I think the way the internet has changed in the last decade has contributed to loneliness significantly.
10-15 years ago, the internet was full of small independent communities: message boards, IRC channels, chat rooms of all kinds, etc. You could really "hang out" with the same people and get to know them.
But something killed pretty much all of them. Instead we have centralized "social media" that is at best all about narcissism and self-promotion. Sites like Reddit where there is too many people and everyone converges to a single "hive-mind", you cannot have someone reply to an interesting post you made years ago, and that really take the humanity out of the whole thing (like Facebook or Tinder or what not). Even HN is problematic in this regard - it is good for the purpose it exists for, but you cannot have any sort of casual threads or discussions just to get any sort of rapport within the community.
Even messengers have somehow become worse in this regard. Yahoo/MSN messengers, ICQ etc. were somehow all about having connections with online friends. Maybe it is just me, but there just doesn't seem to be an option that works for this as well nowadays. Or at least people do not seem to use the existing options in the same way.
> message boards, IRC channels, chat rooms of all kinds, etc
> But something killed pretty much all of them.
Not in the least.
Interest-driven, channel-centric communities are alive and kicking, from IRC through Discord, Steam and other gaming communities, to Youtube/BitChute comment sections (nasty as they may be) and new meta-/platforms like Mastodon or Minds.com.
What has changed is the expanded version of Eternal September - influx of newcommers who join the ?book / ?gram / ?itter du jour, enjoy the interface candy and the occasional outrage, and are very slow to - or even fail to - explore the wider net of chats and other communities. It certainly doesn't help that media tend to paint all non-mainstream platforms as dark, scarry underbelly of the internet with nothing of value to offer, best to be avoided. [1]
The slow filtering in of new users into smaller communities is not even necessarily a bad thing, as quick influx of newcommers to interest communities can easily disrupt them to the point of derailing. The IRC and the likes being a cozy hangout where friendships are forged and projects are kicked off isn't based on a particular technical quirk of the IRC protocol or clients. It's all thanks to the established, cozy & social culture[2] being able to take in a certain amount of newcomers, guide them in and let them grow into part of the community. Moving too fast tends to break things.
[1] the smartphone is also partly to blame, as it's much less comfortable for extended back-and-forth conversations than a computer; IMO it's more of a prepackaged content consumption terminal. But that's a personal, debatable opinion.
I think this is a major factor why I'm afraid to leave my job and find something more fulfilling and better paying; at this moment, without my job and colleagues (and the light casual interactions I have during the day), my social life would be reduced to some online friends (who are lately only intermittently active themselves) and my cat. I'm sure I'd be able to rebuild, and it might even be a good development in the long run both socially and financially, but in the short term it'll be a problem.
But that's how it goes. Every time I (/ one) leaves their school or job or the place they live, most of the people you see daily will be out of your life completely. I'm not the type to really reach out like "hey you wanna hang out", but then apparently nobody else is either so idk if it's just me.
A crucial thing to do as you pass out of your 20's is to figure out a mechanism to regularly get together with the people in your life. It's simple stuff, like throwing a monthly happy hour, or dinner parties, or a yearly camping trip, or whatever. The details don't really matter that much, they should match who you are.
Invite all the people you'd really like to see and stay in touch with. And an important point, don't worry about it. Many times people won't be able to come, or won't care, or will drop out for awhile and return, or who knows.
That's not important, and it's really important to dispense with the anxiety that comes from being a host, worrying about if people will like it, if they'll like you, if they're happy, if enough people are coming, all that. Don't worry about that part, the point is just to have some kind of reference point and the ability to reach out to people and say hey let's stay in contact in the real world.
A lot of people let this slip, and end up ten years later surrounded exclusively by people they connect to through work or parenting, plus occasional family. That's a mistake in my opinion.
"I'm not the type to really reach out like "hey you wanna hang out"
Me neither, but after my 30s I learned the value of actively cultivating some relationships with I people like, but that are no longer part of my daily life.
WhatsApp helped tremmendly with that, btw. But I say really inviting people to physical world activities like dinners or movies (my kind of thing) and I try to never miss when someone of these people invite me to a barbecue in their houses (my place is too small to invite more than 4 people).
I also have a group of friends who decided recently to meet monthly for a breakfast. Fortunately, there is one person that leads the gathering, but I always make sure to be present and help/support him when he is making this effort.
I also know exactly who are the people that I want to actively cultivate and those who I'm fine meeting whenever life decides.
