The lonely generation

Young hooked on social media are now more likely to feel isolated than elderly

AN Eleanor rigby generation of young people is growing up more likely to feel lonely than their elders, according to a survey.

it provides fresh evidence that those who have spent most of their lives in the shadow of social media are experiencing greater isolation than their parents and grandparents.

the survey found that four out of ten people aged between 16 and 24 say they are often lonely, compared with fewer than three out of ten over-65s.

it linked the increase of loneliness among the young directly with the rise of social media. those who say that they feel lonely have more Facebook friends they know only online than others, the survey found.

the analysis was based on the answers of 55,000 people to a questionnaire devised by academics at three universities and conducted for BBC radio 4’s All in the mind programme.

An official attempt to measure loneliness by the office for National statistics earlier this year also found loneliness is much more common among the young than among older generations.

the repeated findings that loneliness has taken a grip on younger people has led to tension over where official efforts to help the lonely should be targeted.

theresa may has appointed a minister for loneliness, tracey Crouch, who is likely to be faced with competing claims for assistance and money from different lobby groups.

the BBC survey found 40 per cent of respondents aged 16-24 said they were lonely often or very often, compared with 29 per cent of people aged 65-74 and 27 per cent of those aged over 75.

Participants were asked about their use of technology in the 40minute questionnaire. the results showed that those who say they feel lonely are likely to have more Facebook friends they do not know offline. Young people also said the least helpful way to end their loneliness that others suggested was to go out dating.

Around a third of survey participants also felt that loneliness goes deeper than being on your own and that it is possible to feel isolated in company.

the findings come amid increasing evidence of major changes in the behaviour of young people since the explosion of social media use a decade ago.

there have been significant falls in levels of smoking, drug abuse and drinking among the young, while the number of teenage preg- nancies has collapsed to a record low – a pattern that has resulted in today’s young being described as ‘generation sensible’.

However, there is evidence that young people are more likely than earlier generations to spend time alone with phones or tablets.

According to the ONS, 18-yearolds ‘spend almost half an hour less a day socialising than 18-yearolds at the start of the milliennium, while time spent watching and listening to films, TV and radio back in 2000 seems to have been replaced by time using computers and gaming’.

Heavy use of the internet also exposes young people to the risk of cyber-bullying or being bombarded with fake news and information.

Pamela Qualter, professor of psychology at the University of manchester, who led the latest study, said: ‘the response to the BBC Loneliness Experiment has been significant. People have provided valuable insights into when and how loneliness is experienced, how it relates to age, being alone, caring responsibilities, employability and discrimination.

‘For me, the most interesting findings relate to the stigma of loneliness and the varied solutions people had to overcome loneliness. those findings suggest we need to be kinder to ourselves when we feel disconnected from others, but also that there is a whole toolkit of potential solutions that we can try.’

‘Be kinder to ourselves’