Write for us about … Facebook and loneliness

According to this month's Atlantic magazine, new research suggests that we've never been lonelier and that the rise in loneliness across the western world is a result of our adoption of digital social tools like Facebook. In a world consumed by ever more novel modes of socializing, we have less and less actual society. We live in an accelerating contradiction: the more connected we become, the lonelier we are. [...] The question of the future is this: Is Facebook part of the separating or part of the congregating; is it a huddling-together for warmth or a shuffling-away in pain? Tell us about your experience: do you think Facebook is interfering with your real friendships? When you read a status update from one of your friends, do you feel connected to them, or more distant? Do you use Facebook as a tool to actively keep in touch with family and friends, or do you watch (lurk) from afar? As part of our people's panel, we want your perspective. Email me at [email protected] before 9am ET on Friday April 20 with a contribution of about 250 words. Please include your real name, the country you're writing from, Twitter handle if you have one, and a phone number where I can reach you. Please also include a high-res image which we can use as an avatar. Use your best prose! We'll pick several entries for publication. Help me organize my inbox and put "People's panel" as the subject line of your email. If you object to having your real name used, tell us; if not, we'll publish it with your entry. *Update: An earlier post listed an incorrect deadline, 'Friday, April 19', the post has been corrected to reflect the accurate date.