Our Loneliness Epidemic
An interesting phenomenon has surfaced in our society. We are less alone because of the increased convenience and efficiency of connecting with others through digital tools, but we are feeling more lonely than ever. This phenomenon is often referred to as the loneliness paradox.
Figure 2. Source: M. Ross, Elizabeth. (2024, October 24). Retrieved from:
https://www.gse.harvard.edu/ideas/usable-knowledge/24/10/what-causing-our-epidemic-loneliness-and-how-can-we-fix-it
From 2020 to 2024, the Making Caring Common (MCC) project from Harvard Graduate School researched loneliness with a national survey (Ross 2024).
The findings revealed significant differences in feelings of loneliness between age groups.
The graph further demonstrates the loneliness paradox because the oldest age group reported the least amount of loneliness despite typically being the most isolated and alone age group. Considering older age groups are less digitally connected than younger age groups, there seems to be an inverse relationship between digital connectedness and actual feeling of connectedness.
Generational Differences
The percent of people in different age groups who reported strong feelings of loneliness:
Explanations for Epidemic
Alongside their 2020-2024 study of loneliness, the Making Caring Common (MCC) project from Harvard Graduate School asked the public to share their thoughts on the main reasons for the growing loneliness issue in America (Ross 2024).
What factors do people contribute the problem of loneliness in America to?
Technology being the most popular factor to blame further feeds into the paradox where we are more digitally connected, but still feel more lonely. It seems that an important thing to distinguish is how much we should limit our use of technology in order to optimally balance our physical benefits from the technology with the negative effects on our mental well-being.
The University of Michigan Institute for Social Research offers another explanation regarding the concept of solitude.
Solitude is the state of being alone with one's own thoughts. In our current society, solitude is portrayed in a negative way, which exacerbates feelings of loneliness in people who are in a physically solitary state (Pires 2025). This would be why older people, who engage less with this media, are more comfortable being alone with their own thoughts and generally feel less lonely compared to the younger generations.