosphere rankings which have “subhumans” at the bottom, varying levels of “normies” in the middle and “chads” at the top. Omoggle is largely similar, except that subhuman has become “sub3” and a new category of “molecule” has been added below it.
The Psychological Perspective
Dr. Paul Marsden, a chartered psychologist with the British Psychology Society, specializes in how emerging technologies affect people’s wellbeing, particularly young people. He is quick to point out that the PSL system is “absurd” and believes it is part of a broader societal shift toward quantification.
“The world is changing, so what do I represent? That’s the question people are concerned about, Marsden said. “Some people turn to numbers, others to religion.”
He said older generations should avoid a moral panic and try to be aware of the ironic approach young people can take to things that may seem strange to others. “Generation Z memorizes everything. I think it’s fabulous that they treat contemporary life with humor,” he said.
Twitch’s Response to the Trend
Earlier this week, as Omoggle went viral, Twitch began warning streamers that their guidelines prohibited “randomized video chat services.” Their problem was not with mogging per se, but with the difficulty of moderating the content of streams when used as a platform for a less strictly moderated application.
In its Tuesday announcement, Twitch urged caution about using such sites, but said they would continue to be allowed on the platform, “to give you more choices about the content you stream and allow you to participate in current trends.”
Addressing the possibility of explicit content appearing when random users of the third-party app are matched, Twitch recommended its users to “quickly delete” if this situation arises by “changing scenes and no longer engaging.”
A Twitch spokesperson said its goal was to empower creators while protecting them from harm. “We will continue to combat content on random video chat sites if the content itself violates our guidelines by featuring sensitive or otherwise prohibited content.”
The Cultural Impact and Future of Mog-offs
Amz, who is happy to be on a “200-fight winning streak,” said he doesn’t think Omoggle is dangerous. “I don’t think anyone takes this seriously.”
Although mog-offs are primarily done for online entertainment purposes, many take the underlying philosophy of lookmaxxing seriously.
“Honestly, I would say culture is a good thing,” said Nicholas Graff, a 16-year-old from Iowa whose Omoggle video went viral. “It’s like maximizing your appearance. It can be degrading to some people, but overall I don’t mind it.”
Some influencers have spoken out against the trend which is growing in the UK. “Every generation has their own version of lookmaxxing,” a TikToker called Thoka said in a recent video. “But it’s too far.
“I’m not telling men how to be men, but that’s not it. How can people be so unemployed that their version of entertainment is put on websites for mog-offs,” he continued. “Go touch the grass.”
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