CLOSE FRIENDS

A. You have quite a few Facebook friends but very few close pals.

Then you probably live in the USA or Northern Europe.

B. You have loads of close pals.

Then you probably live in a rural area in the Third World.


A new study suggests that the average American now has only two close pals.

A 'close pal' is someone you can confide in.

The study was carried out by Matthew Brashears, assistant professor of sociology at Cornell University.

25 years ago the average American had three close pals.

A 2006 study showed a near tripling of Americans' social isolation between 1985 and 2004.

(Close Friends Less Common Today, Study Finds ... - LiveScience)


According to the latest study:

When asked to list the names of people they had discussed 'important matters' with over the previous six months:

48% listed one name.
18% listed two names.
29% listed more than two names.
4% didn't list any names.

~~

Photos from rural Indonesia.