Having friends is one of life’s great joys and it’s something that many young people take for granted, but recent research by Loose Ends, an app designed to return the ‘social’ to social media, has revealed how friendships change as we age, and provides a clue as to why loneliness is a consistently growing problem.

• Most adults only have one or two close friends
• Almost two thirds (63%) of adults would like more friends
• Seven out of ten (72%) adults found it easier to make friends when they were younger

The Lifecycle of Friendship

In a survey of 1000 social media users, Loose Ends asked participants to assess the friendships they’d had throughout their life. While the results weren’t hugely surprising, some of them were quite depressing, with 63% of respondents admitting that they now have fewer friends than they had at school. The same number (63%) of people also said that they would like to have more close friends now, while 61% confessed that the majority of their friendships were presently carried out via social media platforms, rather than physically meeting to maintain the relationship.

So how have friendships changed in terms of numbers? While most (56%) adults now only have one or two close friends – a not unacceptable figure – it’s still a bit of a jar given that back in their college days the majority (47%) claimed 4-6 besties, while at school 83% of people had between 1-6 BFFs. As adults, only 10% of people say that they have more than six close friends.

As we age it’s not just the number of friends that we have which changes, but the type of friends and the number of times we see them too.  Although 72% of people say that it was easier to make friends while still in education than it is at work, more than half (54%) still said that they interact more with colleagues these days than they do with old friends from school or college, and the majority (92%) see those close friends less than once a month, many (43%) only seeing close friends between one and four times a year.  In spite of this, 61% of people still say that they met their BFF at some point during their education, compared to only 24% who met them at work.

Loose Ends creator, Daniel Lewis, comments: ‘Everything changes when you grow up; you have new commitments; work and family and other responsibilities get in the way of the time that you were able to spend with your mates when you were younger, but having a strong network of friends is really important.

‘There are times in every life when it will be friends who pull you through; sometimes you don’t want to talk to your family about your problems… Sometimes it’s your family that causes your problems! Social psychologist Dina McMillan says that making time for the friends you want to keep in your life is as important as making time for your family and that social media maintenance just isn’t enough.

‘I’m really hoping that Loose Ends can help turn people’s social media friendships into properly functioning face to face relationships.’

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<a href="https://blog.looseendsapp.co.uk/the-lifecycle-of-friendship/"><img src="https://blog.looseendsapp.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/The-Lifecycle-of-Friends.jpg" title="Six tips to make your social media presence employer friendly" border="0" /></a><strong>Courtesy of: <a href="https://blog.looseendsapp.co.uk/">Loose Ends</a></strong>

About Loose Ends

LSE graduate, Daniel Lewis, conceived the Loose Ends concept in 2008 when after many busy days in the city working for Artemis he found himself kicking his heels. With everyone working and beginning family lives, meeting up with mates was proving difficult and the usual trip to the local was becoming tedious. He wanted a way to find out who was available and when, without making endless phone calls… Or sounding desperate!

Many hours have gone into developing the Loose Ends app, with time, money (or lack thereof!) and unreliable partnerships causing delays. The final product is well worth the wait, offering something which no other social media platform provides: true sociability.

For more Information please contact:

Aylish Jarvie, 07535 937357 or aylish@voxpopspr.com

https://looseendsapp.co.uk

The area around East India Docks is a bit of a no man’s land, but bringing it some much-needed light, colour and flavour is Quilombero.

The menu is short and snappy, and we start with a hefty plate of charcuterie, including speck and mortadella [£12.50], accompanied by an intense Guinness mayo. We also try one of the starters from the evening menu, pig’s head pibil tacos [£6.50]; oh my God, they’re amazing – juicy, tender, spicy, oily (in a good way) – we love them.

Desserts are ace – we loved the baked apple with ricotta and caramel sauce [£5]. The dinner menu promises more delights, like salmon and pastas. Who knows, it might help turn this area into the next Shoreditch…

Quilombero – Ground Floor, 1, Clove Crescent, London E14 2BA – 07771 306537

Find Quilombero on Loose Ends

Got a favourite hangout you want to share with the world? Tell us about it in 100 words, plus a three-word description: lynn@looseendsapp.co.uk

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At first glance, the bright, green and white entrance, counter brimming with glossy-looking ingredients and chiller cabinet full of detox drinks place Squirrel firmly in the same category as similar healthy lunch spots Tossed, Crussh, or Leon.

‘Mains’ – a range of salads devised by nutritionists, portions are incredibly generous, ingredients are high quality, and what’s not to love about getting your lunch in a dish shaped like an acorn?

Guac ‘n’ Roll [£7.95] is a moreish, Mexican-flavoured mix of brown rice, shredded chicken, chunks of avo, tomatoes, black beans and tortilla chips, while the Prawn Star salad [£7.95] is a citrusy hit of huge, fresh prawns. I leave feeling virtuous, full, but not bloated; this squirrel is the nuts!

