Best Friends Is So 20th Century
Posted on October 22nd, 2006 | Filed under Human Interest | No CommentsBest friends are a dying species. According to researchers:
longer hours in competitive workplaces and the rise of the internet society have led to a generation of young men almost bereft of close friends.
The research is mentioned in an article in The Sunday Times today.
The researchers find close friendship has been replaced by a multitude of “semidetached” work colleagues and “chatroom chums” met on the internet. What I found particularly interesting is the fact that:
The most lonely include twentysomething men who have lost touch with school or university friends and found nobody to replace them.
I’m 33 and have quite some people I consider friends, of whom a few really close. The level of friendships amongst twentysomethings is declining and future generations will possibly be without friends altogether. When visiting birthdays and such, I notice that the younger members of my family are often completely occupied by their Nintendo’s. They are often just virtual representations of kids, seemingly not much different from autistic people. I sometimes wonder how they will ever be able to grow any relationships.
The future is lonely.
