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loneliness

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Hostingcore: The wholesome viral trend that's bringing back spontaneous hangs

"It’s about turning everyday moments into special occasions."

TikTok: @taskrabbit, @momentswithbella

A wholesome new trend all about connection.

It’s a lonely world out there. According to the February 2025 issue of The Atlantic, “Americans are spending less time with other people than in any other period for which we have trustworthy data, going back to 1965.” Bleak. They also report that “a growing number of public-health officials seem to regard loneliness as the developed world’s next public-health issue,” citing Vivek Murthy’s (Joe Biden’s surgeon general) 81-page warning about America’s ‘epidemic of loneliness,’ and the fact that Japan and the United Kingdom both have ministers for loneliness now.


@_sakhter Best friends of 20 years 🥹🌟🎀😚🤍 #hijabi #fyp #hosting #besties #friends #friendship ♬ original sound - xavier

However, there’s a new social media trend on the loose—a wholesome one that promises everything we seem to lack: connection with others, comfort, and immaculate vibes. Welcome to “Hostingcore,” the delightful movement that’s determined to bring people back together, one cozy gathering at a time. Design publication Veranda describes Hostingcore as “casual in nature,” but encourages you to see life through Nancy Meyers’ camera lens. Everything is romantic. You lay out place settings just because they’re pretty. Candles are lit for a sumptuous glow. There’s always a chilled bottle of wine in the fridge that’s a little nicer than it needs to be. “Hostingcore isn’t about being the perfect host,” they continue. “It’s about creating a thoughtful atmosphere and turning everyday moments into special occasions.

The loneliness problem is real

Did you know that 30% of all American adults—practically one third of us—feels lonely every single week? And that lacking social connection poses health risks as deadly as smoking up to 15 cigarettes per day? These scary statistics are perhaps why Hostingcore has gone so viral: by providing a template for having people over and entertaining friends, it makes the concept more accessible and less intimidating.

Also, there’s the financial aspect. For those looking to cut back on spending—but still want to see their friends—Hostingcore provides a space for genuine connection. This trend is all about celebrating simplicity, comfort, and good ol’ hospitality. Remember, your home is a place where memories have and will continue to be made, from an impromptu brunch or a late-night talk while making s'mores over the stove.


@taskrabbit Being the host with the most is so on trend. ✨ @cristina 🌸 knows. #hosting #dinnerparty #hometrends #2024trends ♬ original sound - Taskrabbit

There are even numbers to back up how much Hostingcore is transforming the way Americans connect. TaskRabbit’s 2024 report shows people aren’t just talking about this trend, they’re living it:

  • Interior design requests skyrocketed by 17%
  • Sleeper sofa installations doubled by 113%
  • Mood lighting inspirations soared 42%
  • Home bar set-ups surged 46%
  • Even party cleaning (+20%) and decluttering (+8%) enjoyed a small bump, as people across the country carefully crafted their safe havens and spaces with inviting atmospheres that guests never want to leave.


@savannahkbarry Good for the soul #salad #whitewine #girlsnight #hosting #hostingideas #cozyhome #cottagecore ♬ With You - Jessica Simpson


Let's connect

Ready to become a Hostingcore devotee? Start with these simple steps that will transform your home into a hygge oasis of your dreams:

  1. Stock up on essentials: Keep a lovely selection of snacks, beverages, and really quick meal options on hand. Think anything you’d want at a picnic: meats and cheeses for a charcuterie board, fresh vegetables and a nice dip (tzatziki, anyone?), fresh fruit, or finger sandwiches. For drinks, yes, a nice bottle of wine, spritzers, or beers are handy, but also consider non-alcoholic options like sparkling waters, tea, and mocktails.
  2. Create an inviting space: This is your home! You should enjoy being there, just as much as your guests do. Arrange furniture to encourage conversation and connection, like a breakfast nook or sitting area by the window. Have fun adding cozy touches, like an extra-soft throw blanket or ambient lighting.
  3. Let your personality shine: Make your space memorable with elements you truly love, like a playlist for a specific mood (YouTube’s always great for this. Try: “Calm songs for early mornings"). Maybe there’s an antique candle holder from a garage sale that can be put out, or a type of room spray you adore. Make your home uniquely yours.
  4. Don’t overthink it! It’s easy to fall into the trap of wanting to be the “perfect host.” Hostingcore isn’t about elaborate parties or constant hosting, it’s a simple toolkit for having people come over at the drop of a hat.