These important people are not just the closest one. Of course there is a very close group of people. But the trick is that among the people that are not that close, the "second social circle" so to speak, I actively try to keep closer to those that are very good people, with good hearts and with whom I have a healthy relationship (i.e. the ones you feel happy after meeting, not guilty, or exhausted, or drained, or whatever level of toxicity there is).
Edit: this is important because this is not correlated (maybe it is even negatively correlated) to the people that are most fun to hang out, the extrovert, funny, adventurous, cool ones. A good heart and genuine care about people beats all that. Even when it comes combined with "boring"
Learn to reach out to hang out to good people. It will improve a lot you life quality.
Find something in common - for me is usually superhero movies. It is something that both of us will want to do, it is nice to do together and help a lot for introverts as there is not that pressure to keep talking interesting/funny things like dinners. Two hours without any conversation and still brings people closer, after the movie for a burger, there is a natural subject to fill the conversation (the movie).
I think a co-student left to open a bakery. It's not a quantitatively better job, you probably spend more time and earn less, but I could clearly see the benefits: lovely environment, family mood (serving kids, family cakes, bread); better colleague relationships; lack of useless work structure (project management, technology debt etc); lack of ideology ..
Taking the leap may force you to be more sociable.
Or it might lead to an even quieter, more introverted life. This can go both ways.
Definitely trying to make friends outside of work is good. I can count on the fingers of ... well two fingers the number of actual stay-in-touch-outside-of-work friends I've made in the workplace in the last 18 years.
You might want to go out more then, and try to connect with people over shared activities and interests.
The people you work with generally are not friends -- while I've met interesting and nice people over the years in a professional context, it's not common for me to find those relationships meaningful.
How about hobbies and activities? Best place to meet new friends and make relationships which won't be affected by any change in your professional life.
Being old and lonely / alone is really terrifying.
> Jack still misses his late wife desperately. [...] "The weekend is a dismal time," says Jack. "The time can drag. I don't have any friends because all my friends are dead. All the ladies I loved are dead. At this age nearly everybody is dead - except me. I'm still here at 96-and-a-half."
And intimacy is superficial when the other is just an account on some social website. It's very easy to ignore the plight of the other, or tune out to more entertaining things.
And intimacy is superficial when the other is just an account on some social website. It's very easy to ignore the plight of the other, or tune out to more entertaining things.
Sure, it can be. Or it might be the opposite. I met my spouse playing some random online game. I moved across an ocean a few years after we met, and I'm still happy 5 years later. I have had friendships that are just as meaningful as the in-person friendships I've had.
The only time it isn't possible to tune out the plight of others is when the others live with you. Even then, there are ways.
Proposed definition: Loneliness is needing some kind of interaction from other people, and not getting it.
Proposed understanding: People likely need to have enough of each of several different kinds of interaction (analogy: nutrients), and different people need different amounts of them. Kinds of interaction that at least some people need probably include: intellectual, sharing of problems, "merely seeing another human's face", romantic, sexual, sharing of hobbies/interests...
I believe that loneliness comes from lacking people that are emotionally invested in you. The strongest bonds and closest relationships people tend to have are family (blood and marriage), which often come with a high cost to sever. The easier it is to walk away, the more superficial the relationship. Loneliness is a realization (or fear) that nobody is there when you need them.
It isn't a modern problem, but modern life seems to be exacerbating it.
Above a certain age, you need to make a determined effort to meet new friends. My partner and I both work freelance, and so we are aware of the potential to cloister up, particularly in a cold eastern European winter. So we make definite effort to meet new people, go for drinks or dinner, and maintain and develop such friendships and give them a chance.
I've wondered about this a lot. I don't think our generation (I'm assuming most of us are millenials) operates in this regard in the way even our parents did and other than the prevalence of social media and possibly because of more diverse demographics, I can't really understand why that is.
Why do we suddenly get very inward-looking in our 30s when it comes to forming new friendships, especially among the more affluent?
Finding a good neighborhood helps a lot with this.
We've made more friends in a couple years in the suburbs than the 8 we lived in SF. We know everyone on our block. We all go out after work so people's kids can play with eachother in our street - even people without kids come out to chat about things. People invite others over to BBQ. And so on.
Now when I think about it, I spend a lot of my time alone. I lived alone from 17 to 37, I parted ways with my only true friend when I was 24… yet I do not recall being horribly lonely.
