dgmodel Posted June 23 Report Share Posted June 23 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/22/AR2006062201763_pf.htmlSocial Isolation Growing in U.S., Study SaysThe Number of People Who Say They Have No One to Confide In Has RisenBy Shankar VedantamWashington Post Staff WriterFriday, June 23, 2006; A03Americans are far more socially isolated today than they were two decades ago, and a sharply growing number of people say they have no one in whom they can confide, according to a comprehensive new evaluation of the decline of social ties in the United States.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."If close social relationships support people in the same way that beams hold up buildings, more and more Americans appear to be dependent on a single beam.Compared with 1985, nearly 50 percent more people in 2004 reported that their spouse is the only person they can confide in. But if people face trouble in that relationship, or if a spouse falls sick, that means these people have no one to turn to for help, Smith-Lovin said."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."The new research is based on a high-quality random survey of nearly 1,500 Americans. Telephone surveys miss people who are not home, but the General Social Survey, funded by the National Science Foundation, has a high response rate and conducts detailed face-to-face interviews, in which respondents are pressed to confirm they mean what they say.Whereas nearly three-quarters of people in 1985 reported they had a friend in whom they could confide, only half in 2004 said they could count on such support. The number of people who said they counted a neighbor as a confidant dropped by more than half, from about 19 percent to about 8 percent.The results, being published today in the American Sociological Review, took researchers by surprise because they had not expected to see such a steep decline in close social ties.Smith-Lovin said increased professional responsibilities, including working two or more jobs to make ends meet, and long commutes leave many people too exhausted to seek social -- as well as family -- connections: "Maybe sitting around watching 'Desperate Housewives' . . . is what counts for family interaction."Robert D. Putnam, a professor of public policy at Harvard and the author of "Bowling Alone," a book about increasing social isolation in the United States, said the new study supports what he has been saying for years to skeptical audiences in the academy."For most of the 20th century, Americans were becoming more connected with family and friends, and there was more giving of blood and money, and all of those trend lines turn sharply in the middle '60s and have gone in the other direction ever since," he said.Americans go on 60 percent fewer picnics today and families eat dinner together 40 percent less often compared with 1965, he said. They are less likely to meet at clubs or go bowling in groups. Putnam has estimated that every 10-minute increase in commutes makes it 10 percent less likely that people will establish and maintain close social ties.Television is a big part of the problem, he contends. Whereas 5 percent of U.S. households in 1950 owned television sets, 95 percent did a decade later.But University of Toronto sociologist Barry Wellman questioned whether the study's focus on intimate ties means that social ties in general are fraying. He said people's overall ties are actually growing, compared with previous decades, thanks in part to the Internet. Wellman has calculated that the average person today has about 250 ties with friends and relatives.Wellman praised the quality of the new study and said its results are surprising, but he said it does not address how core ties change in the context of other relationships."I don't see this as the end of the world but part of a larger puzzle," he said. "My guess is people only have so much energy, and right now they are switching around a number of networks. . . . We are getting a division of labor in relationships. Some people give emotional aid, some people give financial aid."Putnam and Smith-Lovin said Americans may be well advised to consciously build more relationships. But they also said social institutions and social-policy makers need to pay more attention."The current structure of workplace regulations assumes everyone works from 9 to 5, five days a week," Putnam said. "If we gave people much more flexibility in their work life, they would use that time to spend more time with their aging mom or best friend." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
therunner Posted June 23 Report Share Posted June 23 everbody has friends on the internet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimk29 Posted June 23 Report Share Posted June 23 those people must suck at life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgmodel Posted June 23 Author Report Share Posted June 23 "i dont have time for inet friends, only realworld ppl"but the odd thing about technology is that almost every form of it is designed to reduce human interaction or eliminate human interaction... I'm a modern man, a man for the millennium, digital and smoke-free, a diversified multi-cultural post-modern deconstructionist, politically, anatomically, and ecologically incorrect. I've been uplinked and downloaded, I've been inputted and outsourced, I know the upside of downsizing, I know the downside of upgrading. I'm a high-tech lowlife, a state-of-the-art bi-coastal multitasker, and I can give you a gigabyte in a nanosecond. I'm new wave, but I'm old school, and my inner child is outward bound. I'm a hot-wired, heat-seeking, warm-hearted cool customer, voice-activated and biodegradable. I interface with my database, and my database is in cyberspace, so I'm interactive, I'm hyperactive, and from time to time, I'm radioactive. Behind the 8-ball, ahead of the curve, riding the wave, dodging the bullet, pushing the envelope. I'm on point, on task, on message, and off drugs. I got no need for coke and speed. I have no urge to binge and purge. I'm in the moment, on the edge, over the top, but under the radar. A high-concept, low-profile, medium-range ballistics missionary. A street-wise smart bomb, a top-gun bottom-feeder. I wear power ties, I tell power lies, I take power naps, I run victory laps. I'm a totally ongoing bigfoot slamdunk rainmaker with a proactive outreach. A raging workaholic, a working rageaholic, out of rehab and in denial. I got a personal trainer, a personal shopper, a personal assistant, and a personal agenda. You can't shut me up, you can't dumb me down, 'cause I'm tireless, and I'm wireless. I'm an alphamale on beta blockers. I'm a non-believer and an overachiever, laid back, but fashion forward, up front, down home, low rent, high maintenance; super size, long lasting, high definition, fast acting, oven ready, and built to last. I'm a hands-on, footloose, kneejerk headcase, prematurely