Are Americans becoming more isolated and lonely? We’re certainly spending more time alone.
According to the book The Lonely American, by Jacqueline Olds and Richard Schwartz (Beacon Press), 25.8 percent of Americans lived in one-person households in the year 2000, more than triple the 7.7 percent in 1940. From 1985 to 2004, the number of people who said they had no one to discuss important matters with tripled, to almost 25 percent. As we spend more time on the Internet, are we losing touch with the people around us, or just finding new ways of connecting?