All the lonely people

af_thefragile · 13-06-2013 02:04PM #1

Where do they all come from?

Lately I've been noticing it to be a growing trend (especially on the internet) more and more people seem to be all alone. I remember when I was a kid (before I became a teenager) I had plenty of friends and there was no one my class who had no friends. Now it seems every other person is lonely. Is it because as people grow older they become more lonely? Or is because the economy is ****e? Or is it because of the internet that people don't feel the need to talk to people in the real world anymore?

Why have we all become so lonesome???

13-06-2013 02:05PM

Maybe they always were and you're just hearing about it now

jaffacakesyum · 13-06-2013 02:05PM

Believe me there were lonely people "back in your day" too, it's not a new recent trend.

You can have all the friends in the world and still be lonely.

The Backwards Man · 13-06-2013 02:07PM

I'm a loner, but I'm not lonely.

af_thefragile · 13-06-2013 02:07PM

jaffacakesyum wrote: »

Believe me there were lonely people "back in your day" too, it's not a new recent trend.

You can have all the friends in the world and still be lonely.

What about people who have no friends?
Why do people become lonely?
Why won't anyone be their friend?
No one should be condemned to live a life of solitude like that...

The Backwards Man · 13-06-2013 02:12PM

af_thefragile wrote: »

What about people who have no friends?
Why do people become lonely?
Why won't anyone be their friend?
No one should be condemned to live a life of solitude like that...

Having friends is vastly overrated.

13-06-2013 02:27PM

I remember when boards.ie was only guys, then a girl joined , trolls and mods followed :mad:

IM0 · 13-06-2013 02:31PM

being alone =/= lonely, some people like to be alone

Frank Black · 13-06-2013 02:32PM

The Backwards Man wrote: »

I'm a loner, but I'm not lonely.

I've got ham, but I'm not a hamster.

AngeGal · 13-06-2013 02:33PM

I would suggest that the development of technology is a serious contributor. I don't know if any studies have been done on this but there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that people, especially children/teenagers, are spending significantly more time indoors than twenty years ago. Facebook is great but a quick chat on there isn't the same thing as spending an hour with a friend.

frank reynolds · 13-06-2013 02:34PM

im pretty sure that a lot of it is to do with the internet and (un)social media online. it absolutely without a doubt is addictive, meaning people are spending more and more time online and neglecting real life relationships until they dont exist anymore. In time, the person addicted to social media or being online is thinking "wow i have 1000 friends on facebook" without acknowledging the fact that they have lost all their real friends and now live online in a sad make-believe world full of nothing but avatars of other lonely people who this has also happened to.

crazygeryy · 13-06-2013 02:38PM

Frank Black wrote: »

I've got ham, but I'm not a hamster.

I've got soul but I'm not a soldier.

IM0 · 13-06-2013 02:42PM

crazygeryy wrote: »

I've got soul but I'm not a soldier.

killer thing to say

who_me · 13-06-2013 02:43PM

Working longer hours - less time to socialise.
TV/web/social media - lots of alternatives to going out.
Busier, more stressful work/life - lots of people want to just close the door on the world when they get home, not have to worry about what anyone thinks of them.

I think we're definitely moving in the direction of being more alone, and I'm not sure it's a good thing. Maybe what we want and what we need are two different things. It's kind of funny that the poorer you are, the more likely you are to be in a house sharing with many people; but the richer you are the more likely you are to be in a bigger house alone, maybe with a big garden around it, maybe walled-in. So the richer you get the more you isolate yourself.

Freddy Smelly · 13-06-2013 02:46PM

crazygeryy wrote: »

I've got soul but I'm not a soldier.

thats just poor... 0/10

krudler · 13-06-2013 02:52PM

IM0 wrote: »

being alone =/= lonely, some people like to be alone

Big time, constantly being around other people annoys me I like my own company

biko · 13-06-2013 02:54PM

http://themetapicture.com/guide-to-understanding-the-introverted/

Upstream · 13-06-2013 02:54PM

Frank Black wrote: »

I've got ham, but I'm not a hamster.

