Your Loneliness Was a Design Decision Made by Your Enemy

We've Lost the Spaces That Foster Friendship

We keep offering individual fixes for loneliness while ignoring the disappearance of the spaces where adults once built real relationships.

Loneliness epidemic

The concept of a "loneliness epidemic" relating to rising rates of social isolation was first described in the 2000s. Robert D. Putnam's 2000 study Bowling Alone was an early instance of describing loneliness as an epidemic, arguing that decreased participation in civic life and community groups was weakening social bonds in the United States.[5]

What is Causing Our Epidemic of Loneliness and How Can We Fix It?

Researchers share what Americans have to say about social disconnection and potential solutions

The Well of Loneliness

Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9781840224559 Stephen …

Why Your Social Capital is Probably Worthless

In 1973, sociologist Mark Granovetter published one of the most influential papers in social network theory. "The Strength of Weak Ties" demonstrated something counterintuitive: when it comes to finding jobs and opportunities, your casual acquaintances are often more valuable than your close friends. This makes perfect sense when you think

The loneliest generation: What it is like to grow up in England today | IPPR

A connected society is one in which we care about how others are doing and, in turn, others look out for our wellbeing. It is the state and public services

The Friendship Dip

The loneliest decades are not what you think they are

Automated Intimacy

This isn’t capitalism’s first loneliness epidemic. But in the 21st century, relationship simulators like Replika are here with the solution: your very own AI lover.

Solitude and Leadership - The American Scholar

If you want others to follow, learn to be alone with your thoughts

You have more ways to connect than ever, but deep friendship feels hard to find – here’s how to build better connections

Despite being more connected than any previous generation, many young people report struggling to build friendships that provide a genuine sense of closeness.

Loneliness in the United States: A 2018 National Panel Survey of Demographic, Structural, Cognitive, and Behavioral Characteristics

Purpose: To inform health behavior intervention design, we sought to quantify loneliness and its correlates, including social media use, among adults in the United States. Design: Cross-sectional research panel questionnaire. Setting: Responses were gathered from individuals in all 50 states surveyed via Internet from February 2018 to March 2018. Participants: A total of 20 096 US panel respondents aged 18+. Measures: The University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) Loneliness Scale (theoretical score range = 20-80) was administered along with demographic, structural, cognitive, and behavioral items. Analysis: After calibrating the sample to population norms, we conducted multivariable linear regression analysis. Results: The overall mean survey-weighted loneliness score was 44.03 (standard error = 0.09). Social support (standardized β [sβ] = −0.19) and meaningful daily interactions (sβ = −0.14) had the strongest associations with lower loneliness, along with reporting good relationships, family life, physical and mental health, friendships, greater age, being in a couple, and balancing one’s daily time. Social anxiety was most strongly associated with greater loneliness (sβ = +0.20), followed by self-reported social media overuse (sβ = +0.05) and daily use of text-based social media (sβ = +0.03). Conclusion: Our findings confirm that loneliness decreases with age, and that being in a relationship as well as everyday behavioral factors in people’s control are most strongly related to loneliness. Population health promotion efforts to reduce loneliness should focus on improving social support, decreasing social anxiety, and promoting healthy daily behaviors.