A film by Shimi Cohen.

While our focus is shifting towards individual achievements over community, more and more people are feeling lonely. They feel vulnerable opening up to others for warm, friendly, heart-to-heart conversations. Then, along comes social media… As people share and chat from islands of isolation, filtering and massaging information, they are undermining the genuine credibility of conversation. Bits and pieces of tweets, posts and chats aren’t allowing people either to open up or understand others. Are these online connections actually helping with loneliness, or they are making it worse? Could this social media activity be chipping away at your quiet time as well, when you could think and reflect? Learn more in this fast-pace, animated video based on the work of Sherry Turkle and Dr. Yair Amichal-Hamburger.

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  • Shashi

    i feel social media is directly contributing to loneliness as people hardly finding time to talk to each other rather texting is more comfortable for the present generation. They are always engrossed in tweeting with and find little time for interaction. Man is moving away from societal life.

  • O

    A rather brilliant depiction of Loneliness in a virtual age, but the focus of the video is rigorously defined to facets of economic prosperity and technological literary. Where is the INNOVATION? In the spirit of Conversation, how do you feel the 10 key points to the Art of Innovation - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mtjatz9r-Vc -might contribute to the transformation of Loneliness in our everyday lives?

  • Gaurav gadhiya

    How forget our lonelness

  • Lynn

    After having to quit working at @48 yrs old, and in the last year moving away from where I had lived for 40 years, I am truly experiencing loneliness. I'm now almost 62 years old and although I still talk to my closest friends , it's not the same as having coffee once a week with them. I've been married to my husband for 35 yrs. and am driving him crazy because when he comes home from work (he works nights) I am so needy for companionship and he just wants to unwind. I never envisioned this for myself, once a strong independent woman and now so lonely. I'm driving myself crazy. i

  • Hope

    I can almost see why my daughter threw us away. They have a large social media group and still being in the workplace, they meet new people constantly so why deal with elderly parents when they feel fulfilled. Instead throw us away. Thanks for the message. Oh and since we moved thousands of miles from family and friends and babysat for 5 years until she didn't need us anymore, we really are alone and lonely.

  • Bhupendra

    Precise. Every innovation and invention has two sides one positive and the other negative. Persons above 50 by now must have close friends unless they are unlucky. Thus the problem of loneliness will inflict the younger generation who are hooked on the modern gizmos. They need to be aware of drawbacks and advantages of any new innovation and inventions. Take care young ones. Love.

  • Chris

    I think there is a sense of lost in the art of intmate conversation nothing is worst then being with someone who whip out their smart phone and starts texting someone else I find this rude and mostly that the person does not value my friendship which makes me feel like a non being might as well be sitting at home alone then ..

  • Jenny

    While I think the video brings up some negatives of social media I want to also point out the other side. Social media has allowed lonely people to form meaningful connections and help each other through trials and life challenges. If there is doubt visit any online self-help community even the ones hosted by Facebook. Within these groups learning and support are provided to those who may otherwise have none where they are living. Let's not throw out the baby with the bath water please. Let's in fact learn to use social media for positive ends.

  • Leslie

    Beautifully done! And, I totally agree. As a 71 year old mother, grandmother, friend and psychotherapist I mourn the loss o conversation, intimacy and authenticity. I sit in horror as I see gaggles of girls sitting together, but not talking to each other, or one o my grandchildren tells me they are listening to me as I speak with them as they are frantically texting,instagraming or some other new thing...I insist they turn off their phones...They are not pleased!

  • Susan Penn

    Who hasn't had the underlying feeling, even premonition while posting the latest Facebook experiences, of this very phenomenon. This is a powerful video and vehicle for realizing the importance of human conversation, contact, and all the imperfection that comes with real intimacy. Love it!

  • Melanie

    How very very true....but the good news is, we have the ability to fix our loneliness by merely shutting off the technology and 'doing' ...visit the elderly / or a nursing home if you don't have any old aunts/uncles in your family; bake cookies and then give them away (...to your neighbor if you don't know your neighbor). Yes, it's all fixable, but it starts with you using your voice instead of your technology. So, will you shut it off and step out ?? I hope so. Have a blessed day!

  • Brian

    Thank Guys. Great conversation starter. Yup, social media, and the tech revolution is so permeating and marketed, that it's easy to miss the bigger picture in the long term. Oneness? Therefore, we must be aware of new inputs that effect our minds, and basic peace. While, also not "losing out" on the benefits and joy of the new tech. Especially for those in the workforce. There are trade offs with anything. Many of us believe that the progressive exponential tech relationship, is part of a divine plan to solve the world's problems. We all have our ideas. Be well...Thanks...peace...

  • Don

    The video was well made and offered a good point. One of my pet peeves is the excellent analysis without offering solutions to the problem. Isn't it ironic that this message comes from the very source of the problem outlined? How about we use social media to enhance in-person connections? One good example is Couchsurfing. There are many others to look at before techno-bashing.

  • Suresh pai

    Cure is to choose a book as a companion. It instructs in youth and comforts in old age . Prof. Suresh Pai

  • Loni

    What is even worse is I did not know of an app? on my gmail that was called a defrauder(?!!!) that was shortening my chat messages from a paragraph to a sentence that was jumbled and made no sense until my only friend on that line took me off her chat? So I went back and looked at my chats......!!!

