Ridding the world from solitude and loneliness

Solitude is fine but you need someone to tell that solitude is fine – Honoré de Balzac

Even today this quote from the French novelist and playwright Honoré de Balzac still manages to capture the irony of loneliness. That even when we are alone, we still need a friend with whom we can share the enjoyment of life.

Honoré de Balzac

Much has changed from Balzac’s times; the world has undergone through periods of technological and industrial revolution and unprecedented economic growth has brought us in places our ancestors could have never imagined. But even after all this progress, the world is still struggling with huge numbers of people experiencing loneliness. The 2020 Loneliness index published by Cigna reported that three in five adults in the US experience loneliness. This number is particularly important, given that 2020 was a year that most people spent at home due to the coronavirus.

With the arrival of the global pandemic, many are now saying that the lockdown restrictions have pushed us further and quicker into embracing a digital life. Now more than ever people are relying on the internet to stay connected. From classes to business meetings and court hearings we ditched in-person meetings for Zoom, Webex, and Skype calls. As such, we can say that we have been granted a glimpse at the future.

How do people live in such a digitalized world?

The fact that the number of people reporting feelings of loneliness in 2020 have increased by 7% compared to 2018 suggests that people are feeling lonelier. This poses an interesting paradox, because while we are more connected than ever through social media and other digital platforms, the trend shows that people are actually feeling lonelier.

What does this mean for social media?

Platforms such as TikTok, Youtube, Instagram and Twitter have certainly brought us many great things, from entertainment to new ways of staying in touch with friends. But these platforms still rely mostly on more of a one-to-many type of format. People post a picture or a video and friends and followers like and comment. You can understand then how while seemingly ‘connected’, people actually don’t talk or truly engage with each other anymore.

At Nile we perceive that this presents us with an opportunity to provide a space where people can connect meaningfully through social media. Rather than top-down platforms we believe everyone deserves to be heard and to truly connect on the topics they love the most. This is why Nile offers a new unique approach to social media. People connect on a one-to-one basis, so that even when we are in solitude we can tell someone that solitude is fine. We can find our own space to delve into our favorite topics and that spark our creativity and connect with someone who shares the same excitement and passion as we do.

How will the world change in the next 5 or 10 years? What new marvels will technology bring us? It’s hard to say for sure. But we at Nile certainly hope that in this time we will all be a little closer and we will all have great meaningful connections.