It didn’t used to be. At least for me and i don’t recall constantly seeing posts on social media about how lonely and sad everyone was or how to make friends. Now every other magazine article is about how lonely everyone is, nobody gets together, and gen Z doesn’t socialize, drink, or have sex.
Why is there such an epidemic of loneliness and why are people content to be lonely rather than socialize?
Why is so hard to connect? Because people having nothing in common anymore? I used to connect with people over books, movies, hobbies, etc. But now it feels increasingly hard to do that. Most folks I meet don’t care about any of that, they just mostly complain about their lives to you or go on political rants about how unfair the world is.
My friends and my dates no longer seem to watch films, or do much of anything other than spend time on social media? I dont’ use social media so I’m pretty ignorant of it all.
That’s probably the main difference. I spend like 20 minutes a day on lemmy and that’s it. I used to be very active on TikTok and Reddit. Went from a depressed and anxious mess to having a job and being happy and outgoing basically by focusing on what’s in front of me rather than what’s on my screen. Many people stay in their defeatist echo chambers and that’s the only reality they engage with. There are plenty of reasons to be worried but the thing is there always are. Life, society, family and so on have always been fragile. All you can do is enjoy what you have in this very moment.
good for you man. i tried tiktok. a few years ago but i just… i didn’t understand it. it’s so stupid and repetitive and dumb. i find the experience of it very frustrating as it has zero point or redeeming value.
i used to use instagram but i gave up when it became nothing but ads. it was really cool in the 2010s when it was just your friends
i spend most of my free time reading, playing games, and doing outdoor activities. I also like to go to museums, music shows, etc. and i often go out without my phone.