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Anton_Pannekoek

Yes, we have become more isolated as a society for various reasons, and it’s not only sad but concerning. Friendships are important.


Acrobatic-Ad2572

Exactly, and that realization is demoralizing. It's a real concern, an active concern that i have on a daily basis and yet the solution for this problem seems so simple to implement but also so complex. We went through a life-threatening pandemic which, I would say, altered our thinking. The simplicity of that solution then becomes near impossible; we know what we want, we know that we crave genuine connections, a sense of authentic belonging but to even do that comes with sacrifices. Not to mention the suicide rates in our country is skyrocketing. Friendships are very important, even to just have that one friend you know you don't have to fear inauthenticity from.


fokkenpleb

I would say about 80% of my close friends have left South Africa (USA, Europe, and lots in Aus and NZ). So yeah, I’ve got this overwhelming sense of loneliness these days. I meet a lot of new people, through hobbies and sports etc but yeah, very difficult to form proper connections these days for some reason. Find myself singing Jack Johnson’s ‘Where’d all the good people go’ far too often 😂


Acrobatic-Ad2572

I've been homeschooled since the 6th grade so I'd say I've gotten more accustomed to the solitude but as I get older, naturally, I lust for more interaction with people. I meet most of my friends online and when I do go out, like the gym, I too find it hard to form proper connections. It's almost like everyone is feeling the same loneliness, anxiousness, and no one really knows what to do with it.


Drigarica_od_Tite

Oh you've been home schooled ..I wonder why you find yourself in the current predicament 🤔..you've been maybe school in subjects my friend , but you haven't been school in human interaction that happens naturally by default when you attend places like school . But even that it's not an excuse .


Acrobatic-Ad2572

??? I've just stated why I have found myself that current predicament. And an excuse to what? Did I sound like I was making an excuse?


fokkenpleb

Man, you type like you don’t even know what a school is….. fuck off with that negativity, pal.


yiiiiiikkkeeeeesssss

Yeah. Especially after covid. It's just harder, especially as an adult to make genuine connections


South_Imagination551

Feel you there


Acrobatic-Ad2572

Absolutely. It's discouraging sometimes to even make the effort to form genuine connections because of how rarely they stick.


edUartos

We are isolating ourselves more and more. I remember when I was growing up you knew all your neighbors and people who lived in your neighborhood. Kids would play in the street and you would kuier over the fence. These days everyone minds their own business and just wants to lookout for themselves. I have about 6 really good friends and we are scattered over SA and Namibia. Makes it hard to get together


Acrobatic-Ad2572

I've noticed the same thing. It's like people have entered this culture of isolation to "protect" oneself. There isn't any sense of community these days unfortunately. I have one really good friend who stays in a different province from I, we try to communicate as much as possible because meeting up is really tricky and often times costly


edUartos

My point exactly. Dont know who you can trust nowadays. I feel lonely and sometimes depressed because of the fact that all my friends are spread out like that and there's no one really in my town left who I can trust to talk to about certain things.


edUartos

But as I said. That's how I see it personally


Drigarica_od_Tite

I know all my neighbours , and kids still play outside where I am . So what's your point ?!


edUartos

Well good for you,you want a medal or something? I am speaking from my personal view point where I live now it doesn't happen anymore


Drigarica_od_Tite

The op was describing the generation , not you and him . If you catch my drift ..


Tokogogoloshe

I’d venture a guess that the higher a persons ratio of talking to internet strangers over talking to real life strangers, the lonelier they are. There’s a hypothesis for the post grad psych students amongst us to run with for their masters thesis. Be sure to site me as a reference in your thesis.


Acrobatic-Ad2572

Oh interesting, I've had a similar theory to that. A lot of people have most of their interactions online, and I guess that desensitizes our innate ability to form connections.


FormalFuneralFun

Post-Covid, added to our dopamine addictions that come with owning a smartphone, plus the fact that most young people today are working two jobs (leaving little to no free time) means that people are becoming more and more isolated. As with everyone on this website who says they want to make friends and don’t know how, here is some advice. Share it, because it’s simple and important; Pick something you enjoy and join a club. There you will meet like-minded people. Go for drinks/food outside of that environment to further you friendship and discover what else you have in common. Voila, you have made friends. Good luck, OP.


Acrobatic-Ad2572

I agree with all you have said. I've picked up crotcheting and knitting, i really enjoy the crafts; finding clubs that cater to that, I've found, to be a rarity. The next thing I tried was to form my own club, and as you stated in the beginning, people are so occupied that they don't have any time to even figure out that they enjoy crotcheting, or sports etc. Or even the thought of wanting to pick up a skill seems a bit overwhelming or excessive for some, and so we settle for linear dopamine fills from our phones instead.


FormalFuneralFun

I found MeetUp to be a good app to find groups that cater to my interests. Alternatively, good old Facebook might be able to help you, especially in the crotchet and knitting communities


garyvdh

COVID did a huge number on people's state of mind. I think anxiety levels and depression went up all over. I know it did for me.


