Are You Lonely?

This poll is very old now and I have my doubts that anybody will see this forum again, but I found my way here and just want to add my thoughts on the topic. Loneliness is now more of a problem than it ever has been in the past, due in large part to the prevalence of the internet and social media in particular. Much of society feels content to substitute real-life social connections with virtual ones, and at first it seems fine to do so, but virtual connections only wind up being poor imitations of the real thing and will leave people feeling isolated and lonely even if they have hundreds or thousands of friends or "followers" online.

As a single man in the USA, I have dealt with loneliness almost my entire life, starting back when I was a young teenager. I have a normal appearance and I find that I can get along well with almost anybody, but connections are usually shallow. In the few instances when they have developed into something substantial, the other people eventually either drift away from me or stab me in the back somehow. I have never felt as though I had a relationship or friendship in which I was the other person's "first choice", if you know what I mean. First choice to hang out? No. First choice to date? No. That sort of thing.

The pain of loneliness never really goes away, either. You can grow accustomed to it and sort of develop a numbness that lasts for a while, but eventually the pain will return. As a Christian I have faith and comfort in my relationship with God, but God Himself acknowledges the need for humans to find companionship with each other. I hope that one day I can find more meaningful friendships and eventually a marriage with a special woman, but such hope feels more and more distant as the years go by and as I observe modern culture slipping further and further into moral and social decay.

People make real connections on the real internet, web 1.0. it's the social media that's screwing everything up.

Oh, hey, awayness. I guess you saw my message here from looking at my profile page. I didn't mean to imply that genuine connections can't be formed over the internet because certainly they can be. I've made some good friends online. But I think that people sometimes disregard the value of personal and physical friendships. Somebody you can spend a day with in-person and doing stuff, like eating, sharing hobbies, and having physical contact. When a friendship or any type of relationship is purely online, those important things are always missing.

When people stop seeking physical and in-person friendships and relationships because because they are substituting them with ones that are only online, then the human nature to want in-person connections is neglected. People get more and more isolated, touch-starved, anxious, depressed, and/or lonely. Are online-only connections better than no connections at all? Sure, I think so. But they shouldn't be all that a person has. And, sadly, that just seems to be what a lot of people are settling for these days.

Oh of course. And ideally one can lead to the other.