Jul -- General Chat: Lack of Friends

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Jul - General Chat - Lack of Friends

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— Anya —

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Posted on 10-11-07 07:46:11 PM; last edit by Anya on 10-11-07 07:46 PM

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This article is over a year old, but I bet it still holds true...hell, it might be worse now.

Personally, this is true for me. I have less time (work is a HUGE factor) and when I do have free time, I'm too broke after bills to really go out, so I play video games (usually with the people that I work with). *sighs*

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While friends may once have been the link between people and their social lives, a new study shows they are taking a back seat to many Americans' busy lives.

Compiling data from the General Social Survey of the National Opinion Research Center, Duke University and University of Arizona scholars have found that more than 50 percent of people admitted to having at most two close friends. The participants were chosen from across the country to represent the American adult population.

"One of the questions that we asked was with whom they discuss important matters," said Lynn Smith-Lovin, a Duke sociology professor.

In 1985, people said they had a mean number of 2.94 "close confidants"; by 2004, that number had dropped to 2.08, a decrease of nearly 30 percent. Social change may be to blame for the drop in the number of close pals, Smith-Lovin said, noting the way people spend their time these days affects the relationships Americans have with one another.

"More families are working in the paid labor force, and more women are working," she said.

Additionally, the number of people admitting to having no one in their lives to confide in more than doubled from 1985-2004, from 10 to 25 percent.

The ways in which people connect with one another have also changed, the researchers found.

"More people may be using the Internet, e-mail, and instant messaging to keep in touch," Smith-Lovin said.

While the overall number of close buddies in Americans' lives have decreased, she said, the relationships people have now are centered on their spouses or partners and immediate family members.

"Close relationships with people from the neighborhood or community groups have declined," she said. "People aren't spending enough time with their neighbors."

Smith-Lovin added that if Americans continue to confide only in their partners, and something happens to the relationship, their social support may be at risk.

Agreeing with Smith-Lovin, Jennifer Glanville, a UI assistant professor of sociology, said, "Americans may be more socially isolated."

She was surprised at the data regarding "close confidants" and noted that more people across the country are using the Internet, which she believes may strengthen individuals' social bonds.

"The Internet offers more ways to be tied to each other," Glanville said.

Many theories surround the decrease in the number of Americans' close friends, she said.

"More people are watching television, there is less involvement in the community, Americans are working longer hours, and there is less time to do other things," she said.

In August, the participants of this survey will be reinterviewed and asked the same questions. While confident in the survey, Smith-Lovin cautioned that it only focused on one of many social connections.

"We don't know if other ties are going down or up," she said. "This study tells us something about how society is connected - but not everything."

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Drag
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Posted on 10-11-07 07:52:08 PM

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Drag's Post #315

I still have my friends from grade school, but most of them don't go to the same college that I do, so I rarely get to see them while classes are going.

That's one of the reasons I have a Facebook account, my friends all have accounts there, so I can at least keep in touch and know what they're doing, even if I can't be physically present most of the time.

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Posted on 10-11-07 08:00:38 PM

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Eh, all my friends that I know from high school (hell, add in elementary and middle school) don't talk to me. I talk to someone more often and only met him within the last year.

That isn't because I'm always busy, but its because they just don't care. If you don't do what they do, they really don't care about you. At least that is what I have dealt with.

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Posted on 10-11-07 08:27:41 PM

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Machi-Machi v. Kyan!

I could post a sob story and say I go home every night to no one and technically it'd be true.

But it's not true; I have a cat.

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Posted on 10-11-07 08:30:02 PM

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Originally posted by Haruhi Suzumiya
That isn't because I'm always busy, but its because they just don't care. If you don't do what they do, they really don't care about you. At least that is what I have dealt with.

That's in many ways true. We haven't grown up much since elementary, eh?

"I don't want to play this game."

Everyone: "Screw you then lol."

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Posted on 10-11-07 08:31:55 PM

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More like:

Everyone: "Let's suck up to the teacher to get good grades and after school go get drunk?"
Me: "I'll not."
Everyone: "You are lame go back to playing DDR then nobody cares what you think."

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Posted on 10-11-07 08:43:51 PM

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It's a layout... that I worked hard on. ^_^
----------------------------------------------------

Originally posted by Haruhi Suzumiya
More like:

Everyone: "Let's suck up to the teacher to get good grades and after school go get drunk?"
Me: "I'll not."
Everyone: "You are lame go back to playing DDR then nobody cares what you think."

Im lucky to grow up in a community with a bunch of friends I guess. We'll see what happens to that after I go away to college. =/

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Posted on 10-11-07 09:25:02 PM

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I've had no friends except for online friends, because I am homeschooled and the place where I live has 30 year olds and 7 year olds only.

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Posted on 10-11-07 09:26:57 PM

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It's all Youtube's fault. I looked at my profile page, and it told me so.

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Posted on 10-11-07 09:54:44 PM; last edit by TheGreatGuy on 10-11-07 09:55 PM

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I laughed my ass off when I saw the YouTube thing when I made my account, so innocent of its own bluntness. Aside, the article seems rather accurate to me. I have 2 very close friends, and then a larger group of people I like, and can talk to, but rarely do anything with.

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Posted on 10-12-07 12:06:34 AM

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JL2 - Post #1295 - 10-11-07 07:06:34 PM

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Originally posted by BooUrns
It's all Youtube's fault. I looked at my profile page, and it told me so.

lawl at the use of the USB logo.

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Posted on 10-12-07 01:51:47 AM

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leys see, I have a few freinds that I see at Community college that I knew from Highschool. I have the freinds I see when I play ITG. I have the people online.

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Posted on 10-12-07 02:20:06 AM

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**** COMMODORE 64 BASIC V2 ****
64K RAM SYSTEM 38911 BASIC BYTES FREE
READY.

Most of my friends have been online since I started posting at boards in early 2002. And people say computers are anti-social...

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?SYNTAX ERROR
READY.

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Posted on 10-12-07 02:52:28 AM

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All my friends (including me) sucked up to the teacher then got drunk each night in high school.
Then I moved to Maine, where everyone is lame. Fucking lame.
If someone from the board here lives in Maine, please let me know. I need a friend in this strange place.

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Posted on 10-12-07 05:50:10 AM; last edit by Metal_Man88 on 10-12-07 05:50 AM

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10-11-07 11:50:10 PM 676 posts 100 days		Has too much free time 670
I've had one good friend all my life, and a network of IRC ones, and some I meet with for two weeks a year and go drive all over the Southwest with. So, yeah. I got enough friends to go around, of various types. Oh, and Xkeeper is my friend. People in general seem to like me. (Unless they're from VGF--but that's another story) ____________________
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Posted on 10-12-07 02:08:51 PM

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Daily Cycle II ~ 3335

Originally posted by Komachi Onozuka
But it's not true; I have a cat.

I don't think you have a cat, so much as the cat has you.

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Posted on 10-12-07 02:57:59 PM

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Who needs friends when you have a finance? Joking, but anyways, I have more of a social life than anything. Hell, even at work in friends with the manager (We play MGO on PSP alot) and some of the regulars who come in. ____________________ This layout has been endorsed by the Dark Empress, Queen of the Universe, Ranko-sama and therefore does not, in any given way, suck. Or so I'm supposed to say. Better Days

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Posted on 10-12-07 07:31:32 PM

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Originally posted by TheGreatGuy
I have 2 very close friends, and then a larger group of people I like, and can talk to, but rarely do anything with.

Wow, that sounds pretty familiar... Oh wait, that's me.

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Jul - General Chat - Lack of Friends

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