Derek Thompson

But among the many people that I spoke to for this article, I talked to the NYU sociologist Eric Kleinberg, who passed along a relatively familiar within sociology definition of loneliness. Loneliness, he said, is the gap between felt social connection and desired social connection. Loneliness is a healthy thing to feel in the right doses. It's what gets us off the couch to spend time with people.

But among the many people that I spoke to for this article, I talked to the NYU sociologist Eric Kleinberg, who passed along a relatively familiar within sociology definition of loneliness. Loneliness, he said, is the gap between felt social connection and desired social connection. Loneliness is a healthy thing to feel in the right doses. It's what gets us off the couch to spend time with people.

But in fact, I think a lot of Americans don't feel lonely as we typically define that feeling. Rather than spend time alone and think to themselves, I should be around more people, I think many Americans in the last 20 years particularly are spending more time alone by choice year after year after year.

But in fact, I think a lot of Americans don't feel lonely as we typically define that feeling. Rather than spend time alone and think to themselves, I should be around more people, I think many Americans in the last 20 years particularly are spending more time alone by choice year after year after year.

But in fact, I think a lot of Americans don't feel lonely as we typically define that feeling. Rather than spend time alone and think to themselves, I should be around more people, I think many Americans in the last 20 years particularly are spending more time alone by choice year after year after year.

So the reason why I think this is really important to point out is that there's a lot of very, very smart people who have read this article and read previous articles about loneliness who look at the hard data and they say, you actually can't show with a lot of survey data that loneliness is rising. Actually, loneliness seems to be very stable. My point is they might be right.

So the reason why I think this is really important to point out is that there's a lot of very, very smart people who have read this article and read previous articles about loneliness who look at the hard data and they say, you actually can't show with a lot of survey data that loneliness is rising. Actually, loneliness seems to be very stable. My point is they might be right.

So the reason why I think this is really important to point out is that there's a lot of very, very smart people who have read this article and read previous articles about loneliness who look at the hard data and they say, you actually can't show with a lot of survey data that loneliness is rising. Actually, loneliness seems to be very stable. My point is they might be right.

And maybe the social crisis that we have today is rising solitude without rising loneliness.

And maybe the social crisis that we have today is rising solitude without rising loneliness.

And maybe the social crisis that we have today is rising solitude without rising loneliness.

They might feel that way, but it is not a coincidence, I think, that if you ask generation after generation how many friends do you have, it turns out to be the most phone-bound generations, young people, who have the fewest friends. If you ask people over the last 30, 40 years, how many times do you spend hanging out with your friends? That number has declined by 50% for high schoolers.

They might feel that way, but it is not a coincidence, I think, that if you ask generation after generation how many friends do you have, it turns out to be the most phone-bound generations, young people, who have the fewest friends. If you ask people over the last 30, 40 years, how many times do you spend hanging out with your friends? That number has declined by 50% for high schoolers.

They might feel that way, but it is not a coincidence, I think, that if you ask generation after generation how many friends do you have, it turns out to be the most phone-bound generations, young people, who have the fewest friends. If you ask people over the last 30, 40 years, how many times do you spend hanging out with your friends? That number has declined by 50% for high schoolers.

If you ask high schoolers going back over the last 20 years, how anxious do you feel? How consistently depressed or anxious or sad do you feel? Those numbers are near all-time highs. So it's very, very hard to say for sure what people feel when they look into their phones. And I should absolutely grant the premise that a lot of time that people spend on their phones is social after a fashion.

If you ask high schoolers going back over the last 20 years, how anxious do you feel? How consistently depressed or anxious or sad do you feel? Those numbers are near all-time highs. So it's very, very hard to say for sure what people feel when they look into their phones. And I should absolutely grant the premise that a lot of time that people spend on their phones is social after a fashion.

If you ask high schoolers going back over the last 20 years, how anxious do you feel? How consistently depressed or anxious or sad do you feel? Those numbers are near all-time highs. So it's very, very hard to say for sure what people feel when they look into their phones. And I should absolutely grant the premise that a lot of time that people spend on their phones is social after a fashion.

You have to put all of this together that the same generation that's spending a historic amount of time on their phone has fewer friends, spends less time with their friends, feels more depressed, feels more anxious. That tells me that the phone time we have that seems to be a substitute for face-to-face socializing is a poor, poor substitute.

You have to put all of this together that the same generation that's spending a historic amount of time on their phone has fewer friends, spends less time with their friends, feels more depressed, feels more anxious. That tells me that the phone time we have that seems to be a substitute for face-to-face socializing is a poor, poor substitute.

You have to put all of this together that the same generation that's spending a historic amount of time on their phone has fewer friends, spends less time with their friends, feels more depressed, feels more anxious. That tells me that the phone time we have that seems to be a substitute for face-to-face socializing is a poor, poor substitute.