Financial Times data journalist John Burn-Murdoch reports that social isolation is getting worse, particularly among young Americans. In 2023, roughly one in 10 Americans aged 23 to 29 spent an entire day without any face-to-face contact. The most socially active quarter of young adults has largely recovered from the pandemic, but the least social 10% have gone from spending about a third of their day around other people to virtually none. The decline goes beyond young people. Americans spent an average of 350 minutes a week with friends in 2003–2005. By 2022–2024, that had fallen to roughly 170 minutes. Friday nights spent with friends dropped from 9% to just 4%.
Americans are increasingly choosing solitude over socializing, per FT: pic.twitter.com/ysS1Kz6pq9
— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) November 4, 2026
The pandemic accelerated the trend, but it started years earlier. Remote work, smartphones, online entertainment, food delivery and fewer everyday encounters have made staying home easier than meeting people.
https://www.ft.com/content/c3a36d9e-0ded-4898-abed-e9d5ff8be78a
https://www.axios.com/2026/07/05/americans-socializing-decline
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