Friend, are you an SB?
Sorry, please don't misunderstand, I'm really not attacking anyone—if you've browsed any social apps recently, such as QQ groups, WeChat groups, QQ Space, WeChat Moments, Weibo, Douyin, Xiaohongshu, HeyBox, Bilibili, etc., you must have seen a ton of people showcasing their SBTI.
As the test website says: "MBTI is outdated, SBTI is here." This so-called "SBTI" is a new type of personality test wrapped in a new skin, allowing you to test out a bunch of messy personality types.
For example, my tested personality type is the "Mom" personality that every Valorant junior wants to find and every bridge camper treats as expendable. As the "rarest Mom personality in all of China," before chaos opened, before time had a name, before the first star let out its first burp, Mom already existed. Ah, how gentle and positive this personality is.
However, testing out such a positive Mom-type personality doesn't bring me joy—I came to test SBTI, why can't it be more abstract? Look at other people's SBTI results; the identity of "Grass Person" makes one involuntarily feel he will perform a flying grass slam right there, writing a big F*CK. How refreshing, how direct.
"Everyone put on sunglasses"
Then there's the personality type called "Orphan," which exudes an air of nobility from Chinese to English. With parents who have entered an unselectable state, he is bound to remain invincible in online flame wars, while the buff of being alone serves as the perfect symbol for this melancholic male god and tragic nobleman.
"No clouds in the sky, no rain falls; no trees on the ground, no flowers bloom"
Not to mention the "Shit Person" personality, maxed out on offensive power—so-called shit isn't complaining, but performing a mysterious ritual. They curse heaven, earth, and air, cynically declaring the world is rotten and made entirely of shit. Light Yagami would shout "Professional!" and Toru Ashikaga would exclaim "Insider!"
“Truth Fades, S.H.I.T Lasts”
Of course, the universally loved "Clown" personality cannot be absent either. While stage clowns need constant揣摩 (pondering), careful consideration, and repeated practice, friends with the Clown personality only need to open their eyes to reach a peak performance others can never touch.
"Did I cause a misunderstanding?"
The personalities listed above are just the tip of the iceberg. Besides them, there are personalities like MONK, OJBK Indifferent Person, LOVE-R Romantic, and FAKE Imposter for you to choose from. Hayao Miyazaki might not figure out "How Do You Live?", but SBTI did it. It's even more awesome than Miyazaki.
"She's a famous host" "Then I can only say whatever"
To choose your personality, you just need to open that SBTI website and randomly select answers to some questions based on your thoughts. Among them, there are classic categorization questions that make it obvious at a glance that they're discussing the J and P factions.
There are also SBTI-exclusive crazy fixed texts, combining the best of clown literature and rat literature. Anyone who can recite this passage in full is comparable to the Great Buddha climbing up from Leshan, happily jumping into cabbage and smiling at me.
In short, you just need to casually pick answers in a harmonious atmosphere, quickly fill out a few dozen questions that aren't even complicated, and you'll get your own SBTI result.
“Thanks to the Venerable One for enlightening me”
You've probably noticed by now that this so-called SBTI is essentially a deconstruction of MBTI. Keep in mind, the scientific validity of MBTI itself isn't very high—to quote a certain sketch comedian: "Last year I believed in horoscopes, this year I believe in the Five Elements." It seems the latest horoscope is MBTI.
As a psychological test that wildly triggers the Barnum effect, MBTI focuses on making people personalize ambiguous descriptions and believe these descriptions are specifically tailored for them. Therefore, criticism and deconstruction of MBTI personality tests and their blind believers have existed for a long time.
Many previous deconstructions are similar to the various personalities in SBTI—they achieve humor by changing the Chinese and English names of personalities, inserting self-deprecating or prankish statements. Such meme images have long circulated on the internet, and much content has been carried over into SBTI, with comments sections still showing heirs from SBTI.
In reality, in most cases, MBTI is just a social currency. You can post it on your Moments to tell everyone you're a noble INFJ, or hang these four mysterious letters in your personal signature, stacking buffs with other labels inside... After all, scientific accuracy isn't the most important thing here; entertainment and social value are.
