Social media and sensationalized news is definitely not helping. But I think the bigger issue is lack of community and close social bonds. Americans have signi

Social media and sensationalized news is definitely not helping. But I think the bigger issue is lack of community and close social bonds. Americans have significantly fewer close friends than previous generations[1]. They're much less likely to know their next-door neighbors[2]. Church attendance (which has traditionally been a major source of social capital) is way down, especially among young people[3]. Membership in civic organizations like the Masons and League of Women Voters has virtually disappeared among young people[4]. Adult sports leagues have sharply declining participation[5]. Even family reunions are disappearing[6]. These trends all started in the 1980s, well before social media and clickbait headlines. Robert Putnam published Bowling Alone in 2000. In a lot of ways I think modern Internet culture is a reaction, not a cause, of our social atomization and anomie. People are lonely and searching for human interaction in any form, even if it's just culture war bickering with strangers on the web. Of course the problem is its a poor substitution for real-life relationships. Online interaction offers a temporarily relief of loneliness without conferring any of the long-term mental health benefits of actual social interaction. [1] https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5509381 https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=550938... [2] https://finance.yahoo.com/news/daily-digit-americans-dont-know-neighbors-144721502.html https://finance.yahoo.com/news/daily-digit-americans-dont-kn... [3] https://www.pewforum.org/2019/10/17/in-u-s-decline-of-christianity-continues-at-rapid-pace/ https://www.pewforum.org/2019/10/17/in-u-s-decline-of-christ... [4] https://prospect.org/infrastructure/strange-disappearance-civic-america/ https://prospect.org/infrastructure/strange-disappearance-ci... [5] https://www.athleticbusiness.com/Recreation/slow-pitch-softball-s-participation-decline-challenges-rec-professionals.html https://www.athleticbusiness.com/Recreation/slow-pitch-softb... [6] https://www.wyso.org/post/family-reunions-tradition-decline https://www.wyso.org/post/family-reunions-tradition-decline