  • Diana

    Thank you for illustrating my long held belief. Diana

  • bilkis yusuf

    in this age of fAST LIFE THAT WE ARE LEADING, worrk, work, work, we don't reaise the importance of sharing and caring, it is very imp. as the video shows that we give time to friends and family, to unwind and think for ourselves as to shere we are heading

  • meetakshi

    nice. well said... is it ironical that i feel like 'sharing'?! perhaps not... neither is the urge to share, nor the medium a problem... its the 'urge' taking over, its the disoriented priorities, its the excess, its the resulting excus-itis, the easy escapism and delusional sense of self and the world that obstructs REAL connections... thnx for making and sharing the message, vwey well presented too :)

  • wassup

    Interesting connection to the work of Dr. John Caccioppo who teaches about perceived loneliness and the many symptoms of this illness which constitute a major degree of the stupidity and misery we encounter daily. We are talking about several levels of dysfunction, from the physical to the interpersonal to the sociological... we are face with a crisis of meaning, a deprivation of clear purpose and a very strong potential for eradication of the existence of life on this planet. It's all very unnecessary, given the basic potential locked within the simple nature of intimacy.

  • Amy Quinney

    Color and activity were very artistic, but I'm not sure about the "Loneliness" part of "The Innovation of Loneliness". I am glad you shared this with me!

  • Sundi

    Excellent message (albeit hard to hear the narrator at times). I refuse to join facebook for all the reasons cited here, and I've found that I'm ostracized by a very large group of friends who believe me to be 'weird' or paranoid; one person told me that I'm clearly depressed if I don't want to join facebook. Obviously they were never the friends I thought they were in the first place, but ironically it has left me feeling lonely (though certainly not lonely enough to want to join facebook). My circles have changed drastically over the last years as a result, possibly for the better, but I find I do miss those folks who think I'm weird. It's my hope that this video (and the TED talk that inspired it) will initiate a movement in which people connect in person "old-school-style."

  • Nalin Kothari

    No advanced IT can cure Loneliness better than that personal touch

  • Laura Stanton

    I really liked this video as my son is addicted to his on line friendships instead of going to meet up with the same friends. I just got him to watch it & even he says it's true.

  • Annette

    I love my solitude but I also crave to really connect with another individual (or more) via in person, on the phone, email, snail-mail letters as we exchange thoughts, feelings, opinions, ideas, laughter etc. I don't do facebook and I'm in a very social job (bookseller) so getting to connect with individuals there (customers and co-workers) is really satisfying for me. But what I miss is just having a best friend to hang out with and talk the night away. People are so very busy these days....

  • kathleen Brighton

    The graphics with the spoken word helped to imprint the message for me. This has given me an idea of beginning a group called - Let's Talk. I've always felt scattered by too much media (have not had a TV since 2005), people talking on cell phones without honoring my space makes me nuts as this video showed and facebook, linkedin and the likes leaves me feeling lonelier than ever and since watching this I understand why. Thanks

  • Charlotte

    Everything it is brilliant

  • Kristin Pedemonti

    Powerful and so true. So many are more lonely than ever. I have been there myself. This year I have made a concerted effort to cut time on social media and have more in person time. Sometimes that In Person time is difficult to schedule, not due to my own schedule but it seems everyone is so very busy these days which is very sad to me. Here's to more IN PERSON time and realizing the sacrifices of being On Stage in social media. I do post lots of positivity but I also post real challenges too in hopes they may help someone else. HUGS to you. Social media can also be GREAT for maintaining contact over many many miles, this is what I often use it for as I perform/present worldwide. Otherwise I'd have almost No contact with these friends.

  • Craig

    A graphics only approach to conveying the message... very difficult to maintain interest but the fast pace and clarity of concept held me and even though I do not suffer from this type of loneliness, I see it all around me... Only thing missing was a concise solution...

  • Sandra

    just a question ... do you think that the title might better describe the video if it exchanged the word 'loneliness' for 'aloneness' ... i realize the difference is subtle but ... i would love to hear your thoughts i have some experience with aloneness and am excited to have a conversation about the insights i gathered during those extended times i also wish someone had called this web-site 'ourtube' ... not everyone believes in karma and i have a problem with names that have a potential to 'turn off' anyone who might need the service behind the name please forgive my arrogance ... i understand that no one may care at all about what i might say ... i only have the thoughts i have been given and the hope that sharing them will make them clearer for all toward a more cohesive humanity (including me of course) thank you for providing this resource and forum humbly yours Sandra Lee Ennis Hughes

  • Grace

    He summed it up well. One can hide their true self behind a cyber veil and feel somewhat safe. Excellent. Thank you for your energies to make this.

  • Page 1

  • Listen to the TED talk from which much of the text for this animated video was taken: Sherry Turkle's "Connected, But Alone."
  • A sense of feeling connected is critical for our health and well-being. Scientist Emma Seppala's research shows that when you serve, you naturally feel connected to the world.
  • Create a "sacred space" for your family, like the dining room or family room, where devices and gadgets are prohibited. Take the time to talk to each other in that space.

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