The loneliness paradox in a digital age

Five chart to start your day

Right! So beware with today's first chart. Its title reveals only half the story, and that matters. Something far more insidious lurks beneath the loneliness youngsters report: the paradox of smartphones and social media, those great connectors that somehow leave us more isolated than ever.

Virtual relationships can be rewarding, certainly. Yet they seem an odd remedy for loneliness. The pandemic taught me this firsthand. Working from home felt exhilarating, liberating even, until I found myself missing those mundane treasures: the train journey to work, my Zurich office, casual conversations with my co-worker. I don't think smartphones and electronic devices are the problem, however. I just don't think they are the solution.

CHART 1 • The loneliness paradox in a digital age

The data narrates a devastating story. Even before Covid touched our lives, young Americans had drifted into solitude, spending 18% more time alone by 2019, a gradual withdrawal from physical company. Then 2020 arrived like an accelerant, pushing that figure to nearly 50%.

Here's what haunts: while older generations rebounded after lockdown, returning to their coffee shops and dinner parties, the young remain marooned. Still 45% more alone than a decade ago. The pandemic crystallised a fracture already spreading through their social world. These aren't temporary adjustments anymore. They've hardened into a new architecture of isolation.

Source: Our World in Data

Sorry if that was a bit of a gloomy start to the day, but this is a very real problem. And being the father of a teenage daughter, this is something I worry about. I think what is important sometimes is to realise the emotional connection we have with data and how we interpret it. It's what makes us human.

I have another four more charts to share with you, but if you want to view them, you will have to become a paid subscriber.

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