And I think people should learn to spend more time alone and, most important, undistracted. It looks like many are afraid ot the silence, or the voices from within they'd hear if they are alone and in silence. Forget your headphones (and maybe phone too) and go for a half-days walk. You may find something interesting even without going to the new places.
" And I think people should learn to spend more time alone and, most important, undistracted. It looks like many are afraid ot the silence, or the voices from within they'd hear if they are alone and in silence."
I am totally guilty of this. I really just can't sit in a silent environment without going crazy. At least need music. My GF and I broke up after a 2yr long relationship, having shared an apartment. She left and moved to a different city, coming home to an empty place after a long day at work was a bit too much sometimes, especially during the weekends. So when the contract ended I actually moved into a house share, where I like the company, there is usually someone always around.
I am 35 and have never ever lived in a place by myself, apart from when I was in a relationship or something.
I still have my IRC friends. That might sound sad to you, dear reader, but the bonds are strong.
We've gone through life together. Being primarily online means I can "uproot" and move anywhere. Sure, I miss going and having a beer or a hackathon, but flights are fairly cheap so we can do it once a while and those interactions are actually better for that.
I am super lucky to have what amounts to a social group that's been around 15+ years. I wonder if this level of interaction is enough for everyone or if I'll have some weird breakdown in 5 years.
Scream. Express yourself. That's how you get out of loneliness. It's awkward if not painful for many (including me) but based on my own experience that's how you solve it.
In my view, a significant factor in people feeling lonely is due to the unwillingness of most to reach out to others. Many people, and in my experience younger ones more than older, are waiting to be approached, queried, interviewed, prompted. I think there's a failure to realize that most people have good intent, and would be willing to help out with advice and opinion, but this opportunity is rarely exploited.
Some of the loneliest people are those faces you see on television. Some of them have no real friends even though they are mixing it with the celebrity famous types and have adoring fans. In reality they might have their parents and that is it for support, then those parents might be the pushy types that wanted superstar kids so not the best type of loving parents.
This absence and loneliness is hard to imagine given the public persona. Seemingly they have it all. But, after the studio lights go down they get bundled off into a taxi, to get driven home. Meanwhile the rest of the production crew pack up and go to the pub because 'it is a wrap'.
The production crew will also be professional in that they will respect the 'talent' (people in front of camera are 'talent') and not make clumsy, unprofessional advances. This is not always the case, in Hollywood women are still expected to sleep with the producer or director to keep getting the roles, however, this is the exception, your average lighting engineer or sound guy will have nothing but professional respect.
These lonely stars of TV also don't really relate to their fans, it is a different world they work in and know. It is also a one-way relationship, a fan may know everything about the lonely 'star' but the 'star' will know nothing of the fan's life. So sometimes you do get major 'A list' celebrities types hitching their wagon to some member of the crew who can relate to them.
Because of how TV gigs are freelance there is also no feeling for the 'talent' that they are part of a company thing. They are just hired for the day, with no continuity. They also might have to spend half their time on location or living in hotels, in this way they end up with no community and don't know their neighbours.
Then youth gets extinguished and the wrinkles set in... So then the gigs are few and far between. Life becomes a struggle.
Think of how many celebrity types from TV and music die horrifically alone. Or with a substance abuse problem for company. It happens all the time. Despite the millions of fans they can end up knowing nobody with nobody to trust.
Margaret Thatcher died as a very lonely woman, yet once their was a time when the world would hang on her every word, albeit to probably hate her. Her family didn't care, however, due to being a former Prime Minister she did have police protection until the bitter end. Yet nobody could even be bothered to throw insults at her, and, as every narcissist knows, hate is at least 'attention'. She wasn't even getting that during her final days, a cruel and unusual punishment. Tony Blair is probably in the same predicament, I found his autobiography at the local tip the other day and I am sure that is indicative of how people feel about the 'once great man'.
At the other end of the scale are people that work and live in a small community, e.g. village sized, know everyone, have lovely family, a life long partner and not a lot of material riches. These are some of the happiest and least lonely people in the world. They might not have got very far, e.g. to spend their working life as a local builder, they might not know anyone famous and yet they have all the ingredients for the rewarding life that eludes those faces on TV that seem to have it all.