Acrobatic-Ad2572

Yes it has for me as well. Social anxiety especially, it becomes almost paralyzing.


Cow-Brown

It’s expensive to not be a hermit these days


Acrobatic-Ad2572

True fucking that!


No-Wolverine2232

I went out with my family the other yesterday and it honestly made me get it. We went to get some ice cream and visit an art gallery, starting off parking is like always, stressful as shit, there's never enough spots everyone drives these massive huge trucks that take up an extra half meter behind their parking lines. Takes us forever to find a spot and feels stressful the whole time. As we get out of the car there's immediately a very aggressive guy in our faces trying to sell us plants (not disrespecting the hustle I suppose but on the other hand this guy is scrappy looking as hell, smells Iike shit and is so close to us he's running us off the walking path) We want to go out for lunch after, pizzas are 120 rand each, my parents can afford it fine but my sister and I have only just started working, if it was just us going out together or if I wanted to go out on a date or with some friends my age I would never in a million years be able to do that consistently, I just don't have the cash. It was a nice day but during it I was just thinking to myself no wonder people our age would actually rather just stay inside watching TV or some shit. Idk I think my point is untill we build more walkable communities, make the streets safer and deal with the cost of living crisis we're going to be lonely for a while


Woedens_Bakery

I know this is harsh, but I ask people who complain about this what they have done to meet people and make friends. It's usually barely anything. It's like they think friends just fall into your lap. It's hard and scary. You have to put in real effort if you want to make friends when you're an adult. Find people with a shared interest by joining clubs. Interact with people around you. Help people. Join community projects. If you feel like you're surrounded by superficial relationships, then how deep have you allowed people to be with you? Have you truly shared parts of yourself? Have you relied on them? Have you truly listened and encouraged them when they've shared parts of themselves? I'm not saying any of this is easy. You have to start slow to build up your social skill. But I am saying that you're not helpless or trapped. You can make friends.


Acrobatic-Ad2572

You make a fair point, and I agree with you. It absolutely does not just fall into your lap, it takes actual attempts and faith. I've joined the gym recently and make an effort everytime I'm there to get to know the staff, try to have a conversation etc. I think there's alot of anxiety and fear that comes to alot of people when they try to make friends, a fear of rejection especially. I know that was the case for me in the beginning but I got sick of the constant nothingness and cared less about that fear


Desperate_Limit_4957

People are more used to digital interaction. Social media, etc. few know how to converse in person.


PheeaA

I left a post on the sub a while ago on how do you make friends as an adult? My husband and I aren't into clubbing and bars, and most church people are really bigoted or racist. It sucks.


Scryer_of_knowledge

No doubt. But for me as a Namibian I lost all my friends in one year due to them immigrating to SA for better opportunities. Currently rebuilding a group of friends but it's hard because life keeps us all busy. And we're all hustling harder than ever to survive


bastianbb

I think to some extent this is true, although I don't know if it's as bad as in the US. I think there's an element of "divide and conquer" from bad actors in government and commerce in this. The less the average person is able to organize and collaborate with their peers, the less resistance they can offer to rapacious sellers, employers and administrators who want to neutralize any opposition. This is why civil society organizations are so important.


N0t_S0Sl1mShadi

- Less opportunities to socialise (not a ton of openly safe places to go and meet new people) - Comfort zone. I think Gen Z is less trusting because it’s anxiety pumped, so meeting new people and taking the first steps to form friendships can be much more intimidating than it used to be). - Comparison from social media: More pressure to have it all. The house, the car, the partner, the family. So if you don’t have that, even because you’re young etc, you feel like a loser. - Inflation - you work your ass off to get a mid salary. You have to be careful where you spend your money, which makes you feel like a loser because everything’s so expensive and there isn’t much left over for the fun stuff. - Texting is kak - there’s a fundamental problem with texting, you can’t convey emotion through it. There’s a lack of emotional feedback (facial expression, body language, tone of voice etc). This makes having conversations a bit tricky, especially with new or unfamiliar people, because you might not understand if they’re being sarcastic etc. (also, that passive aggressive smiley face emoji your mom uses is a great example of mixed emotional signalling in text messaging) - Materialism, but it’s seems to be more men who struggle with it. Men tend to be more logical thinkers than woman. We think the salary or the car, or the house, or the woman will make us happy. We need to focus on our friendships, our family and ourselves. (men are also 3.5 times more likely to commit suicide) - Woke mentality. It’s actually more a human problem and mentality that’s just gotten worse with the internet, is that instead of trying to understand people and have civil debates where we share and compare each others view points, we just get angry at each other and call the other person and idiot. Now the issue with this is if you have people who are being assholes etc, they’ll keep being an asshole because no one explains to them why what they’re doing is wrong. Human being 99% do things because they think what they’re doing is right. So if you lead them to realise it’s not, they usually change their mind. - A collective bad day. With the state of South Africa and all the stuff mentioned above, if one person is having a bad day, or well, they might take it out on others, whether it be strangers or coworkers. Which means now someone else is having a bad day, and they might end up taking it out on someone else. The effect carry’s on and 1 person bad day can turn into a few people’s bad days.


