Modern society doesn't encourage us to speak to each other face to face

 | Mail Online

 

they want a friendship service because they can no longer make friends in the traditional ways.'

She added: 'Without realising it, our society no longer provides one of the basic functions that keeps it working. The everyday contact, courtesies and kindnesses which turn into friendship and knit us together have been allowed to disappear in favour of efficiency.

'Modern society doesn't encourage us to speak to each other face to face and as a result, loneliness levels are soaring to crisis point and set to get even worse.

'Personal service in banks and shops is practically a thing of the past... even the listening ear of the supermarket checkout person is being replaced by a do-it-yourself machine.

'Technology is forcing people to live in their own little isolated bubbles. The young, hunched over the virtual world of their computers are often as lonely as the older generation sat in front of their TVs, if not more so.

'Never before have people had so little human contact. The "Friends" generation depicted by the TV series is a fallacy.'

Evenings and weekends can be particularly bleak. Three-quarters of over-50s say their main source of company in the evening is the TV - 86 per cent of those who live alone - followed by the phone (28 per cent).

Even half of young people say their main source of company in the evenings is their TV rather than going out and having fun with friends.