In an age when everyone seeks superstardom - 'get rich or die trying' - the local folk that 'did not get very far' are having the last laugh.
welcome to the modern world! the media and other influences have done a great job in driving a wedge between all different types of people to the point that were all barely able to communicate let alone socialise or possibly make friends
> There is a common stereotype that loneliness mainly strikes older, isolated people - and of course it can, and does. But the BBC survey found even higher levels of loneliness among younger people, and this pattern was the same in every country.
> It's tempting to conclude that something about modern life is putting young people at a higher risk of loneliness, but when we asked older people in our survey about the loneliest times in their lives, they also said it was when they were young.
> There are several reasons why younger people might feel lonelier. The years between 16 and 24 are often a time of transition where people move home, build their identities and try to find new friends.
> Meanwhile, they've not had the chance to experience loneliness as something temporary, useful even, prompting us to find new friends or rekindle old friendships - 41% of people believe that loneliness can sometimes be a positive experience.
[+] [-] a008t|7 years ago|reply
10-15 years ago, the internet was full of small independent communities: message boards, IRC channels, chat rooms of all kinds, etc. You could really "hang out" with the same people and get to know them.
But something killed pretty much all of them. Instead we have centralized "social media" that is at best all about narcissism and self-promotion. Sites like Reddit where there is too many people and everyone converges to a single "hive-mind", you cannot have someone reply to an interesting post you made years ago, and that really take the humanity out of the whole thing (like Facebook or Tinder or what not). Even HN is problematic in this regard - it is good for the purpose it exists for, but you cannot have any sort of casual threads or discussions just to get any sort of rapport within the community.
Even messengers have somehow become worse in this regard. Yahoo/MSN messengers, ICQ etc. were somehow all about having connections with online friends. Maybe it is just me, but there just doesn't seem to be an option that works for this as well nowadays. Or at least people do not seem to use the existing options in the same way.
[+] [-] dexen|7 years ago|reply
> But something killed pretty much all of them.
Not in the least.
Interest-driven, channel-centric communities are alive and kicking, from IRC through Discord, Steam and other gaming communities, to Youtube/BitChute comment sections (nasty as they may be) and new meta-/platforms like Mastodon or Minds.com.
What has changed is the expanded version of Eternal September - influx of newcommers who join the ?book / ?gram / ?itter du jour, enjoy the interface candy and the occasional outrage, and are very slow to - or even fail to - explore the wider net of chats and other communities. It certainly doesn't help that media tend to paint all non-mainstream platforms as dark, scarry underbelly of the internet with nothing of value to offer, best to be avoided. [1]
The slow filtering in of new users into smaller communities is not even necessarily a bad thing, as quick influx of newcommers to interest communities can easily disrupt them to the point of derailing. The IRC and the likes being a cozy hangout where friendships are forged and projects are kicked off isn't based on a particular technical quirk of the IRC protocol or clients. It's all thanks to the established, cozy & social culture[2] being able to take in a certain amount of newcomers, guide them in and let them grow into part of the community. Moving too fast tends to break things.
[1] the smartphone is also partly to blame, as it's much less comfortable for extended back-and-forth conversations than a computer; IMO it's more of a prepackaged content consumption terminal. But that's a personal, debatable opinion.
[2] certain glaring exceptions notwithstanding
[+] [-] Cthulhu_|7 years ago|reply
But that's how it goes. Every time I (/ one) leaves their school or job or the place they live, most of the people you see daily will be out of your life completely. I'm not the type to really reach out like "hey you wanna hang out", but then apparently nobody else is either so idk if it's just me.
[+] [-] CPLX|7 years ago|reply
Invite all the people you'd really like to see and stay in touch with. And an important point, don't worry about it. Many times people won't be able to come, or won't care, or will drop out for awhile and return, or who knows.
That's not important, and it's really important to dispense with the anxiety that comes from being a host, worrying about if people will like it, if they'll like you, if they're happy, if enough people are coming, all that. Don't worry about that part, the point is just to have some kind of reference point and the ability to reach out to people and say hey let's stay in contact in the real world.
A lot of people let this slip, and end up ten years later surrounded exclusively by people they connect to through work or parenting, plus occasional family. That's a mistake in my opinion.
[+] [-] soneca|7 years ago|reply
Me neither, but after my 30s I learned the value of actively cultivating some relationships with I people like, but that are no longer part of my daily life.
WhatsApp helped tremmendly with that, btw. But I say really inviting people to physical world activities like dinners or movies (my kind of thing) and I try to never miss when someone of these people invite me to a barbecue in their houses (my place is too small to invite more than 4 people).
