Liberal Talk Radio

…and say my glory was I had such friends…er, or friend…buddy.. um..okay, would you believe, “close acquaintance”?

Unsurprisingly, despite the rise of Friendster, MySpace and other technologies expressly designed to give you more friends, people report fewer close confidants than 20 years ago, according to a Duke University study:

Those interviewed in 1985 had an average of almost three confidants they felt they could share important matters with. By 2004 the average was barely two.

The number of people who say they have no one with whom to discuss important matters more than doubled to nearly 25 percent in 2004, up from 10 percent of those surveyed in 1985.

But wait… there’s a Putnam-esque Bowling Alone argument here, too:

The authors, who include researchers from the University of Arizona, said a broader network of friends creates a “safety net,” more civic engagement and local political action.

Though the authors cite, “an increase in work hours and the influence of Internet communication” as possible sources, it seems like an increasingly transient population needs to be factored in there, too. Moving takes a toll.

In that same vein, those of us who are fortunate enough to bounce from city to city in our lives also have a much larger network of “latent” friends: people we’re close with and with whom we’d pick up where we left off if and when we ended up living in close proximity once again. I imagine I must have at least a dozen of those folks scattered across the globe. Probably more.

Anyway, this is your deep thought for the weekend. But don’t dwell on it too long… for God’s sake go out and call a friend!

(P.S.: post title comes from Yeats, not me)