While there's an issue, I kind of feel its a temporary gap as society changes. A generation or two ago, family was everything. Today, less so. My grandparent's

While there's an issue, I kind of feel its a temporary gap as society changes. A generation or two ago, family was everything. Today, less so. My grandparent's entire social circle was their family, children and grandchildren. My mother was half and half. My entire social circle is made out of people I met through speciality interests and made friends with (board games, videogames, engineering meetups, etc). I'm honestly at capacity: I could not really afford to keep touch with any more people than I actually do. But unlike family, those people are "replaceable". Don't read this as "disposable". Rather, with family, if they move away or die, you can't (easily) get more. With friends though, you always can. If you have extensive channels to tap for to meet more people and potential friends, you'll never be lonely against your will. The new generation is more and more that way, and there's a clash with the old one. Once the majority's like that though, it won't be an issue. The old people 30-40 years from now will be playing MMORPGs, board games and going to Pax together when they need to see friends. It's already happening.