I also have a group of friends who decided recently to meet monthly for a breakfast. Fortunately, there is one person that leads the gathering, but I always make sure to be present and help/support him when he is making this effort.
I also know exactly who are the people that I want to actively cultivate and those who I'm fine meeting whenever life decides.
These important people are not just the closest one. Of course there is a very close group of people. But the trick is that among the people that are not that close, the "second social circle" so to speak, I actively try to keep closer to those that are very good people, with good hearts and with whom I have a healthy relationship (i.e. the ones you feel happy after meeting, not guilty, or exhausted, or drained, or whatever level of toxicity there is). Edit: this is important because this is not correlated (maybe it is even negatively correlated) to the people that are most fun to hang out, the extrovert, funny, adventurous, cool ones. A good heart and genuine care about people beats all that. Even when it comes combined with "boring"
Learn to reach out to hang out to good people. It will improve a lot you life quality.
Find something in common - for me is usually superhero movies. It is something that both of us will want to do, it is nice to do together and help a lot for introverts as there is not that pressure to keep talking interesting/funny things like dinners. Two hours without any conversation and still brings people closer, after the movie for a burger, there is a natural subject to fill the conversation (the movie).
[+] [-] agumonkey|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Nursie|7 years ago|reply
Or it might lead to an even quieter, more introverted life. This can go both ways.
Definitely trying to make friends outside of work is good. I can count on the fingers of ... well two fingers the number of actual stay-in-touch-outside-of-work friends I've made in the workplace in the last 18 years.
[+] [-] charlesdm|7 years ago|reply
The people you work with generally are not friends -- while I've met interesting and nice people over the years in a professional context, it's not common for me to find those relationships meaningful.
[+] [-] elorant|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] yaps8|7 years ago|reply
> Jack still misses his late wife desperately. [...] "The weekend is a dismal time," says Jack. "The time can drag. I don't have any friends because all my friends are dead. All the ladies I loved are dead. At this age nearly everybody is dead - except me. I'm still here at 96-and-a-half."
[+] [-] AnIdiotOnTheNet|7 years ago|reply
...is it? I don't know, maybe I'm too used to being alone, maybe I just have too much imagination, but that doesn't seem all that terrifying at all.
[+] [-] stephengillie|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] coldtea|7 years ago|reply
And intimacy is superficial when the other is just an account on some social website. It's very easy to ignore the plight of the other, or tune out to more entertaining things.
[+] [-] dagw|7 years ago|reply
This is far too sweeping a generalization. Some of the most intimate and trusting relationships I've ever formed where with people I met on Usenet.
[+] [-] Broken_Hippo|7 years ago|reply
Sure, it can be. Or it might be the opposite. I met my spouse playing some random online game. I moved across an ocean a few years after we met, and I'm still happy 5 years later. I have had friendships that are just as meaningful as the in-person friendships I've had.
The only time it isn't possible to tune out the plight of others is when the others live with you. Even then, there are ways.
[+] [-] code_duck|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] waterhouse|7 years ago|reply
Proposed understanding: People likely need to have enough of each of several different kinds of interaction (analogy: nutrients), and different people need different amounts of them. Kinds of interaction that at least some people need probably include: intellectual, sharing of problems, "merely seeing another human's face", romantic, sexual, sharing of hobbies/interests...
[+] [-] tcbawo|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Hard_Space|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hd4|7 years ago|reply
I've wondered about this a lot. I don't think our generation (I'm assuming most of us are millenials) operates in this regard in the way even our parents did and other than the prevalence of social media and possibly because of more diverse demographics, I can't really understand why that is.
Why do we suddenly get very inward-looking in our 30s when it comes to forming new friendships, especially among the more affluent?
[+] [-] sbov|7 years ago|reply
We've made more friends in a couple years in the suburbs than the 8 we lived in SF. We know everyone on our block. We all go out after work so people's kids can play with eachother in our street - even people without kids come out to chat about things. People invite others over to BBQ. And so on.
[+] [-] rimliu|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] umichguy|7 years ago|reply
I am totally guilty of this. I really just can't sit in a silent environment without going crazy. At least need music. My GF and I broke up after a 2yr long relationship, having shared an apartment. She left and moved to a different city, coming home to an empty place after a long day at work was a bit too much sometimes, especially during the weekends. So when the contract ended I actually moved into a house share, where I like the company, there is usually someone always around.
