Maybe social media just meets their social needs. Maybe this is not a problem that needs to be solved, this is just the way things are now.

The answer is actually less technology. More in person community is the solution.

How do you get people to talk to each other again? It has to come through forming community groups that can meet and enjoy life together in the real world. It also can come from meet with a shared purpose to advance common causes that make the community and the world slightly better.

Organize things.

Start a bowling league, a DnD group, a book club, a charitable organization... whatever.

Have a dinner party. Join the chess club. Start or join a sports league.

Many of these community events aren't happening because nobody has created them yet and it might just be up to you to do it.

Part of the loneliness epidemic is somebody actually has to initiate things and not enough people do. YOU can do it.

I'll jump.

I've been meaning to set up a bi-weekly dinner for hacker types who live mid peninsula, specifically near San Mateo. I have a group of 4 or so in mind and have a good place to host, but would like a slightly larger group.

If anyone would be interested in helping to get something stood up, send electronic post to carl chatfield snail (mail run by g)

Communities, in-real-life communities.

Dancing, knitting, cooking, sports, gardening, board games. Which activity is secondary, what is crucial is that people can come (no matter if they feel great or not), can bring friends, with low pressure (so they can sit and talk, no need to actually dance, cook or so).

Regularity is crucial - weekly are the best.

We (reading this) can't do anything. An enlightened government might set policy in such ways as to fix this over the course of decades, but I don't even seen that being acknowledged as possible or desirable in those same decades. The problem will continue to deteriorate until it becomes catastrophic.

i like loneliness. in my teens i could not encourage my friends to travel so i went on my own and was happy. in my twenties i would comfortably break up my relationships if i knew i could be happier alone. i have worked overseas for extended periods alone. i am old now but i am happy alone. i enjoy my huge garden alone. i avoid crowds. I online shop instead of travelling to a store if i can. I just have no connection to people around me anymore and i have been able to recognise this need in me and encourage myself to follow my own understanding of a happy life. I have no real regrets. I am in a good position financially and have nobody to really bother me. I can look ahead to the next month or two and feel happy knowing there is nothing on the horizon to displace my solitude.

I wish I understood how people arrived at this state in the first place…

My parents are retired boomers who’ve lived in the same area for decades. This has afforded them a strong local fried network, despite being an ocean away from their homeland and extended families. Mom and her friends have a weekly gathering to chat and have tea/cake.

My wife and I likewise have a geoup of local friends. We get together quarterly or so for a group dinner. The wives usually organize that. Most of the guys are cat enthusiasts and/or cyclists so we see each many weekends.

Is this mostly a Millenial thing? Is there a whole generation that for whatever reason never found hobbies outside work?

I visit whatever sport activity I can find. Like Go Karting, gymnastics, bouldering, etc and always start asking pro guys: “yo, how come you visit this so often? How do you get fun from it?”. And people lovely tell their story. Later they teach me how to do things. It works for me.

I am a solo bootstrap founder, ultra lonely.