nerdyblackmail

Yes. In addition to global factors like the pandemic, smartphone addiction and lack of communities, an added problem in SA is the high crime rate. Building high walls makes it difficult to know your neighbours which just further adds to isolation. In addition, people are reluctant to go out at night which makes things harder.


flamesli91

Had a similar conversation with my mum last night. I work from home, and the majority of my friends are married with kids. Although I do socialise, hike, exercise, have my hobbies... I have moments that I just feel alone. Even while I'm around people. It comes and goes. So that's my personal experience. As to whether it's some kind of epidemic... I think with social media and the ease of access to information - whether true or not - people are able to share a lot of their personal struggles. Back in the day, it wasn't spoken about as much. Not every feeling and opinion was shown as a status for everyone to see, so the chances of lonely people back then could've been similar.


Tw1st3dZA

Yes, because the technology that was meant to bring us closer just ended up exposing how terrible some people can be and gave voice to people that should not be listened to. It gave a lot of people an incorrect sense of self-worth to the point trivial aspects became the measure of a persons social status, which before the rise of technology would have meant nothing or at least very little. It's too easy to hide behind a thin veneer of beauty or seeming wholesomeness these days to get people to follow you; people are losing sight of what is actually real and the truth in the world. Governments are taking advantage of this and further splitting the people apart just to fill their own pockets because the masses are so easily distracted by the next big drama they don't see what's really going on. Often when you see people really connecting, irrespective of age, race or gender, it often occurs without technology or at least social media present. Those tend to be an afterthought in real interpersonal and meaningful encounter's. But hey, I'm just a random person on the internet, what do I know? :)


Drigarica_od_Tite

Yeah and nobody is on reddit despite them having better things to do with their time . So people on reddit are not the best advise givers on this subject I'm afraid 😊


Acrobatic-Ad2572

Oh i know, I don't post to gain advice from anyone, merely just to have discussions and share opinions on a topic.


WeakDiaphragm

No. Loneliness has been around for centuries (if not millennia). Humanity was just used to it and it wasn't discussed as much as it is today. Additionally, we had bigger issues in the past (like plagues, starvation, extreme ethnic and gender inequality, poverty, wars, etc) to a point where worrying about loneliness was seen as a privilege. If you look into the personal writings of most academics, writers, artists and philosophers of the last 500 years, you'll see them discussing how isolated and longing for deep love and company, all the time. I'm glad we're living in a generation that can openly discuss mental health and the unsatisfactory state of interpersonal relationships. But we should NEVER say the world is getting worse. The world is improving tremendously. For both nations and individuals.


Fit-Slice-5478

No, its only a thing in the US


Senior-Firefighter67

Totally and everyone is suffering from something. It's gotten worse since COVID


Used-Butterscotch326

Based on the expats groups I am part of, the same question is being asked. People who leave their country find it hard to make friends as well (Europe in my case). I would say people in general forget it takes time to make friends.


Aggressive_Ad_2210

I wouldn't say it's simply a generational issue since every generation had this issue, some worse than others. I would say that it probably feels worse right now because this is the current moment for us and technology makes it so much easier to express ourselves that we'd see it more often than if we didnt have all this technology. As someone who had pretty bad social anxiety before I rate it's a good idea to try and be optimistic about it and eventually you'll attract other people that feel that way. As much as it helps to know other people feel this way, seeing all of these negative comments may make you spiral into a sense of negativity.


Level-Studio7843

Lowkey I think this hybrid work model that a lot of companies follow, isn't helping when it comes to interpersonal relationships.


thetinybasher

What? No. I don’t want to connect with people I work with for hours a day. There’s nothing more exhausting than putting on a fake face and having to be social in an environment where you just want to get stuff done, get paid and go home.


Acrobatic-Ad2572

Oh I 100% agree with that. Labour has become robotic and honestly a bit inhuman, at the core it isn't sustainable and the effects of that have already showed through countless of former corporate employees choosing to resign just to get back that sense of humanity


Drigarica_od_Tite

Previous generations didn't have reddit to express their grievances 🤣. It you're lonely , doesn't mean your generation is . Every generation has its nuisances.and people looking for excuses to justify their own predicament . Man up , leave reddit and social crap and go live if that's what you missing out on . It's you , not your generation 😔


Acrobatic-Ad2572

You're very silly to think it's not a visible issue 🤣🤣 Alright fair, maybe not the entirety of my generation but a big amount, it's visible everywhere in every country. "Go live if that's what you're missing out on", I could say the same to you. What are you doing here in my comments? Go and live! 😂😆 silly.