We already watch other people watching the telly, but now our appetite for the mundane seems to have extended to watching other people eat. The increasing popularity of ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response) videos, in which people listen to pleasing noises that act as sedatives (like the sound of someone eating a raw cauliflower) and “mukbang” – a combination of muok-da (the Korean word for eating) with bang song (Korean for broadcast) – have seen millions tuning in to YouTube videos to watch people eat. But are these online food communities just another short-lived fad, or could they have wider implications for the way we socialise?
While eating a meal has traditionally been a communal affair, eating alone is becoming increasingly common as the number of single-person households grows. The government predicts the number of single-occupant households will reach 1.7 million in England by 2039. Is mukbang a symptom of our growing loneliness? “Loneliness is such a personal experience, so it is difficult to say either way,” says Alice Stride, a spokeswoman for the Campaign to End Loneliness. “It might bring someone great comfort to watch someone else prepare a meal and eat it, especially if they have been living on their own for a long time.”
Continue reading...