Why We Stopped Talking (And How to Fix It)
We're more connected than ever — and lonelier than ever. Here's what went wrong.
Something strange happened over the last decade. We gained the ability to reach anyone, anywhere, instantly — and somehow ended up talking to each other less.
Not texting less. Not posting less. Talking less. Real, in-person, look-someone-in-the-eye conversation. The kind where you lose track of time and walk away feeling like you actually know someone better.
The data backs this up. Studies show that the average American spends significantly less time socializing in person than they did twenty years ago. We're not replacing that time with deeper digital connections — we're replacing it with scrolling.
So what happened? A few things, probably. Phones gave us an escape hatch from awkward silences. Social media made us curate instead of share. Remote work removed the water-cooler moments. And somewhere along the way, we forgot that being bored together is actually how friendships form.
The fix isn't to throw away your phone or delete your apps. It's simpler than that: create situations where real conversation can happen. Invite someone over without a plan. Sit at a table without devices. Ask a question that requires more than a yes or no.
The irony is that most of us want this. We crave real connection. We just need a nudge — a prompt, a topic, a reason to put the screen down and look up.
That's exactly why we built Spill. Not to replace conversation, but to start it. A deck of thought-provoking questions you can pull out at dinner, on a road trip, or on a first date. No accounts, no feeds, no notifications. Just questions that make people talk.
Because the solution to a loneliness epidemic isn't more technology. It's better questions.