The MOST Social Media Connected Population Ever

[abbey1227]

Why Loneliness Is Increasing, and How to Fight Back
Overcoming America’s invisible health crisis.
Popular Science     Morgan Sweeney

Loneliness can be difficult to overcome, but you can do it. M. / Unsplash

You’re lying in bed, your room dark around you. Blue light shines on your fingertips as you scroll through your phone, words and images flashing by your eyes. You’re waiting, watching other people live their lives. A sinking feeling gnaws at your stomach as you yearn for something—anything—to make you feel less alone.

While it’s not something people talk about much, loneliness is a common feeling, with three out of every five people reporting they felt lonely in 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic only worsened this crisis: a Harvard University survey taken in October 2020 found 73 percent of respondents felt at least occasionally lonely. Slightly more than one-third felt alone “frequently,” “almost all the time,” or “all the time.”

Loneliness is more devastating than many of us realize—it has a profound impact on a person’s mental and physical health, and has even been found to be an accurate predictor of early mortality. For those of us who have been suffering from loneliness, it can help to understand what it is, why it makes us feel the way we do, and how, exactly, we can overcome it.

getpocket.com/explore/item/why-loneliness-is-increasing-and-how-to-fight-back?utm_source=pocket-newtab

I think they're really missing the boat and totally ignoring what social media does to people. More than ever before, it makes them compare themselves to everyone else......and those everyone elses are celebs and online portrayals of people that appear to have much better lives. (But in reality, most do not)

This is why ENVY has become so ubiquitous in our modern culture and many people really have no appreciation for all that they do have, instead of always focusing on what's owed to them.

[ant-mac]

The MOST Social Media Connected Population Ever

Do a couple of message boards and a couple of websites count as social media?

[abbey1227]

May 28, 2022 14:56:53 GMT ant-mac said:

The MOST Social Media Connected Population Ever

Do a couple of message boards and a couple of websites count as social media?

We're fuddy duddies

The Instagram and Twitter types, the Tik Tok'ers and OnlyFans people are taking much more advantage of the current products/services available out there.

You must see those commercials for the 'latest/greatest' model phones that everyone just has to have? And all the Apps that accompany them?

[ant-mac]

May 28, 2022 15:04:24 GMT abbey1227 said:

May 28, 2022 14:56:53 GMT ant-mac said:

Do a couple of message boards and a couple of websites count as social media?

We're fuddy duddies

The Instagram and Twitter types, the Tik Tok'ers and OnlyFans people are taking much more advantage of the current products/services available out there.

You must see those commercials for the 'latest/greatest' model phones that everyone just has to have? And all the Apps that accompany them?

1. I'd prefer to be someone's "fucky buddy"...

2. Yay for them.

3. I think they're the primary cause of me "losing time"...

I regain consciousness afterwards and wonder what happened.

[Prometheus]

I'll be honest:

Before my recent accident, I would have told you that I don't mind being alone because I have just enough online contact and IRL contact to not feel "lonely," but those 7 days in the hospital cut-off from my usual lines of contact had me feeling quite lonely. I looked forward to visits from friends and coworkers more than ever before and I really looked forward to getting back online. I missed you guys.

But now that I'm back home and I have you guys, I'm still feeling lonely because I still don't have enough IRL contact... actually, I probably have the same amount, but because I cannot control my comings and goings in the world, it all feels so different.

But I think that comes down to the fact that I actually know how to interact with people face to face. Being seen in the flesh doesn't cause me anxiety because I know who I am and I know that I'm not different in either space. I don't have "personas" and I don't "identify" for "likes."

[abbey1227]

May 30, 2022 23:56:36 GMT Prometheus said:

I'll be honest:

Before my recent accident, I would have told you that I don't mind being alone because I have just enough online contact and IRL contact to not feel "lonely," but those 7 days in the hospital cut-off from my usual lines of contact had me feeling quite lonely. I looked forward to visits from friends and coworkers more than ever before and I really looked forward to getting back online. I missed you guys.

But now that I'm back home and I have you guys, I'm still feeling lonely because I still don't have enough IRL contact... actually, I probably have the same amount, but because I cannot control my comings and goings in the world, it all feels so different.

But I think that comes down to the fact that I actually know how to interact with people face to face. Being seen in the flesh doesn't cause me anxiety because I know who I am and I know that I'm not different in either space. I don't have "personas" and I don't "identify" for "likes."

even ME? 

That's a very good point you made at the end though. I think you're in a minority when it comes to people who truly know themselves.......and do not feel the need to change around others.

[Prometheus]

May 31, 2022 0:21:39 GMT abbey1227 said:

May 30, 2022 23:56:36 GMT Prometheus said:

I'll be honest:

Before my recent accident, I would have told you that I don't mind being alone because I have just enough online contact and IRL contact to not feel "lonely," but those 7 days in the hospital cut-off from my usual lines of contact had me feeling quite lonely. I looked forward to visits from friends and coworkers more than ever before and I really looked forward to getting back online. I missed you guys.

But now that I'm back home and I have you guys, I'm still feeling lonely because I still don't have enough IRL contact... actually, I probably have the same amount, but because I cannot control my comings and goings in the world, it all feels so different.

But I think that comes down to the fact that I actually know how to interact with people face to face. Being seen in the flesh doesn't cause me anxiety because I know who I am and I know that I'm not different in either space. I don't have "personas" and I don't "identify" for "likes."

even ME? 

That's a very good point you made at the end though. I think you're in a minority when it comes to people who truly know themselves.......and do not feel the need to change around others.

1. Yes, even you. If you looked like the puppy in the pic, I'd miss you even more.

The girls at work have a new stray kitty that they'd like to give to a nice home... preferably mine, but I don't have the time (especially now).

2. I think a lot of it has to do with age and upbringing

[abbey1227]

May 31, 2022 1:25:11 GMT Prometheus said:

May 31, 2022 0:21:39 GMT abbey1227 said:

1. Yes, even you. If you looked like the puppy in the pic, I'd miss you even more.

The girls at work have a new stray kitty that they'd like to give to a nice home... preferably mine, but I don't have the time (especially now).<button disabled="" class="c-attachment-insert--linked o-btn--sm"></button>

2. I think a lot of it has to do with age and upbringing

1. I look a bit more like a bear.......and not a really young, healthy strong one........but a Chernobyl bear   

2. That's one of the things that age gets you.......but like always, it's just a shame it takes so long to really acquire that sort of wisdom. I don't have kids, but I'm sure there's been times when you wish you could have gotten your own kid thru a trying time WITHOUT them having to learn things the harder way.

It sounds like she's done much better than most already, though.       so.......you taking credit?

[Prometheus]

May 31, 2022 1:35:03 GMT abbey1227 said:

May 31, 2022 1:25:11 GMT Prometheus said:

1. Yes, even you. If you looked like the puppy in the pic, I'd miss you even more.

The girls at work have a new stray kitty that they'd like to give to a nice home... preferably mine, but I don't have the time (especially now).<button disabled="" class="c-attachment-insert--linked o-btn--sm"></button>

2. I think a lot of it has to do with age and upbringing

1. I look a bit more like a bear.......and not a really young, healthy strong one........but a Chernobyl bear   

2. That's one of the things that age gets you.......but like always, it's just a shame it takes so long to really acquire that sort of wisdom. I don't have kids, but I'm sure there's been times when you wish you could have gotten your own kid thru a trying time WITHOUT them having to learn things the harder way.

It sounds like she's done much better than most already, though.       so.......you taking credit?

1.

2. You always want to help your kids. Gotta make sure those genes get carried on. But you do have to let them stumble and fall a bit too.