Loneliness is statistically on the rise in many parts of the world, and people in many countries like the U.S and UK have reported having less close friends than in previous decades. Do you feel like you struggle to make friends, do you want more friends? Or have you had no problems? In any case how have your experiences been trying to make friends?

Edited 9/24/2023 02:25:07

more friends is good, too many friends is maybe chaotic. good friends are the best. online dating is a bane to companionship :D i think anyway...

Completely agree with the sentiment of this post, loneliness is on the rise, especially for younger people. Current demographics are fucked, and low birth rates do have a negative impact on young people, and will continue to do so in the coming years, as our population gradually becomes older.

Making genuine friends after university is really difficult. I would say find a social hobby or something you can do in a group. I finished uni almost four years now, and I would say ive only made two genuine friends since then, both through taking part in sports.

I agree with Tacky, online dating sucks and has made finding a meaningful relationship even more difficult for younger people especially imo, and especially for young men. The number of men under 30 being single is double what it is for women in that same age bracket (https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/the-state-of-our-unions/202302/why-are-so-many-young-men-single-and-sexless). Literally none of my friends (including me :/ ) are in committed relationships.

I think the most important part when it comes to friends, is to have close friends. Then have different groups (i.e. work 'friends' and hobby 'friends'). I say 'friends' because you only really hang out with them because you share an environment, theyre not really close friends, you dont hang out outside of the environments you share.

I dont think making many friends is the goal. But having many people to hang out with is definitely helpful. The more exposure you have to different groups.

Lastly, i wouldnt say you should "try" to make friends. Friendships, like relationships, should come about organically. The first friend i genuinely made outside of university i met him through netball. He asked the group if anybody wanted to grab a drink after netball (we were 14), and i was the only one that said yes. I ended up chatting with him for hours, and weve been hanging out regularly ever since. Im going on a two day conference with him in October. Dont go looking for something, live your life proactively and let shit happen to you imo.

EDIT: When i say "we were 14" i mean that there were 14 of us in the group, not that we were 14 years old

Edited 10/18/2023 08:08:29

Sometimes you might have many close friends, but you may not be in their Friend Group, or any Friend Group in general. Like You're most of the times left out.

That was my experience a couple years ago.

use this time to work on yourselves kings.

I prefer few close friends and having many acquaintances. Easiest for me to make friends with someone I see regularly (like coworkers or society members when I was at uni). Most of the time it’s just to get along with others but I don’t have much in common with most. Of like 20 people in the work place, I had about 5 friends and 1 close friend. The close friend has a side project of making an arcade machine and putting games on it and as similar views as me, even though being about double my age. A couple of the friends we had a joke of flirting with each other. One of them had similar film interests as me. The others I could have a laugh with.

Guessing newer generations struggle because of spending all their time on ‘social media’ which is actually antisocial.

I’ve never been in a relationship, not really looking and it’s not like there are others nearby that I would actually like or have similar interests as me and build up from there.

my best friends are the twitch streamers to whom I donate my money <333

why dont you donate to me??!! *feelsbadman*

I'll be your friend

Great post Marcus!

really grover?

I can be your friend too, Jack

do you want to be my friend as well? i need new/more friends

i'll be anyone's friend if they're cool, most warzoners are cool ^^

Always has been. I interpret things differently and write/sketch ideas no one would understand but me.

Being sheltered in the heart of a city and not playing outside as is the standard (pre-pandemic), I have had some traumatizing moments when I couldn't understand things.

It has affected me by the ton, and now I'm a complete enigma to all.