Over 1 in 10 Londoners go weeks or months without having a proper conversation

We are becoming a city of completely disengaged individuals, a city who would rather interact with phone screens and whatsapp groups than the friends, family and humans around us. The consequence of such a deterioration in our behavioural habits has resulted in a staggering 13% of Londoners now going weeks or months without having a proper conversation with anyone.
  • Over 1 million people in London can’t remember the last time they had a meaningful conversation that wasn’t online with someone
  • Over 1 in 10 Londoners haven’t had a meaningful conversation with their friends or family in the past month
The rise of social media and our lust for content sees any digital attempt at sharing our thoughts and experiences quickly lost in a sea of millions of Instagram posts or Facebook updates. Research by OfCom has revealed that on average, Brits are online for 24 hours a week, showing we would rather communicate superficially though screens than face-to-face communication. The impact of what we share with the world online is fleeting at best, and completely unheard at worst, a flurry of perfunctory posts to pass the time, the response from which, we forget in seconds. Furthermore, the lack of face-to-face interaction that Brits have in their day-to-day lives is also having a profound impact on their mental wellbeing – according to the Mental Health Foundation, 17% of adults in the UK cite the lack of real-life communication and community as one of the key drivers of their psychological challenges. In light of this, Story Terrace has commissioned nationally representative study, revealing how we as a nation are evolving into communities that live side by side by way of a functional existence, however once you scratch the surface, true engagement is minimal; craved by many, but seldom acted upon.
  • 1 in 5 Londoners – 1,335,000 – don’t think their friends really listen when they’re talking about their worries or issues
  • MORE than 1 in 10 people in London – 717,000 – say they don’t have time to have meaningful conversations with their loved ones, or vice versa
  • MORE than 1 in 10 Londoners – 772,000 – can’t remember having one conversation of worth with anyone in the past week
  • 379,000 (4%) of Londoners tell their taxi driver/hairdresser etc. more personal information than they do friends and family
  • Almost 1 in 5 of Londoners – 1,972,000 people – know of incredible historical legacies and/or unsung heroes in their family that only a few family members are aware of
  • A fifth of people in London – 1,303,000 people – believe that the historical legacies and heroes in their family will be distant memories in the near future, because their legacy is left undocumented
  • 16% – 1,696,000 –  haven’t taken the time to reflect on their life and what they’ve managed to achieve through the years
These statistics paint a picture of a capital city of people that no longer share their experiences in any meaningful way. This begs the question; what are the consequences of not sharing our experiences with those close to us, and what are we missing out on?