The Friendship Paradox: We all want more time with our friends, but we’re spending more time alone

Recent studies add nuance to the loneliness epidemic.

The typical American, it seems, texts a bunch of people “we should get together!” before watching TikTok alone on the couch and then passing out. That is, Americans have friends. We just never really see them.

— Olga Khazan at The Atlantic

Americans typically say they have four or five friends, which is a siimilar number to past studies. But the friends don’t know each other, Americans are frequently busy, we don’t to church much or participate in group activities, so getting together is hard and we don’t do it.