Facebook Isn’t Making Us Lonely

Slate, Apr 20 — How the recent Atlantic cover story manufactures the myth of American loneliness.

The Rise and Rise of Solo Live: A Forum

The Guardian, Apr 1 — The number of people living alone has skyrocketed. What is driving the phenomenon? An essay by Eric Klinenberg, and solo dwellers Colm Tóibín, Alex Zane, Carmen Calli and others reflect on life as a singleton.

TIME’s #1 Idea That is Changing Your Life: Living Alone Is The New Norm

Time, Mar 12 — The extraordinary rise of solitary living is the biggest social change that we've neglected to identify, let alone examine. Consider that in 1950, a mere 4 million Americans lived alone, and they made up only 9% of households. Back then, going solo was most common in the open, sprawling Western states--Alaska, Montana and Nevada--that attracted migrant workingmen, and it was usually a short-lived stage on the road to a more conventional domestic life.

Going Solo: Understanding the appeal of the solitary life

The Today Show, Mar 7 — In the beginning of the Old Testament, God creates the world one day at a time: The heavens and the earth. Water. Light. Day and night. Living species of every kind. After each creation, God declares: “It is good.” But the tone changes when God makes Adam. Suddenly, God pronounces the first thing that is not good, lo tov: “It is not good that the man should be alone.” So God makes Eve, and Adam is no longer on his own.

Will Singles & Singletons Cut the Cord?

Wired, Mar 1 — More people live alone today than at any point in recorded history, in absolute numbers and proportionately, too. Until the 1950s, it was impossible to find a single human society that sustained large numbers of singletons (my term for people who live alone) for long periods of time. Today, living alone is common wherever there’s a market economy, a welfare state, and women’s rights.