Why You Gotta Have Friends (Beyond Facebook)

As of this post, I am actually on a cruise ship sipping wine with three girlfriends -- far from husbands, children, bosses and any other potential stress inducers. A regular getaway with friends is one of those things, like my gym membership, that I consider essential to my health. My friends are more than a collection of Facebook photos; they are the people to call in an emergency, trust with my secrets and share my joys. They improve my mental and physical well-being. Psychologically, my friends buck me up when I'm down, hold my hand when I'm afraid and keep me tethered to earth when I'm full of hot air. They also help me live longer and more healthily. Scientific studies show that friendship's health benefits include a better immune system (people with more social connections get fewer colds), less stress, improved brain power (including reduced risk of aging dementia); lower blood pressure and better sleep. In my opinion, all those social network "likes" and "friends" and shared photos of cute cats are distracting from a dangerous problem in American life: the decline of friendship. Studies show that Americans have fewer close friends today than they did 25 years ago (an average of two friends now), and that the decline in social connections has resulted in a drop in general happiness despite climbing material success. Is that increasing isolation being offset by the rise of social networking? I doubt it. In fact, social networking can actually make you feel more lonely and less happy. Recent studies have shown that the "friendship paradox" is at play on social networks: On average you really do have fewer friends than your social media friends. To make matters worse, you really are less wealthy and less happy as well as less popular on average than your social media friends. No wonder that research finds active social network users have higher levels of unhappiness! For more, read  http://www.technologyreview.com/view/523566/how-the-friendship-paradox-makes-your-friends-better-than-you-are/