Being prone to doomscrolling as much as the next phone addict, I sometimes click on reels that I find genuinely baffling. I recently clicked on one called Living Alone in Japan. The half-hour long video followed a young woman as she got out of bed, did her skincare routine, made breakfast, tidied up an already pristine apartment and left for work. Watching paint dry ought to count as a fun time in comparison, and yet the video was oddly compelling.

It had thousands of views. While it was less obviously weird than the ones of that guy called Clavicular – the one who adds “-maxxing” to every second noun and taps his face with a hammer to improve his looks – it was still odd.

Turns out that I am, yet again, late to the party. Living-alone diaries, from people variously known as loneliness influencers, solitude-maxxers (complete with the unnecessary extra x) or solo-daters, are a huge trend among young women. (Men prefer the hammer-tapper, another illustration of the great gender divide.)

I thought influencers existed to flog aspirational content, whether it be insanely overpriced skincare, make-up or breakfasts with 400 grammes of protein. But those posting living-alone diaries everywhere from New York City to Brighton are selling loneliness as a lifestyle.

A new-build home in Mayo: ‘We left two six-figure jobs in Florida to come to Ireland with no plan’

Keir Starmer expected to announce departure as British prime minister on Monday

Met Éireann forecasts temperatures of up to 30 degrees in Ireland due to heat........

© The Irish Times