Aging, not smartphones, drives US’s growing loneliness crisis
In a recent study in PLoS One, researchers examined how birth cohort, time period, and age shape the time that people spend alone when social media and smartphone use are widespread. Their findings show that social isolation has increased sharply over the past two decades, accelerating since the mid-2010s. However, smartphones alone cannot explain these changes, with generational differences and aging contributing to isolation. Background The U.S. Surgeon General described isolation and loneliness as a national epidemic in 2023, pointing to online...