@momentswithbella ringing in 26 with my fave people 🎂🍾💌 #hostingideas #birthdaytheme #aginglikefine🍷 #birthdaygirl #cottagecore #birthdayaesthetic #winery #hostingera #birthdayideas #dinnerparty #girlsnightin #girlhood #barcartstyling #floralarrangements #gardenparty #citrusandsalt #floralgardenparty #citrustheme ♬ Can't Take My Eyes off You - Morten Harket


The best advice from the Barefoot Contessa

If you don’t know where to start, remember this hosting advice from celebrity chef and cookbook author, Ina Garten: “I usually make two or three [things] and buy the rest.” Hostingcore isn’t about showing off or burning yourself out: it’s about connecting with each other and cherishing those moments. In a world filled with distractions, Hostingcore can feel like a revolution. A radical choice to move toward connection, comfort, and celebration. Let’s do it together.

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Health

More people say that weekends feel 'different' and they'd rather stay home than go out.

Solitude might be the new normal. But perhaps it isn't serving us.

@christinakdub/TikTok, @thefriendshipexpert/TikTok (used with permission)

Not wanting to go out on the weekends could be a symptom of "learned loneliness"

Is your picture of an ideal weekend staying at home, noshing on snacks and television rather than actual peopling?

If the answer is yes, you’re not alone. Well, you might be physically, but not in your preference to be antisocial Friday through Sunday.

Recently, a woman named Christina Kwong admitted in a TikTok clip that weekends felt “different” now, that she was perfectly content with “a slice of cake and a maybe can of sparkling water” in lieu of going out.

She wondered if others felt the same, and whether this was just a result of getting older or some bigger phenomenon.

Kwong’s video got a huge response online which began a discussion about how habits built during the pandemic plus financial constraints were largely to blame.

"If I leave my house I spend at least 100 dollars," one viewer said. "Everything is so expensive it's not fun anymore."

Another wrote, “2020 made a lot of us really value the peace of being home, to which Kwong replied, “I think this is the core of it 💯.”

@christinakdub Anyone else just love to do nothing on weekends? Is it age? Or is everyone feeling this way? 😆 #weekendvibes #weekend #tired #fyp #gettingold #collective #friday #saturday #sunday ♬ original sound - Christina ✨ daily vlogs ✨

And perhaps this latter point isn’t all bad. In a discussion with Business Insider licensed clinical psychologist Yasmine Saad noted that while continued social isolation might be a coping mechanism to modern day anxieties, another factor is that people simply no longer feel social obligation the same way, and are more comfortable embracing “their preferred style of recharging.” Which, in many people’s cases, is of a more introverted nature.

While this might be true, Danielle Bayard Jackson, aka “The Friendship Expert” and author of "Fighting for Our Friendships," urges that the concept of “learned loneliness” shouldn’t be overlooked either.

Using data from a 2023 article in The Atlantic, Jackson listed off a slew of research findings showing that nearly 60% of people have not returned to pre-pandemic activities, remote work has tripled from 2019 to 2021 and that 35% of people say that socializing is less important to them.She then cited a report from the American Psychological Association saying that finances were the #1 source of stress for 2023.
@thefriendshipexpert #stitch with @Christina ✨ daily vlogs ✨ ♬ original sound - Danielle Bayard Jackson

Jackson acknowledged that all these factors causing folks to want to stay home were valid, but argued that just because this behavior is more common, “it doesn't make it good for you,” reiterating how countless studies show the direct impact social connectedness has on our well-being.

In essence, getting back into a healthy social habit is similar to re-adopting any healthy habit. There’s a period of resistance and discomfort before the benefits return.

Jackson then clarified that making meaningful social interactions doesn’t have to be getting drunk with friends on weekends, but rather getting involved in things that interest you, with people who energize you. Sometimes with close friends, sure. But other times, just community.

While there is a lot of nuance involved with this topic, and certainly no one-size-fits all solution, discernment and balance seems to be helpful tools. Knowing exactly why we might be saying no to weekend plans, plus making sure to round out our schedules with interactions that matter to us.

In other words, there’s nothing wrong with a Friday night filled with cake slices enjoyed in solitude now and then…but maybe not every night.

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Joy

The beautiful thing that happens in Amsterdam if you die and have no one to attend your funeral

The Lonely Funeral project was started by poet Frank Starik, who wrote, "Everyone—and this is the point—every person deserves respect."

Canva

Every life deserves to at least be acknowledged.

Funerals can be many things—a sombre mourning, a celebration of life, a time for family to honor a loved one—but one thing they should never be is unattended.

But the reality is that some people simply don’t have people. Maybe they’re estranged from their family and have outlived all their friends. Maybe they fell into a life of drug addiction and lost all of their close connections. Maybe no next of kin can be found or they just happen to die in a life stage when they have no one around to attend their funeral. Whatever the reason, some people's send-offs from earthly existence are purely legal affairs with no personal touches whatsoever.

Two decades ago, some poets in the Netherlands decided that was an unacceptable ending for a human life. In 2001, a poet named Bart Droog began attending the funerals of people who had no one to attend them and honoring the dead with a poem based on whatever was known about their life. A year later, Dutch poet and artist Frank Starik took the idea even further, launching The Lonely Funeral project to ensure that someone who cares consciously acknowledges the life of a person who has died.

