What it means
Doing things purely to gain attention, followers or online status, especially stunts and outrage that are transparently about the numbers. A creator picking a pointless fight or staging a fake moment is clout chasing, prioritising the spotlight over anything real.
Usage examples
"He only said it to go viral, total clout chasing."
"Staging a breakup for the cameras is clout chasing at its saddest."
"Posting a fake apology just to spin the comments back up is pure clout chasing."
"You can smell the clout chasing from a mile off, nobody was even talking about him till he started that mess."
Where it comes from
Built from clout, which has meant influence or social pull in English for a long time, plus chasing. The phrase took off hard in online culture and hip-hop adjacent internet talk for people obviously moving thirsty just to get attention, status, clicks, or a bigger name.
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