Squirrel – 11 Harrington Rd, Kensington, London SW7 3ES – 020 7589 9333

Find Squirrel on Loose Ends

Got a favourite hangout you want to share with the world? Tell us about it in 100 words, plus a three-word description: lynn@looseendsapp.co.uk

Oooh, and don’t forget to include a photo!

Sitting boldly on D’Arblay Street, just a few doors down from Soho BBQ institution Bodeans, Bukowski.

I can’t not have the fried mac n cheese [£5.25], five delicious cubes of oozy goodness, served in a creamy, moreish cheese sauce with chopped gherkins.

Half the mains are burgers, so I order the Smokey Beast [£10.95]: everything on it is, well, smoked, including the pulled pork on top of the insanely juicy beef patty, the honey and chipotle sauce – even the garlic in the mayo. Filled with sweet tobacco onions, it arrives stacked at least six inches high – it’s daunting, but I cope. My boyfriend goes for the signature 72-hour beef rib [£12.25], served mainly off the bone, meaning I don’t have to watch him gnawing at it like a caveman. It’s perfectly charred on the outside, nice and pink on the inside – special mention to the beef dripping potatoes [£3.50]. Overall? Naughty but nice – just like the staff.

Bukowski – 10 D’Arblay St, Soho, London W1F 8DS – 020 3857 4756

Find Bukowski on Loose Ends

Got a favourite hangout you want to share with the world? Tell us about it in 100 words, plus a three-word description: lynn@looseendsapp.co.uk

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The Brunello restaurant is decorated like a jewellery box, all graceful, black Murano glass and pale gold silk and brocade.  I loved it immediately. The effusive Italian staff are very welcoming and before we knew it we had two glasses of Prosecco in front of us.

The first course, was, of course, a pasta course. Handmade tagliatelle with truffle shavings and a buttery truffle cream. It smelled intoxicating before I even got a forkful to my mouth, and tasted divine; not too rich, but flavoursome and intense. Our sommelier paired it with an absolutely delicious Tuffo Gavi di Gavi from Piedmont, a Morgassi Superiore.  It was incredibly smooth and I loved it, despite rarely drinking white wine.

After I’d practically licked the plate clean, we were offered a robust red to go with the main course, an Anna Maria Abbona Maioli, Dogliani DOCG.

The Baglioni Hotel – 160 Hyde Park Gate, Kensington, London SW7 5BB – 020 7368 5700

Find The Baglioni Hotel on Loose Ends

Got a favourite hangout you want to share with the world? Tell us about it in 100 words, plus a three-word description: lynn@looseendsapp.co.uk

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‘Drink Sake, Stay Soba’, proclaims the neon sign in the cocktail bar in the basement of Sosharu, superchef Jason Atherton’s latest venture. And so my friend and I do, starting off one of the most delicious meals I’ve had recently with a small glass of Jozen Mizunogoteshi [£11].

Standouts include the sea bream sashimi [£11.50], slices of delicate, translucent fish wrapped around crunchy slivers of potato on a bed of daikon; broccoli tempura [£5], which looks like it’s wearing a shaggy coat due to the thick layer of grated parmesan which envelops it, and provides a delicious umami hit; and the unbearably pretty – and monstrously tasty – chashu pork belly [£16].

Sosharu – 64 Turnmill St, London EC1M 5RR – 020 3805 2304

Find Sosharu on Loose Ends

Got a favourite hangout you want to share with the world? Tell us about it in 100 words, plus a three-word description: lynn@looseendsapp.co.uk

Oooh, and don’t forget to include a photo!

Ah, the simple joy of the ‘breakfast meeting’! If conducted with a contact who is also actually a friend, as in this case, it becomes mainly a greedfest interspersed with about five minutes of discussing actual work, before moving on to talking about holidays, other foods we have enjoyed, and suchlike.

And so it was on this crisp, clear morning, when my friend H took me out to Hawksmoor Guildhall. I’d never eaten at a branch of Hawksmoor before, and, while we weren’t going to be sampling the steak it’s well known for (at 9am, even I have my limits), H had been here before and positively raved about it.

They do stick to a hefty meat theme for breakfast, and offer dishes such as the mighty Hawksmoor Breakfast (for two to share, which seems to consist of most of a pig chopped up into different bits with some eggs thrown in). They also have an enticing range of what they call ‘Anti Fogmatics’ (delicious sounding cocktails that would indeed kick start the day) but H implored me to try the rather bizarre sounding Cornflake Milkshake.

Essentially, it was like drinking the remnants of a bowl of cornflakes, only nice and chilled and featuring a scoop of vanilla ice cream. We both had the HkMuffin, which was a tower of fried egg, sausage and cheese. If only all days could start this way!

Hawksmoor – 10 Basinghall St, London EC2V 5BQ – 020 7397 8120

Find Hawksmoor on Loose Ends

Got a favourite hangout you want to share with the world? Tell us about it in 100 words, plus a three-word description: lynn@looseendsapp.co.uk

Oooh, and don’t forget to include a photo!