Modern Loneliness: A series exploring the loneliness epidemic

Tech Insider : Economy
A woman looks longingly out of a car window. She rests her head on her folded arms, her face obscured from the viewer. Outside, people walk by under the bright glow of city lights.

Holly Stapleton for Business Insider

A Gen Xer who worked from home for 7 years wants to go back to the office to combat loneliness

Tech Insider : Economy
stressed/depressed worker
Chris, who is not pictured, said isolation is pushing him to return to the office.

shapecharge/Getty Images

Gen Z is lonely. Going back to the office may be the cure for some.

Tech Insider : Economy
A lonely Gen Z employing looks languidly at their computer screen in the dark recess of their apartment. Their white silhouettes fades into numerous web window screens, tabs, Slack messages and Zoom calls.

Arantza Pena Popo/Insider

Ben Fitchett didn't realize how difficult it would be to work from the confines of his bedroom.

A stay-at-home mom became a professional cuddler making $150 an hour

Tech Insider
Michelle Renee is a professional cuddler at Cuddlist.
Michelle Renee is a professional cuddler at Cuddlist.

Courtesy of Michelle Renee

The sad, lonely secret behind America's never-ending wave of Marvel movies and Disney reboots

Tech Insider : Economy
A conga line of franchise characters.
Media companies are in the business of selling nostalgia — and it's because Americans are lonely.

Joanne Joo for Insider

I'm an extrovert who realized working remotely was bad for my mental health. These 4 things help me combat loneliness.

Tech Insider
a woman works on a laptop while sitting in the grass
Melissa Petro.

Melissa Petro

How inflation and loneliness are killing Gen Z's dating game

Tech Insider : Economy, Economy
Some Gen Zers report moving away from expensive dating in search of other social activities.
Some Gen Zers report moving away from expensive dating in search of other social activities.

Getty Images

Big Tech made America lonely. Now it needs to fix the crisis it helped create.

Tech Insider : Economy
In a black glitchy abyss of floating glowing boxes full of lonely people on some form of technological device, two boxes float near each other towards connection.
Big Tech's obsession with feeding customers exactly what they want made Americans lonely. Now the industry has a chance to redeem itself.

Dadu Shin for Insider

Now the industry needs to help bring us back together

The rise of AI girlfriends is making male loneliness worse and risks ruining a generation of men, a professor says

Tech Insider
her joaquin phoenix
Joaquin Phoenix plays a man who falls in love with an AI system in the 2013 film "Her."

Warner Bros. Pictures

Gen Z loneliness is so bad that some young adults are spending thousands trying to make friends through gym memberships and social clubs

Tech Insider : Economy
Margaux Duvall (left), Lillian Lema (center), Lynette Ban (right)
Margaux Duvall, Lillian Lema, and Lynette Ban (left to right) have all spent money in the search of new connections.

Margaux Duvall, Lillian Lema, Lynette Ban

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