Don't Believe This Viral TikTok Soda Can Tab Myth

If we are unlucky, we might have another parental panic on our hands. Early last month, a video gained a lot of attention on TikTok. The premise of it was to explain how the different shapes soda can tabs take can signify different acts of intimacy. However viral the video may be, don't believe the hype.

According to this legend, circulated by school-aged kids, what happens next is that an interested party will present the tab to someone. Or, the tabs are worn as a bracelet, daring someone to snatch a tab and receive the reward that it signifies. The thing is, though, that using soda tabs to signal interest in someone is just a thing of legend, dating back to the '90s, according to Snopes. In fact, the soda tabs, just like the color coding of jelly bracelets at the time, are most likely a symptom of parental concern about kids growing up and maturing.

In this case, while some TikTokers claim these soda tabs still mean something, one person in the comments section explained, "It's just fun." 

Of course, you don't have to join in the play. The tabs of soda cans are being repurposed in different ways.

For example, if a person is wearing a soda tab pulled from a can, they're just as likely drawing inspiration from Sarah Cameron, a character in the Netflix show "Outer Banks." As Totally the Bomb notes, she wears the tab as the pendant for a necklace and that it is "unique, funky and totally cute." So, they found one on Etsy for $39.99. Or, you could just make one from a soda can, which is more in the spirit of things. TKOR shows on YouTube how one can make chains out of soda can tabs when stacked on each other and linked.

Alternatively, you can donate them to the Ronald McDonald House Charities, according to its website. They typically receive between $0.40 and $0.50 for a pound of the stuff, or about 1,128 tabs. It's an additional form of revenue for the housing charity, especially for people looking for more affordable ways to donate to charities. If you believe that price is too cheap, you may have fallen for another tab-related myth. Namely, that the tabs are uniquely valuable. As Snopes checked, however, they aren't. About 50 cents for a thousand is the going rate. You would be just as well off giving it to a good cause, then.