The idea was to create a network of poets who would find out whatever they could about the person, write a custom poem about their life and read it at their funeral. As of 2018, over 300 "lonely funerals" had been attended by poets in Amsterdam and Antwerp (where Flemish poet Maarten Inghels launched a Lonely Funeral project seven years after Starik's).

The Lonely Funeral project has continued to expand to other countries as well. Scottish poet Andy Jackson has begun writing poems for "lonely funerals" and attending them in his hometown of Dundee and he hopes to expand the project to the rest of Scotland.

"I feel everybody deserves something humane at the end of life" he told the BBC. "Nobody should be completely unmourned. If we want to live in humane country these are little things we can do for people. It becomes the job of the community."

A natural question is how the poets know what to write if the person was all alone.

"They would have a passport, some details from the police or from social services, a photograph or some information about their life maybe," Jackson explained to the BBC. "Something that would give away something of who they were that a poet then could use to form the basis of a piece of work that would actually celebrate the real person—not somebody you couldn't identify."

Starik and Inghels have even published a book, The Lonely Funeral: Poets at the Gravesides of the Forgotten, which includes poems for 31 forgotten lives and descriptions of their funerals—a small piece of dignity offered to perfect strangers.

There's perhaps nothing more beautiful than the impulse to recognize someone simply for the sake of their humanity. It's a reminder that we are all connected in some way, even if it's just by the reality of life and death.

As Starik wrote in his preface to The Lonely Funeral: "We do not know to whom we say goodbye, so we feel no pain. But everyone—and this is the point—every person deserves respect."

Leave it to the poets to remind us of the inherent worth of every human being and to honor it with such a simple, selfless service.

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Pop Culture

Why 'weak ties' are more important than best friends, according to a friendship expert

There's more to life than besties.

@thefriendshipexpert/TikTok

Go say hello to an acquaintance today

What is the cure for loneliness?

One might be tempted to say close, intimate relationships. Which is true to a certain degree, but as counterintuitive as it may seem firsthand, those more distant friendships can be just as meaningful.

In fact, according to friendship coach Danielle Bayard Jackson, those in our outer circle can contribute even more to our happiness than our besties.

Bayard Jackson is a go-to source when it comes to creating healthy, fulfilling platonic friendships. Her advice has been featured in the “New York Times”, “Wall Street Journal,” “Washington Post” and “Psychology Today,” just to name a few.

Being an expert in the realm of close bonds, it might come as a surprise that Bayard Jackson touted the benefits of what she calls “weak ties” in a recent video posted to her TikTok page. But she brings up some great points.

"There are close friends, and then there are... acquaintances, associates," she explains. "The sociological term for people who are not our besties, but with whom we have, like, pleasant enough relationships is weak ties. Those are people who you enjoy, but who you see more infrequently and you have less intimacy with."

For example—coworkers, parents you only see at certain school functions, neighbors, maybe even classmates. The NPCs of your life, if you will. We might not consider these people close friends, but they still play a vital role to our wellbeing, Bayard Jackson attests.

"According to research, people with more weak ties are happier and are less likely to have depression,” she said, adding that people with a lot of weak ties have more access to resources and critical information needed to improve their life.

@thefriendshipexpert

The beauty of “weak ties”

♬ original sound - Danielle Bayard Jackson

Not only that, but those with a bigger friend circle receive a wider variety of perspectives, “making them feel like their world is bigger,” as well as affirmation for the “various aspects of their intersectional identities,” meaning they probably “feel seen” more often.

In other words—“close friends are not the only kind of relationships that offer value to your life.”

Some of the research Bayard Jackson alludes to might include that of sociologist Mark Granovetter, who first began pioneering the theory that weak ties could strengthen job opportunities, since they introduce new ideas and broaden one’s social network.

Subsequent studies on the subject have confirmed that, regardless of nationality or age, weak ties also help one feel a sense of belonging, and contribute to a sense of emotional well being.

It’s an interesting take, especially coming during a time when it might feel like weak ties are all we have, thanks to social media. After all, most of us are probably much more likely to comment on an audience's Instagram post than we are to actually call up a close friend to have an hour long in depth conversation.

via GIPHY

But it’s also undeniable that outside of the social media watering hole, our weak tie friendships might have severely dwindled during the pandemic, and have probably continued to go unfostered as we’ve navigated a shift towards working from home. Maybe this is partially due to the fact that we haven’t acknowledged how important they are.

It’s not often that quantity trumps quality, but this seems to be one of those rare cases. If we really want to start feeling less lonely, and a little bit better about ourselves, we might want to consider putting the effort into strengthening those weak ties. Luckily, it doens’t have to be that hard.

As Bayard Jackson suggests, "stop giving a stank face to your neighbors and your coworkers and those people who stand next to you at the dog park, and instead, I need you to start saying hello. Because it will be worth it."

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