Millennials say they don't have friends, but could free apps help?
Millennials are "friending" people all over social media, but it appears to be a different story when they're not online.
Sports reporter Mike Gunzelman told FOX Business' Cheryl Casone and Deirdre Bolton, “Today’s technological era has made us more connected than ever before, however, it is also making us more alone than ever before as well, especially if you are a millennial.”
A recent survey conducted by YouGov reported that 22 percent of millennials say they have no friends, while 30 percent say they have no best friends.
The main culprit was determined to be social media.
“It’s the degree of, disease I should say, of comparison, you know what I mean, you see everybody else having more fun than you are online and on social media and everyone has these, you know, their life is so much better than yours that you start getting more and more depressed,” Gunzelman said.
In terms of what people can do about it, Gunzelman responded, “The No. 1 thing is get off of social media more often … or how about just talk to people.”
But a number of platforms are trying to help everyone reconnect offline. The leader in the area, Meetup, which was acquired by WeWork in 2017, has more than 330,000 groups available with no sign-up fees charged by Meetup for users. Facebook has a free events section and a group section for people with similar interests to connect and organize in-person meetings.
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Apps such as Nearify help users find nearby events where they can meet people. Even free dating apps are making an effort to help out. Bumble has created Bumble BFF to help people make platonic friendships.