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There is no epidemic of loneliness, but there is an epidemic of scurvy

91 points · 73 comments · luu

  1. TFNA · · focus · HN ↗
    > no one is getting rich selling anti-loneliness pills (yet)

    There is already an ecosystem of for-profit social events in European cities (and probably elsewhere) profiting off people's desire to meet up with other human beings when social opportunies have shrunk. Once has seen this on e.g. Meetup.com or Facebook for years now, where bot profiles are used to swell event-signup numbers so people think they will meet more people. Indeed, with the enshittification of Meetup, the only forces that prosper on that site are for-profit ones.

    1. wannabe44 · · focus · HN ↗
      > no one is getting rich selling anti-loneliness pills (yet)

      Social media, dating apps, even andrew tate was doing well till some point.

      1. bluGill · · focus · HN ↗
        I don't know much about Andrew Tate (what I've heard suggest I don't even want to look him up, but maybe I should)

        For Social Media and dating apps - both ran into similar problems: they are a small part of the means. Facebook only have 5-10 minutes of real friend content per day. Dating apps can perhaps fill more time per day - but success means you "find someone" and close your account never to return. If you want to get rich you need to find some way to extend the time people spend on your platform - and that means something other than your premise. Facebook is filled with garbage. Any mildly successful dating app will be bought out by a big player because that app is taking away from the big player.

        1. hermitcrab · · focus · HN ↗
          >(what I've heard suggest I don't even want to look him up, but maybe I should)

          I really wouldn't. If you don't know anything about him, count yourself lucky.

    2. bcjdjsndon · · focus · HN ↗
      > There is already an ecosystem of for-profit social events in European cities (and probably elsewhere) profiting off people's desire to meet up with other human beings when social opportunies have shrunk.

      They're called nightclubs and bars lol trust HN to be so insulated from the wider world

      1. TFNA · · focus · HN ↗
        Those have always been around (but in many markets are declining as younger people are less likely to drink alcohol). My post was obviously about developments in the recent, especially post-Covid world.
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