Americans are spending less time hanging out than they were 20 years ago — and the trend cuts across every generation, Axios' Erica Pandey writes from new American Time Use Survey data.
Why it matters: It's a fundamental shift in the way we live our lives that has implications for everything from what we believe to how long we live.
By the numbers: Average time spent socializing per day has fallen from 45 to 35 minutes over the last 20 years.
The decline is steepest among young people: 15- to 24-year-olds went from spending an hour a day hanging out with others to 35 minutes.
Between the lines: Sociologists and psychologists point to several trends driving this phenomenon, which Substack writer Derek Thompson dubbed "The Anti-Social Century" in the Atlantic last year.
We're all on our smartphones, often interacting through screens instead of face to face — even though social media is no substitute for spending time together in person. Teens, in particular, spend an average of 4.8 hours a day on apps like TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat, according to Gallup.
The shift to remote work — and life — during the pandemic has persisted, keeping more of us homebound.
Read more........
I was thinking about this a few days ago. I know personally I do much less in person socializing and way more online compared to a decade ago.
That's normal life cycle stuff. This is comparing your behavior to the old men of previous years.
When I was young the old men in the area used to gather at the coffee shop at the mall and talk about old men stuff. I only talk about old men stuff online.
We have to start going to meetups with the other old men.
I tried to connect with the Muskoka bitcoin guys which would be the closest meet up to me but it's all the way in Haliburton which is northeast of Toronto while I am northwest. It would be just as long a drive as Toronto except I wouldn't have to deal with the traffic.
I am very similar. 10 years ago, or 20 years ago, I was like all the time Am ng friends and colleagues. Now I can count my social (off-net) connections on my fingertips.
Well sometimes I feel all family members hunched over their phones, not exchanging a word during their dinner. Seems like a worldwide shift of people retreating into themselves
And life expectancy going down….
Yes, our culture is broken but it feels like it might be healing a little.