Maybe they're hermits by habit?
I am very lonely myself. The reason very from time to time and situation to situation. But if I had to narrow them down to just a few, it would be my standard, what I want in a man, what I want in a relationship, my families opposition to me being gay, my unwillingness to accept my sexuality earlier in life, my inability to find a man who turns on my mind and not just my body. The list goes on and on. But, I would whether be single then like most people who are in bad and extremely dysfunctional relationships. As the old saying goes, I can be bad by myself then when someone else.
I have gay friends who date man just so not to be alone. They make fun of me for dating my dildos and my hands. But unlike them, I'm not sitting in my car watching my boyfriends house to see if he is cheating or finding naked pictures of another man on his cellphone either.
I just believe that one should wait to find their cat's meow then jumping from one bad relationship to another until when you find Mr. or Mrs Right. You are too hurt or afraid to accept the love that they are offering you.
So to all the single and lonely people in the world, I say keep your heads up and don't give up. Yes, it is hard and frustrating. Yes, it is a little scarely to think that you may end up alone in the end but sometimes its better then the alternative.
When a society judges worth in terms of usefulness, this is bound to happen. Children and Older people generally are on the taking end of the scale. THose in their prime are producing. Even among those who are producing everyone has his or her grocery list and when someone has a quirk or two it tends to ex them out of the running. We live with the Im ok but you better be damn near perfect mentality out here. SO why is anyone surprised?
In any case, I think "loneliness" is on the decline because the Internet makes it easier to find people with similar interests and quirks.
Because people don't love themselves, and they aren't happy with themselves.
On an intellectual level, I think there is truth in that. But speaking for myself, while online intereraction has it's perks it's no subsitute for personal, flesh and blood contact. Barely a pale shadow of it.
I'd suspect that for many, 'online relationships' are likely to deepen a person's sense of loneliness by drawing into sharp focus the one thing they cannot deliver. It's been said people are very different and I agree with that - up to a point, but as a species we're quite gregarious. We haven't yet evolved the 'online' gene yet (if you will).
Technology is enabling us to behave in ways I'm quite sure some are not fully equipped to handle effectively. Of course, it's no doubt the case that for many people virtual contact is better than none at all. But I also believe that for some it's better than any other type and that I find rather saddening.
As you say, the Internet can be a means to bring people together, but it also allows them to keep those people at 'arms length'. Thus they can too easily depersonalise those interactions, perhaps forgetting that there is actually a person at the other end of that wire. One only need look at some of the bitter and twisted souls who pass through these hallowed fora for evidence of that.
The very nature of many of our lives is changing, the pressure of work, commuting, the fear of crime...and so on - means that for many time for social interactions is diminishing, it's perhaps logical, even inevitable people will therefore seek alternative arenas for interaction. I'm just not convinced it's a healthy long term trend, or rather that it has the potential to endanger society if it's not balanced with real world relationships.
Because people don't love themselves, and they aren't happy with themselves.
I love and respect myself, and I am happy with the person I am, but still I get lonely for someone like me who I can share myself with. I am not lonely just being by myself, but I do wish I were not alone. In my marriage I was lonelier than I have ever been.Because people don't love themselves, and they aren't happy with themselves.