post-traumatic, and I have a love child who sends me hate mail. But I'm feeling, I'm caring, I'm healing, I'm sharing, a supportive, bonding, nurturing, primary caregiver. My output is down, but my income is up. I take a short position on a long bond, and my revenue stream has its own cash flow. I read junk mail, I eat junk food, I buy junk bonds, I watch trash sports. I'm gender specific, capital intensive, user friendly, and lactose intolerant. I like rough sex, I like tough love, I use the F-word in my e-mails, and the software on my hard drive is hardcore, no soft porn. I bought a microwave at a minimall, I bought a minivan at a megastore, I eat fast food in the slow lane. I'm tollfree, bite size, ready to wear, and I come in all sizes. A fully equipped, factory authorized, hospital tested, clinically proven, scientifically formulated medical miracle. I've been prewashed, precooked, preheated, prescreened, preapproved, postdated, freeze dried, double wrapped, vacuum packed, and I have an unlimited broadband capacity. I'm a rude dude, but I'm the real deal, lean and mean, cocked, locked, and ready to rock; rough, tough, and hard to bluff. I take it slow, I go with the flow, I ride with the tide, I got glide in my stride. Drivin' and movin', sailin' and spinnin', jivin' and groovin', wailin' and winnin'. I don't snooze, so I don't lose. I keep the pedal to the metal and the rubber on the road. I party hardy, and lunch time is crunch time. I'm hangin' in, there ain't no doubt, and I'm hangin' tough, over and out." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
therunner Posted June 23 Report Share Posted June 23 those people must suck at life.fo real. I need people in my life to unload all my anger and shit on. I don't know how people who only use the internet as thier means of relating to other people make it in life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimk29 Posted June 23 Report Share Posted June 23 I don't know how people who only use the internet as thier means of relating to other people make it in life.not very well... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fkornre Posted June 23 Report Share Posted June 23 i trust and confide in all my fellow cp'ers... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimk29 Posted June 23 Report Share Posted June 23 i trust and confide in all my fellow cp'ers...isn't that precious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fkornre Posted June 23 Report Share Posted June 23 not really... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lolahotass Posted June 23 Report Share Posted June 23 I have several good friends to confide in.. one of my bestest friends on the planet i met on CP 5 yrs ago.People in social isolation need to put down the PS2 and like go out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest onisakura Posted June 23 Report Share Posted June 23 I have several good friends to confide in.. one of my bestest friends on the planet i met on CP 5 yrs ago.People in social isolation need to put down the PS2 and like go out. One of my closest friends i met on CP almost 5 years ago too. Funny thing is he never posts anymore, hasn't in ages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lolahotass Posted June 23 Report Share Posted June 23 One of my closest friends i met on CP almost 5 years ago too. Funny thing is he never posts anymore, hasn't in ages.i miss the old skool cats in miami.. we had some good times on the boards back then.. that forum was fire... it died.. and so did jersey.. ironic no? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest onisakura Posted June 23 Report Share Posted June 23 i miss the old skool cats in miami.. we had some good times on the boards back then.. that forum was fire... it died.. and so did jersey.. ironic no?Yeah totally man. I miss Rain, thats where i met everyone for the first time. Its just not the same anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lolahotass Posted June 23 Report Share Posted June 23 Yeah totally man. I miss Rain, thats where i met everyone for the first time. Its just not the same anymore.thats where i met my first CP'ers.. Phrankadelic was the official first person i met on CP Then digital7, mimid, georgeacosta2, nightstar01.. etc...what a night that was for me.... trashed.. good times though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest onisakura Posted June 23 Report Share Posted June 23 thats where i met my first CP'ers.. Phrankadelic was the official first person i met on CP Then digital7, mimid, georgeacosta2, nightstar01.. etc...what a night that was for me.... trashed.. good times though Same here! Met all the same peeps there.Ahhhh those were the days. *lol* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lolahotass Posted June 23 Report Share Posted June 23 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Felix_Leiter Posted June 23 Report Share Posted June 23 "i dont have time for inet friends, only realworld ppl""salute Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freakster Posted June 23 Report Share Posted June 23 I don't know how people who only use the internet as thier means of relating to other people make it in life.same here. When I first moved in with my fiance he was a bit of a control freak Wouldn't let me go anywhere or do anything or talk to anyone.It was pretty lonely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howienewport Posted June 23 Report Share Posted June 23 same here. When I first moved in with my fiance he was a bit of a control freak Wouldn't let me go anywhere or do anything or talk to anyone.It was pretty lonely.I predict he'll be smacking you around in the upcoming year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lolahotass Posted June 23 Report Share Posted June 23 :laugh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freakster Posted June 23 Report Share Posted June 23 I predict he'll be smacking you around in the upcoming year.If he does then he better make it a good one because my brother will kill him. He beat the snot out of my sister's ex just for slapping her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimk29 Posted June 23 Report Share Posted June 23 If he does then he better make it a good one because my brother will kill him. He beat the snot out of my sister's ex just for slapping her.Damn, you already have a kid? No sex ed in Indiana? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
therunner Posted June 23 Report Share Posted June 23 I predict he'll be smacking you around in the upcoming year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgmodel Posted June 23 Author Report Share Posted June 23 salute what are you doing this weekend? want to chill? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Felix_Leiter Posted June 23 Report Share Posted June 23 what are you doing this weekend? want to chill?busy busy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.