I've got pants, but I'm not a panther

13-06-2013 02:57PM

who_me wrote: »

Working longer hours - Busier, more stressful work/life

This is certainly a factor. Some people simply do not have the time or energy to put some effort in to do things - find things - or arrange things to help alleviate their lonliness.

Some years ago when I spent a lot more time going to live music I started posting on the message boards of bands or singers I liked and organising a central meet up point for fans to have "Pre gig Drinks".

Most of the people who came came alone. People who had no one else to go to the gig with. They would have stayed alone had someone - in this case me - not put in the effort to arrange / organise something.

Instead they ended up meeting people - some making new friends - and even some making new lovers (in fact this is how I met my partners at one of these nights).

Sometimes the effort is small - posting a time and a venue on a message board takes all of 10 seconds - but someone simply making that effort can have a massive effect.

So yes I would agree time - energy - and motivation is a big factor in this and despite feeling massively lonely even the smallest effort to alleviate that can seem like climbing a mountain.

Latchy · 13-06-2013 02:59PM

The title of your thread OP comes from a song written and released in 1965 so loneliness is nothing knew and while the idea of been alone for even a day with no friends or family around is terrifying for some , even the most self reliant person or loner will sometimes want company and it's normal natural and healthy to have people around ' some of the time ' .

who_me wrote: »

lots of people want to just close the door on the world when they get home, not have to worry about what anyone thinks of them.

True , home for most of us is the refuge from the big bad world where we can create our own ambience and mood .

Hownowcow · 13-06-2013 03:21PM

At one stage in my life I had a lot of what I considered friends. However I realised that they weren't really friends, they were acquaintances. I now have a small number of people in my life. They are my friends.

I live alone and enjoy my own company but having these people as friends is wonderful. Real friendship can never be overrated.

The Backwards Man wrote: »

Having friends is vastly overrated.

Apologies Mr. Backwards Man. I admire your posts but I have to disagree with you on this one.

IM0 · 13-06-2013 03:23PM

Freddy Smelly wrote: »

thats just poor... 0/10

oi, leave gerry alone, shes a friend of mine

Mocha Joe · 13-06-2013 03:26PM

I used to think the worst thing in life was to end up all alone. It's not. The worst thing in life is ending up with people who make you feel all alone.

BraziliaNZ · 13-06-2013 03:35PM

blah blah irish women fake tan blah blah misguided expectations blah blah sex and the city

nelly17 · 13-06-2013 03:36PM

Mocha Joe wrote: »

I used to think the worst thing in life was to end up all alone. It's not. The worst thing in life is ending up with people who make you feel all alone.

Seemed more profound coming from Robin WIlliams

Wattle · 13-06-2013 04:00PM

I like being alone. It's peaceful and anyway people are full of sh1t.

nelly17 · 13-06-2013 04:20PM

I have gotten to a point where I really enjoy my moments of being alone, but thats because theres not much of them. I dont know if I could hack being alone for any sustained period of time.

I do feel sorry for people who feel alone no matter what.

Mr.Prodston · 13-06-2013 04:43PM

The Backwards Man wrote: »

I'm a loner, but I'm not lonely.

Frank Black wrote: »

I've got ham, but I'm not a hamster.

crazygeryy wrote: »

I've got soul but I'm not a soldier.

Upstream wrote: »

I've got pants, but I'm not a panther

I've got hips, but I'm not a hipster.

Isn't that Ironic? :pac:

Hoop66 · 13-06-2013 04:46PM

crazygeryy wrote: »

I've got soul but I'm not a soldier.

Aaah...soul.

old hippy · 13-06-2013 04:57PM

Sometimes, in the heaving metropolis, I like to be alone. Other times, I wish I was back home but then, times have changed, people have their own lives and you can't go back and recreate the past.

Mocha Joe · 13-06-2013 05:02PM

nelly17 wrote: »

Seemed more profound coming from Robin WIlliams

Does anything seem more profound coming from Robin Williams? He was good in that though.

All the lonely people

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