About

Single BTW is an online catchphrase used to inform others that you are single, often unsolicited. The phrase was popularized in March 2021 by Twitch streamer Pokimane when she tweeted it in order to silence rumors about her relationship status, invoking many reactions on Twitter.

Origin

On March 9th, 2021, at 4:03 p.m. EST, streamer Pokimane, who is often the subject of rumors and stories about the status of her relationship, tweeted, "single btw" on her Twitter^[1] account in order to clear up her relationship status (shown below). Half an hour later, she commented under the tweet, "not looking, just tired of seeing the same question/assumption over n over lol." The tweet quickly went viral, garnering over 256,000 likes, 6,500 retweets and 4,100 quote retweets in under a day.

Pokimane received a massive response to the post in the comments and quote retweets, including users posting their "boyfriend resumes" and asking the streamer out, the majority of which are ironic (examples shown below, left and right).

Spread

Beyond Pokimane's original tweet thread, the phrase "single btw" inspired numerous reactions on Twitter as users joked about it, critiqued it, tweeted it in support of Pokimane and made memes referencing it.

On March 9th, 2021, shortly after the original tweet, streamer and Twitter^[3] user FaZe Pamaj quote-tweeted Pokimane with a video of himself getting a double kill in Call of Duty along with the phrase "single btw" garnering over 2,700 likes in a day (shown below).

At 5:51 p.m., streamer, musician and friend of Pokimane Lily Pichu tweeted^[4] "single btw," garnering over 71,500 likes in a day. Throughout the day, a number of fellow streamers also posted the phrase in support of Pokimane.

At 7:19 p.m., Twitter^[5] user @KittenElise tweeted, "'single btw' no shit ur single u play video games 8 hrs a day what else did u expect," garnering over 78,000 likes and 6,500 retweets in under a day (shown below). Many commenters expressed anger over the tweet and sent the poster angry DMs, believing it was directed towards Pokimane, resulting in @KittenElise posting a comment^[6] to clear up that the tweet was about herself, not Pokimane.

At 7:59 p.m., Pokimane tweeted^[7] from her personal account @imane, "ik it’s not that deep but all my friends tweeting 'single btw' makes me feel so happy and supported lmao," garnering over 27,000 likes in under a day. Later that morning, SVG^[8] posted an article, titled "WE FINALLY KNOW POKIMANE'S RELATIONSHIP STATUS," talking about the tweet and Pokimane being single.

At 12:05 p.m. on March 10th, Pokimane tweeted^[2] a screenshot showing the phrase "single btw" trending on Twitter (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References