It was 2023 when I noticed a new vein of video content appearing in my social media feed. Influencers, largely women, had begun placing their phone somewhere innocuous (a bookshelf, a desk, a dresser), only to document their daily routine beneath the imposed catchphrase, “Get Ready With Me.”

Often of a morning, with sleep still in my eyes, I’d gaze blankly at my phone screen while a woman “got ready”, be it by rubbing her cheeks vigorously with tinted moisturiser, delicately placing a handful of berries in her smoothie bowl, or sitting demurely at a tram-stop, waiting for her ride to arrive. GRWM videos, as they’re commonly known, kicked off on TikTok last year, with The Associated Press reporting the trend amassed “over 150 billion views” in 2023 alone.

Influencer Alix Earle has amassed a following of millions on TikTok and Instagram, largely by documenting her routines.Credit: Instagram

“With me” content has become increasingly popular over the past decade and social media users have long documented themselves engaging in a mixed bag of monotonous rituals and activities. If you know where to look, and you know what you’re after, you can study, cook, eat, clean, meditate, bathe, paint, dance or read “with” someone in a single click. And millions do.

Deliberately understated by........

© The Age