Archives
June 2006
6/30/06
6/30/06
6/30/06
6/30/06
6/30/06
6/29/06
6/29/06
6/29/06
6/29/06
6/29/06
6/28/06
6/28/06
6/28/06
6/28/06
6/28/06
6/27/06
6/27/06
6/27/06
6/27/06
6/27/06
6/26/06
6/26/06
6/26/06
6/26/06
6/26/06
6/25/06
6/25/06
6/24/06
6/24/06
6/23/06
6/23/06
6/23/06
Feeling Alone
6/23/06
6/23/06
6/22/06
6/22/06
6/22/06
6/22/06
6/22/06
6/22/06
6/21/06
6/21/06
6/21/06
6/21/06
6/20/06
6/20/06
6/20/06
6/20/06
6/20/06
6/19/06
6/19/06
6/19/06
6/19/06
6/19/06
6/18/06
6/18/06
6/17/06
6/17/06
6/16/06
6/16/06
6/16/06
6/16/06
6/16/06
6/15/06
6/15/06
6/15/06
6/15/06
6/15/06
6/14/06
6/14/06
6/14/06
6/14/06
6/14/06
6/13/06
6/13/06
6/13/06
6/13/06
6/13/06
6/12/06
6/12/06
6/12/06
6/12/06
6/12/06
6/12/06
6/11/06
6/11/06
6/10/06
6/10/06
6/9/06
6/9/06
6/9/06
6/9/06
6/9/06
6/8/06
6/8/06
6/8/06
6/8/06
6/8/06
6/7/06
6/7/06
6/7/06
6/7/06
6/7/06
6/6/06
6/6/06
6/6/06
6/6/06
6/6/06
6/5/06
6/5/06
6/5/06
6/5/06
6/5/06
6/4/06
6/4/06
6/3/06
6/3/06
6/2/06
6/2/06
6/2/06
6/2/06
6/2/06
6/1/06
6/1/06
6/1/06
6/1/06
6/1/06
Friday, June 23, 2006
4:53:00 PM EDT
Hearing One -- U2
This is an interesting, if more than vaguely depressing, story:
Social Isolation Growing in U.S., Study Says
A quarter of Americans say they have no one with whom they can discuss personal troubles, more than double the number who were similarly isolated in 1985. Overall, the number of people Americans have in their closest circle of confidants has dropped from around three to about two.
The comprehensive new study paints a sobering picture of an increasingly fragmented America, where intimate social ties -- once seen as an integral part of daily life and associated with a host of psychological and civic benefits -- are shrinking or nonexistent. In bad times, far more people appear to suffer alone.
"That image of people on roofs after Katrina resonates with me, because those people did not know someone with a car," said Lynn Smith-Lovin, a Duke University sociologist who helped conduct the study. "There really is less of a safety net of close friends and confidants..."
"We know these close ties are what people depend on in bad times," she said. "We're not saying people are completely isolated. They may have 600 friends on Facebook.com [a popular networking Web site] and e-mail 25 people a day, but they are not discussing matters that are personally important."
I think that last assesment depends on who you are and who you can feel you trust online, of course. Having said that, I'm not surprised at the basics of that poll -- a lot of isolation occurs occurs simply when you don't even know who your neighbors are. I know back when I lived in Fresno (the first place I lived out of college) I knew hardly anyone outside of work; I couldn't have told you the name of the people who lived in the apartment next to mine. Fortunately then as now I have a good support system of friends and family, but I can easily see how people fall off the radar. And these days I know all my neighbors.
Today would be a good time to call up an old friend, I think.
Written by johnmscalzi Blog about this entry |
Add to del.icio.us | 
digg this
4:53:00 PM EDT
Hearing One -- U2
Feeling Alone
This is an interesting, if more than vaguely depressing, story:
Social Isolation Growing in U.S., Study Says
A quarter of Americans say they have no one with whom they can discuss personal troubles, more than double the number who were similarly isolated in 1985. Overall, the number of people Americans have in their closest circle of confidants has dropped from around three to about two.
The comprehensive new study paints a sobering picture of an increasingly fragmented America, where intimate social ties -- once seen as an integral part of daily life and associated with a host of psychological and civic benefits -- are shrinking or nonexistent. In bad times, far more people appear to suffer alone.
"That image of people on roofs after Katrina resonates with me, because those people did not know someone with a car," said Lynn Smith-Lovin, a Duke University sociologist who helped conduct the study. "There really is less of a safety net of close friends and confidants..."
"We know these close ties are what people depend on in bad times," she said. "We're not saying people are completely isolated. They may have 600 friends on Facebook.com [a popular networking Web site] and e-mail 25 people a day, but they are not discussing matters that are personally important."
I think that last assesment depends on who you are and who you can feel you trust online, of course. Having said that, I'm not surprised at the basics of that poll -- a lot of isolation occurs occurs simply when you don't even know who your neighbors are. I know back when I lived in Fresno (the first place I lived out of college) I knew hardly anyone outside of work; I couldn't have told you the name of the people who lived in the apartment next to mine. Fortunately then as now I have a good support system of friends and family, but I can easily see how people fall off the radar. And these days I know all my neighbors.
Today would be a good time to call up an old friend, I think.
Written by johnmscalzi Blog about this entry |
Add to del.icio.us | digg this
This entry has 10 comments: (Add your own)
-
I think this is so true and very true of myself. I have a lot of "friends" online and I have a lot of family but I don't have anyone who I feel like I can really talk to with no limitations as to what i will tell them. I know that we all have limitations on what we will tell others but I know how it is....I used to live in Chicago and one would think that with so many ppl. in one city you would know and feel close to a nice size group of ppl. I found that I had basically fallen off of the radar...the same calls came every month from my mom aunts and uncles and most times they came at the beginning of the month to get it out of the way and then it was just me the rest of the time.
Amy
http://journals.aol.com/visionarydiva1/AVisionaryDiva/ -
Monponsett! :):)
lol
nat -
While I have no specific theory or figure in mind, I bet that this % of people roughly and perhaps precisely coincides with some factor in Pornography demographics.
-
On the other hand, there are a lot of intimate things people can and do tell others online, precisely because it's relatively anonymous. I'm sure that circles of online friends are a lifeline for many people. They still probably won't come by with their car, but they will listen when you say how the treatments are going, or what chapter of the book you're working on, or how annoyed you are with GWB this week, or about your latest letter fom a son in Iraq. - Karen
6/26/06 10:03 PM
elisa