Source: Washington Post

Americans are far more socially isolated today than they were two decades ago, and a sharply growing number of people say they have no one in whom they can confide, according to a comprehensive new evaluation of the decline of social ties in the United States.

A quarter of Americans say they have no one with whom they can discuss personal troubles, more than double the number who were similarly isolated in 1985. Overall, the number of people Americans have in their closest circle of confidants has dropped from around three to about two.

The new research is based on a high-quality random survey of nearly 1,500 Americans. Telephone surveys miss people who are not home, but the General Social Survey, funded by the National Science Foundation, has a high response rate and conducts detailed face-to-face interviews, in which respondents are pressed to confirm they mean what they say.

Whereas nearly three-quarters of people in 1985 reported they had a friend in whom they could confide, only half in 2004 said they could count on such support. The number of people who said they counted a neighbor as a confidant dropped by more than half, from about 19 percent to about 8 percent.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/22/AR2006062201763.html

What do you shut-ins have to say about this? And are message boards such as Obner compounding the problem?

i don't feel comfortable discussing this. EOF

For me the social isolation has developed from living a great distance from most of my close friends or being too busy with work to see and talk to them on a regular basis. I think people go to places like Obner to converse without having that one friend or acquaintance who is constantly venting about their personal issues, but never cares enough to allow you to vent your own.

don't look at me, i'm reclusive from this board.

I dont like people, what can I say..

all I need is a porch (complete with necessary dog and rocking chair and beer) and music.

my brother from another planet.

Emo Growing In The U.S.

People open up like crazy on these message boards.

Yeah, I always feel really embarrassed for the Obners that go into great detail about the minutiae of their private lives.

That is for chat and the oracle that is ayah's soft belly.

Seriously though, isn't it nice to have a 2-D objective third party agreeing with everything you say? I need a "Yes" bot -- I've got a lot of layers that need dissecting.

The fact that you're reading about this study here pretty much confirms its findings.

I'm boarding from my bed. Brian Wilson never had it this good.

Solution: MDMA in the water supply.

That would probably have interesting consequences, like a subsequent jump in neon lighting sales, and the production of more really bad electronica...

I pretty much lied about all of it.

I'm ashamed of my large penis.

"Warner Bros. Pictures has announced that the fifth installment (of Harry Potter) will be released in U.S. theaters, including Imax screens, on July 13, 2007.