Real story behind ‘beautiful mid girl’ image revealed on anniversary

It's been three years since the 'beautiful mid' girl shared her viral image online – here's the story behind the photo and the trend she accidentally triggered.

In August 2023, US woman Evelyn Smith uploaded a photograph of herself to her VSCO account, an Instagram-like platform which allows users to share and edit images.

The snap wasn't anything out of the ordinary, just showing Smith seated at a restaurant and smiling towards the camera.

And that's all the image would be for the following two years after it was shared on X by an engagement-farming account alongside the caption: "all a man really needs in this life is a beautiful mid to call his own."

It was here that a viral meme was born.

And just like that, Evelyn Smith went from a regular young woman to a viral meme (X)

What does the phrase 'beautiful mid' mean?

The phrase 'beautiful mid' is an oxymoron of the words beautiful and mid, the latter of which is a slang term to describe a person who is deemed to be of an average level of attractiveness.

Therefore, the phrase 'beautiful mid' means someone who is considered to be good-looking but not too attractive or out of their league.

Which is certainly a backhanded compliment if I've ever heard one...

According to Know Your Meme, the phrase can be traced back to September 2023 and regularly does the rounds on social media, with the label also being applied to celebrities such as Sydney Sweeney, Madelyn Cline and an early noughties Avril Lavigne.

All people who, like Evelyn Smith, would be considered conventionally attractive rather than 'mid'.

The meme has understandably sparked backlash, as people pointed out that referring to women who are widely considered to be good-looking as 'mid' sets an unrealistic beauty standard.

One day you're sharing selfies on social media, the next you're the face of a viral meme (VSCO/@evelynsmithhhhh)

Because if this is what is considered 'average-looking', then the rest of us have no chance.

Who is Evelyn Smith – and what happened after her image went viral?

After finding notoriety as the face of the 'beautiful mid' girl discourse, Smith's image was again used for a second meme, this time being known as the 'Evelyn Smith smiling' or 'ultimate temptation' meme.

Examples of this include images of Smith alongside phrases such as 'How my car keys look when I drink three whiskeys on an empty stomach', 'How the next episode looks at me when it's already 3am and I also have work tomorrow', or 'How quitting my job, disappearing and travelling around the world looks at me at 10:21am on a random Monday'.

Recent images show that Smith has dyed her hair blonde, but otherwise there are few available details about her life (VSCO/@evelynsmithhhhh)

As for Smith herself, she's never publicly commented about the fact that she randomly became a viral internet sensation one day.

Although her VSCO account is still active and she has large followings on both Instagram and TikTok, Smith has shared very few details about her life online, with the majority of her account being selfies and lip-sync videos.

And that's how a young woman found herself joining the internet's viral fall-of-fame alongside the likes of 'Side-Eyeing Chloe', Charlie Bit My Finger, the 'Yes' baby and, more recently, the 6-7 kid.