Are you bowling alone?

Ever wish you had a bathroom scale that fudged the numbers a bit? Maybe it could work on a percentage basis, only registering 85% of your actual weight. You would know that it isn’t actually true, but it would feel good anyway, right?

Photo credit: FreeImages.com/peter_w​

My Facebook account is like that. Right now it is telling me that I have 691 friends. (Man, am I popular!) But of course I don’t have that many friends. When I don’t count relatives and co-workers (as valuable as those relationships are), I can probably count on one hand the number of people that are simply “friends.” A bit dreary, yes?

So, if you are like me, and the pressure of a busy work life and various family responsibilities has left you feeling a bit disconnected socially, you may have a vague sense that something is amiss, but not even have a clear understanding of what is wrong. Putnam’s Bowling Alone helps us name the problem, and also assures us that we are not alone. The level of community connectedness, or “social capital,” has been declining in the American context. That trend we might personally experience of fewer friends and less time spent with them is not unique to us; it has been happening across the board in the United States.

Putnam gives us the sociological data to demonstrate the pervasiveness of this trend, and also demonstrates why this pattern needs to be a matter of serious concern. Losing social capital doesn’t just make us lonely; it affects multiple dimensions of well-being. Putnam’s work gives us insight into why this has happened, and also makes some suggestions about what we can do about it.

If you’re in a place where it feels like your Facebook “friends” are your only friends, and you’re wondering what to do about it, Putnam’s work is worth a read. It is an accessible and even enjoyable read, but has a solid basis of scientific rigor underlying it. (He even includes an appendix on measuring social change. But I admit I skipped it, and if your eyes are – like mine – in the over-forty age bracket, you might want to skip it, too, since both appendix and extensive footnotes are in quite tiny print. The rigor is there, though, and if there’s a particular lead you want to follow, I suppose a magnifying glass is always an option!)

I would encourage you to add the book to your list of “books to read,” but even more importantly I would encourage you to think about your own level of investment in social capital. Even in the midst of our busy lives, we can find and make ways to connect with those around us. And that will make our own lives, and our communities, better in a multitude of ways.