SBTI's popularity borrowed heavily from MBTI in terms of entertainment and social value.
MBTI at least tries to mask itself with a bunch of heritage and seemingly serious questions, but SBTI doesn't even pretend anymore. It plays its cards openly, messing around with various memes, telling you it's just for fun, going all-in on entertainment.
Additionally, since young people have been keen on self-deprecation in various ways in recent years, such as labeling themselves as "goblins," "clowns," or "rat people," using the various negative personalities in SBTI for self-mockery has given it rich social appeal.
Thus, SBTI's spread far exceeded that of its predecessor, MBTI—it gathered those who already liked labeling themselves, and used the gimmick of "anti-labeling" to attract fun-seekers who weren't interested in MBTI, successfully going viral across the internet in just one night.
You can see that a large number of news media have started reporting on SBTI, and many official accounts with fast internet speeds are using similar formats to ride the hype wave—by the way, I even saw a poster in a group using this method to advertise their music party.
But... what fate awaits SBTI after its viral explosion?
In the 1980s, Japan was in the bubble economy expansion period, with rampant consumerism. During this time, the Japanese public showed high pursuit for major brand goods with obvious LOGOs. Japanese society suffered from product surplus and fierce market competition, making it difficult for new brands to compete with popular ones.
Against this backdrop, Japanese businessman Seiji Tsutsumi seized upon the hidden "no-brand goods" culture of the time, collaborating with designer Ikko Tanaka to establish an "anti-brand" strategy.
They wanted to deconstruct brand authority, eliminate unnecessary brand premiums, and return to the practicality of the product itself.
And thus, "MUJI" was born.
The core concept of "MUJI" is literally as it sounds: providing high-quality goods without brand labels. Its foundation is "anti-brand" and "de-labeling."
However, what happened next needs no elaboration—today, MUJI has become another form of label. Over time, influenced by brand development and consumerism, it has become a consumption symbol leaving a deep impression with its minimalist style, serving as the ultimate destination for some label enthusiasts, as if consuming at MUJI makes one a long-termist and minimalist.
The brand that deconstructed brands ultimately became a new brand, starting a new cycle.
Similarly, SBTI is transforming from an "anti-label" into a "new label."
Open social media, and you'll see people mapping SBTI personalities one-to-one with MBTI, forcing connections to let you know, "Wow, so my randomly chosen OJBK Indifferent Person is actually the noble INFJ Green Old Man personality? No way, I need to post this on Moments immediately."
Scrolling through live streams, experts who originally interpreted horoscopes and studied psychology are now seriously analyzing real-world issues using SBTI.
Some have taken it even further, digging deep into its value orientations and launching various cultural critiques along the way, dismissing SBTI—a purely entertaining novelty—as worthless, heinous, and utterly boring.
At this point, SBTI has become vulgarized in certain situations, turning into a new label and a new fashion item.
Yet looking back at the development of both, we ultimately see the difference between these two types of labeling—MUJI is more "positive," while SBTI is more "negative."
In other words, the internet's gene for appreciating ugliness has struck again. This is precisely the trend we see in many online events today: people deconstruct and mock mainstream narratives, putting clownish figures in the spotlight. From serious journals to S.H.I.T. journals, and from MBTI to SBTI, the pattern holds true.
Online, this curiosity and appreciation for ugliness often evolve into collective狂欢 (carnivals). It's an entertainment commodity, a tool of rebellion, and a means to release pressure and vent emotions. Posting SBTI on your Moments is no different in essence from sharing a Changshu Ano video—but the former is indeed simpler and easier to understand, after all, it's the pinnacle of labeling, using self-deprecation to dissolve much of the aggression, so your friends won't think you're mocking disabled people.
And it's predictable that, as this trend continues to develop, SBTI has already embarked on a new journey—it will carry more weight through successive evolutions, gradually wane amidst waves of hype, and ultimately be completely forgotten.
Until one day, something faster, more convenient, and more labeled will emerge to replace it. By then, people will probably discard SBTI just like they discarded MBTI, throwing themselves into the new fashion item.
Speaking of which, I suddenly thought of a suitable medium—why not print a barcode on the back of your head?