I am 35 and have never ever lived in a place by myself, apart from when I was in a relationship or something.
[+] [-] dijit|7 years ago|reply
We've gone through life together. Being primarily online means I can "uproot" and move anywhere. Sure, I miss going and having a beer or a hackathon, but flights are fairly cheap so we can do it once a while and those interactions are actually better for that.
I am super lucky to have what amounts to a social group that's been around 15+ years. I wonder if this level of interaction is enough for everyone or if I'll have some weird breakdown in 5 years.
[+] [-] agumonkey|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] havetocharge|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] trippypig|7 years ago|reply
said hello to me today
she mustn't have been
four years old
not yet old enough
to be scared
of an old hobo
sitting on a bench
levity for my worn soul
a barrel fire
in blast winter cold
so rare to feel something real
i smiled a lot as a child
i remember ms gibson
her jocular bellow
‘ain't startin' this class
‘til that boy stops smiling’
the same ms gibson
who said
seriously this time
‘y’all poor, all of youse’
‘y’all ain’t amount to nothin’
i guess she knew
a teacher's clairvoyance
look at me now:
a hobo sitting on a bench
how did i get here?
how can i be so alone?
that a small child's hello
could move me so?
[+] [-] unknown|7 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] Theodores|7 years ago|reply
This absence and loneliness is hard to imagine given the public persona. Seemingly they have it all. But, after the studio lights go down they get bundled off into a taxi, to get driven home. Meanwhile the rest of the production crew pack up and go to the pub because 'it is a wrap'.
The production crew will also be professional in that they will respect the 'talent' (people in front of camera are 'talent') and not make clumsy, unprofessional advances. This is not always the case, in Hollywood women are still expected to sleep with the producer or director to keep getting the roles, however, this is the exception, your average lighting engineer or sound guy will have nothing but professional respect.
These lonely stars of TV also don't really relate to their fans, it is a different world they work in and know. It is also a one-way relationship, a fan may know everything about the lonely 'star' but the 'star' will know nothing of the fan's life. So sometimes you do get major 'A list' celebrities types hitching their wagon to some member of the crew who can relate to them.
Because of how TV gigs are freelance there is also no feeling for the 'talent' that they are part of a company thing. They are just hired for the day, with no continuity. They also might have to spend half their time on location or living in hotels, in this way they end up with no community and don't know their neighbours.
Then youth gets extinguished and the wrinkles set in... So then the gigs are few and far between. Life becomes a struggle.
Think of how many celebrity types from TV and music die horrifically alone. Or with a substance abuse problem for company. It happens all the time. Despite the millions of fans they can end up knowing nobody with nobody to trust.
Margaret Thatcher died as a very lonely woman, yet once their was a time when the world would hang on her every word, albeit to probably hate her. Her family didn't care, however, due to being a former Prime Minister she did have police protection until the bitter end. Yet nobody could even be bothered to throw insults at her, and, as every narcissist knows, hate is at least 'attention'. She wasn't even getting that during her final days, a cruel and unusual punishment. Tony Blair is probably in the same predicament, I found his autobiography at the local tip the other day and I am sure that is indicative of how people feel about the 'once great man'.
At the other end of the scale are people that work and live in a small community, e.g. village sized, know everyone, have lovely family, a life long partner and not a lot of material riches. These are some of the happiest and least lonely people in the world. They might not have got very far, e.g. to spend their working life as a local builder, they might not know anyone famous and yet they have all the ingredients for the rewarding life that eludes those faces on TV that seem to have it all.
In an age when everyone seeks superstardom - 'get rich or die trying' - the local folk that 'did not get very far' are having the last laugh.
[+] [-] gaspoweredcat|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] yaps8|7 years ago|reply
> There is a common stereotype that loneliness mainly strikes older, isolated people - and of course it can, and does. But the BBC survey found even higher levels of loneliness among younger people, and this pattern was the same in every country.
> It's tempting to conclude that something about modern life is putting young people at a higher risk of loneliness, but when we asked older people in our survey about the loneliest times in their lives, they also said it was when they were young.
> There are several reasons why younger people might feel lonelier. The years between 16 and 24 are often a time of transition where people move home, build their identities and try to find new friends.
> Meanwhile, they've not had the chance to experience loneliness as something temporary, useful even, prompting us to find new friends or rekindle old friendships - 41% of people believe that loneliness can sometimes be a positive experience.
[+] [-] cyborgx7|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tasticanal|7 years ago|reply