"I Actually Have No Friends": After This Confession, 500,000 People Rushed In With Empathy

Young People Share “No-Friend” Daily Lives on Social Media
Number of UK Young Adults Reporting ‘Zero Close Friends’ Up Fivefold in a Decade
Expert: “Spaces for Chance Encounters Are Disappearing”

Instead of hiding the fact that they have no friends, more and more young people in the UK are choosing to share it publicly through videos.

According to The Guardian on September 12 (local time), phrases such as "Solo Max," "loneliness influencer," and "no-friends aesthetic" are spreading on social media platforms, accompanying content in which people share their solitary daily lives. Some videos tend to romanticize living alone, but others candidly reveal the reality of how difficult it is to make friends—forming a new style of communication that resonates with viewers.

"I don’t have a single friend" — 500,000 people watched the video

A video titled "I don’t have a single friend" that 22-year-old Tess Lavanda from London posted on YouTube a month ago has surpassed 500,000 views. Thousands of people have also commented on her other videos, such as "Living Alone in London," on Instagram, saying that they feel the same way. In an interview with The Guardian, Lavanda said, "I think people finally feel relieved that they can talk about this issue," and explained, "Because of a culture that treats being alone as something shameful or wrong, no one had the courage to speak about it."

A 22-year-old woman from the UK posted a video saying she has no friends. Tess Lavanda YouTube.

Lavanda originally had difficulty making friends, and her sense of isolation grew during the COVID-19 pandemic. One night, as she was about to go out alone and began to feel afraid, she turned on her camera, which marked the beginning of the video. "I expected to be criticized and bullied, but the response was overwhelmingly positive," she said. "I realized that so many people feel the same way I do."

According to the recent IPPR (Institute for Public Policy Research) report, "The Loneliest Generation," the proportion of 16- to 21-year-olds who said, "I don’t have a single close friend," increased from 1 in 100 in 2014 to 1 in 20 today. The percentage of people responding, "I have three or more close friends," and those satisfied with their current friendships, dropped. Avnhi Mozaria, deputy director at IPPR, said, "Children are not fragile. This is a rational reaction to the bleak world adults have left behind," and added, "Over the course of a generation experiencing austerity, the pandemic, and a digital revolution, the cost of finding a home and starting adult life has skyrocketed."

"Chance encounters and 'weak ties' have disappeared"

Photo to aid understanding of the article. Pixabay

Pamela Qualter, professor of educational psychology at the University of Manchester in the UK, pointed out that spaces to practice basic social skills have decreased. Professor Qualter stated, "We severely lack the small talk we used to have with people we’d bump into in daily life," adding, "With more people working from home and very few free or affordable places left to gather, disposable income has also declined." She explained that brief greetings exchanged at neighborhood shops, workplaces, or schools—so-called "weak ties"—are the foundation of deep friendships, but such connections have become scarce.

Manuela Barreto, professor of social and organizational psychology at the University of Exeter, said, "Everything—finding a job, buying a house—has become so difficult," explaining, "These hardships breed anxiety and can make people question whether they are worthy of being good friends."

The IPPR report also found that teenagers aged 15 to 17 spend about 6 hours and 30 minutes each day on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, and similar platforms. Jodie-Lee Foster, head of education and development at the youth organization UK Youth, noted that relationships formed through social media and group chat rooms can quickly turn into bullying, which can make teenagers even more withdrawn. Some teenagers said they cannot afford transportation costs to meet friends outside of school.

However, having few friends does not necessarily mean a person feels lonelier. The way the younger generation forms relationships and their expectations of friendship have changed, rather than the generation actually becoming more lonely. Professor Qualter suggested, "Perhaps our expectations for friendship are changing," and added, "People with fewer close friends may actually be more satisfied with that situation."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.