“Social media is the empty calories of social interaction.”
-Mitch Prinstein, Chief Science Officer of the American Psychological Association
APA’s latest Stress in America survey is out, and as the subheading indicates, it’s a “crisis of connection.” Among more than 3,000 US adults, loneliness was the latest theme. At least 50% of participants indicated that at least some of the time, they feel left out or isolated from others.
It appears that part of the culprit is record-high rates of societal division. For those who indicated that societal division is a significant source of stress, rates of isolation and feeling a lack of companionship are noticeably higher. For those experiencing pervasive loneliness, the cost extends well beyond the social realm, and into areas such as future planning, decision-making, and not taking care of self or daily responsibilities.
But it’s not just division that’s driving the scourge of loneliness.
In 2017, Dr. Jean Twenge published an article entitled Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation? She noted certain trends that coincided with the launch of the iPhone in 2007, and its subsequent migration into the youth world. Among several striking patterns, 8th, 10th, and 12th graders were asked about the following statements: “I often feel left out of things” and “A lot of times I feel lonely.” The percentage of youth endorsing these statements across all three grade categories rose sharply from 2007 to 2015.
Now these youth are adults, and all indications are that their sense of loneliness is not going away. Not only are they realizing that social media can’t replace real human connection, but it’s also that so many young people are struggling with what to do when they are alone, even for a few seconds. The need for connection, reassurance, and entertainment is unsatiable.
Sherry Turkle is the author of Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other She is quoted as saying “loneliness is failed solitude.” While pervasive, undesired isolation is a serious concern, what Turkle and others have realized is that when we fail to see the opportunities that come with being alone, especially in silence, we will seek to artificially fill this space with all sorts of things that keep us from feeling alone (or bored). The value of solitude becomes lost even while the human need for it remains quite high. And then the lonelier we will become.
For more about the benefits and mechanisms of silence and solitude, see the following articles: https://james-schroeder.com/tag/silence/
