Earlier quoted context omitted.
Try Bumble's BFF feature
Anecdotal evidence suggests not all Bumble BFF seekers actually have platonic intentions, kind of defeating the point of the feature.
The "plausible deniability" feature.
Nearly Half of Americans Are Lonely
161–170 of 344 posts
Re: Nearly Half of Americans Are Lonely
#162Another sad downside to people fetishizing work...and the wealth that apparently results. Right now people are just alone and grumbling, but give it another ten years and you will see this morph into alcoholism and/or drug abuse. Only a very few will be happy in a society where every interaction is a dick-measuring contest or chance to argue. It's not too late to move to a hick town, find a spouse, pop out some kids…
>give it another ten years and you will see this morph into alcoholism and/or drug abuse
Have you looked at rates of alcohol and opiate abuse recently? It's already happening.
Re: Nearly Half of Americans Are Lonely
#163Earlier quoted context omitted.
I use dating apps regularly when traveling for exactly that. You'd be surprised how willing people are to meetup without the pressure of dating/sex being involved. Fly into a city for work, meetup for fun, and make a new friend for next time.
Couchsurfing's mobile app has functionality now where you can post asking to meet up with nearby travelers.
It's quite badly done, IMO.
1. People tend to only join other established groups rather than message individuals.
2. You can only send a hello to someone else and hope they see it or respond back (you can't even look at their profile from the Hangout section). Mostly, they won't respond.
3. Hangouts allows the same person to join as many groups as they want, even though the suggested events are happening at the same time.
4. Just like regular CS events, most people that say they will go often do not show up.
They need to seriously fix all that and develop it into its own app to flesh it out.
Re: Nearly Half of Americans Are Lonely
#164[deleted]
Re: Nearly Half of Americans Are Lonely
#165In NYC, where I live, I would never strike up a conversation with a random stranger. The first thought that crosses my mind is, "oh they're probably on their way to work", or "they seem busy on their phone", etc.
Our smartphones, tablets, headphones definitely make us less approachable. But our attitudes towards work is also to blame. There is this culture of being busy in NYC all the time, it's almost as if people take pride in it. This probably shows in our body language too.
I feel especially alone on crowded trains. Everybody is staring at their phones or trying really hard to not make eye contact. No wonder a lot of out-of-towners feel NYC is an intimidating place and the people are rude.
Re: Nearly Half of Americans Are Lonely
#166I'm 21 years old, I grew up online. I started on myspace and chat via gmail, eventually moving to Facebook.
Fast forward through an early highschool graduation, and taking most college classes online: I have no idea how on Earth I am to socialize with people in the real world.
I quit and deactivated Facebook in January, and since I have felt so truly alone. Each day I ride an uber to my dev job, work mostly by myself, then ride back to my apartment. I speak with my coworkers, but all business, and rarely speak with the drivers because it feels so awkward and strange.
To me, it feels like it's going to get worse. I am personally upset that my abilities to connect with other people my age feels so stunted because of the Web. And now, kids in this school district use smartphones in 6th grade.
A lot of this is likely bias, my mental health is really suffering, and I've bounced in and out of therapy for awhile. So take it with a grain of salt.
Re: Nearly Half of Americans Are Lonely
#167I think a huge factor is the growing theme of social interaction being unacceptable. Back in the day you could walk up to and make friends with almost anyone, it wasn't weird to interact with strangers, thus making new acquaintances. Modern society stigmatizes that kind of interaction, don't talk to people you don't know if you don't want to be ostracized. You could want to befriend someone in a crowd, but come up wi…
[deleted]
Re: Nearly Half of Americans Are Lonely
#168For a long time I've been wanting a "Tinder For Platonic Adults" app. I'm not looking for romance or sex, but I want to find nearby matches with similar interests; do you drink, play board games, are you married, how many kids and what age? There are likely tens of matches for me within a 5 minute drive, I just don't know how to find them . I'm a friendly guy and would love to have that friend that feels comfortable…
> There are likely tens of matches for me within a 5 minute drive, I just don't know how to find them. I have found meetup.com to be exactly this. Not everybody at a meetup will click personally, but they're much more likely to share interests. One meetup group has completely changed my life, and I have met people I consider some of the best people I have ever encountered anywhere. And they all live right near me.
Meetup seems to be the go to recommendation for people to get out and meet others, but I've had the problem, at least in my area, of Meetup groups consisting of people much older than who I find it hard to connect with.
Re: Nearly Half of Americans Are Lonely
#169Earlier quoted context omitted.
Don't most people on dating apps actually look for dates, instead of just for some chat?
I think you'll find most people are sick of dating, and are completely open to something platonic. Maybe I'm just really, really, ridiculously good looking though.
Yeah I agree that a lot of people are probably sick of it. It's kind of strange trying to keep friend and dating spheres so separate. Would be better if there was easier ways to just meet people with shared values where finding dates was a potential bonus and not the end game.
Re: Nearly Half of Americans Are Lonely
#170Incredible how the subtext here is "loneliness requires healthcare" rather than, say, "loneliness requires coordinated social change". Almost as if the goal is "how can we frame loneliness as an illness and reap some sweet insurance money."
Public health crises require coordinated social change.
Go watch the movie The Godfather. Find the part where Don Corleone slaps a crying Johnny Fontaine across the face and yells: "You could be a man!"
Watch this as many times as you need to.
In the nineteenth century, teenagers were trekking across the continent with young wives and children in tow. Look at where we have arrived: mewling man-children.
Go join the Marines.