Viral ‘goodnight bro’ TikTok prank could save lives

While trends can go viral on social media for fun or specifically for a cause, this wholesome TikTok trend may just save some lives.

Some say it’s just a wholesome trend — others say it’s a cure for the male loneliness epidemic.

An adorable, new trend has bros — mostly Gen Z but all ages included — dialling up their fellow dudes just to say, “Good night.”

And the unexpectedly emotional reactions are tugging heartstrings on TikTok.

In one mega-viral clip with over 3 million views, user @mirandafaye01 filmed her husband dialling up a bud

“Hi — what’s up, man? … I’m about to go to bed, and I’m just calling you to tell you good night,” he says in the clip.

His friend, caught off guard, replies, “Why? Are you thinking of me for real?”

After the man sweetly says he loves him, the stunned pal answers: “God damn I love you too […] I don’t know what to say; you caught me off guard.”

Viewers were all in.

“Proof men need more platonic love in their lives,” one user commented. Another chimed in: “In all seriousness, this is how you fight the male loneliness epidemic, just be friends with each other.”

TikTokker @sydsacks joined the trend, posting a video of her fiance phoning his buddies to say good night, racking up 2.7 million views and a chorus of awwws.

One friend giggled, “What do you mean?” But when the caller doubled down, he replied warmly: “All right, man, well, good night. That’s really sweet of you. I hope you have a good night.”

The comments were glowing.

“NORMALISE THIS TYPE OF MALE BEHAVIOUR,” one wrote. Another rated it a “10/10” and called it “so wholesome.”

One even branded the bedtime bro-check a major “green flag.”

But this bedtime banter may be more than a viral joke — it could be tapping into a much deeper issue.

A phone call could make all the difference. Photo: istock

The husband of Tik Toker Miranda Faye was filmed calling his mates. Photo: TikTok

As The Post previously reported, a Gallup poll found that American men, especially Gen Z and millennials, are the loneliest people in the country.

One in four U.S. men under 35 report feeling isolated, compared to just 18 per cent of women in the same age group — and significantly more than their counterparts in countries like France and Canada.

“This is the coming to a head of a set of forces that have been in existence in boys’ and men’s lives for generations,” psychologist Michael Reichert told Fortune Well in a recent interview.

Justin Yong, a New York psychotherapist, told the outlet that many men are retreating into “toxic digital occupiers like gaming and porn” that “give this short term dopamine hit and relief that replaces real intimacy and acts as a barrier to being vulnerable to how they might be feeling.”

Loneliness has become an epidemic for men. Photo: istock

Another culprit? Masculine norms.

“The problem, of course,” Reichert added, “is that when they became less authentic, they alienated themselves from even their important relationships, feeling that they had to hide a part of themselves because the world didn’t want that from them … Beginning at age 4.”

“[Loneliness] transcends borders and is becoming a global public health concern affecting every facet of health, wellbeing and development,” Chido Mpemba, African Union Youth Envoy, previously told The Guardian.

Former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy echoed the urgency.

‘Given the profound health and societal consequences of loneliness and isolation, we have an obligation to make the same investments in rebuilding the social fabric of society that we have made in addressing other global health concerns, such as tobacco use, obesity and the addiction crisis,” he said in a previous statement.

Sometimes, a simple “Good night, bro” might be the first step.

This story first appeared in the New York Post and was republished with permission.