UK weighs forcing social media platforms to surface trusted news

Solo-maxxing: How tech taught Gen Z to monetise being alone

Solo-maxxing — the trend of deliberately maximising time alone and treating singlehood as a lifestyle goal — is examined as a symptom of how technology has commodified solitude. The term traces its roots from 1940s game theory through incel forums to mainstream TikTok culture. Young people are retreating from dating apps due to financial costs and emotional exhaustion, with Tinder losing 7% of paying users in 2024. Algorithms reward aestheticised loneliness content, pushing creators to brand themselves around permanent solitude. The deeper concern is that the same tech ecosystem that gamified intimacy now monetises the retreat from it — and is positioning AI companions as the next step. Regulatory responses like the EU AI Act, Digital Services Act, and US state-level AI companion laws are emerging but are seen as insufficient, since they address transparency rather than the deeper question of what happens to human connection when companionship becomes frictionless and on-demand.