Modern life has never been more convenient, but one YouTuber argues that the same apps making daily chores easier may also be quietly making people lonelier.
Nicole, host of the According to Nicole YouTube channel, says services such as Uber, Instacart, DoorDash, TaskRabbit, Rover, Amazon, streaming platforms, dating apps and even AI have reduced the number of small reasons people once had to rely on friends, family and neighbors.
Her argument is not that convenience is inherently bad. Instead, she believes society has gradually replaced many everyday human interactions with paid services, making it easier for people to live almost entirely on their own.
“What was the last problem you had that you couldn’t quickly resolve on your own?” Nicole asked at the beginning of her video.
For her, that question gets to the heart of the problem.
Convenience Replaced Small Acts of Community
Nicole said the idea first hit her after she became sick and ordered sushi through Uber Eats because she did not have the energy to shop or cook.
At first, she thought the service felt like a lifesaver.
Then she began wondering what she would have done before food delivery apps existed.
Her answer was simple: she probably would have asked someone for help.
Nicole remembered growing up in a neighborhood where people regularly did grocery runs for one another, gave friends rides to the airport, shoveled snow together and trusted local teenagers to feed pets while they were away.
Now, she said, those small favors can be outsourced within seconds.
“If you need a ride somewhere, an Uber can be at your door in minutes,” she said. “If you’re out of groceries, Instacart can shop for you.”
She also mentioned DoorDash, TaskRabbit, Rover and Amazon Prime as services that remove friction from daily life.
The upside is obvious.
You do not have to inconvenience anyone, wait for a favor or risk an awkward conversation.
But Nicole believes that same convenience has a hidden cost.
“This type of convenience is normalizing a level of hyperindependence that’s tearing apart the fabric of our communities,” she said.
That is an interesting way to look at something most people normally frame as simple progress. A task can become easier while life as a whole becomes less connected.
‘Everyone Wants a Village, but No One Wants to Be a Villager’
Nicole pointed to a phrase she has heard often: “Everyone wants a village, but no one wants to be a villager.”
In her view, many people say they want close communities, strong friendships and dependable neighbors, but fewer people want to put in the work those relationships require.
That work often comes in the form of small inconveniences.
Driving someone to the airport takes time.
Helping a neighbor move furniture can be annoying.
Watching a friend’s dog may disrupt your weekend.
But Nicole argued that these are exactly the kinds of exchanges that create trust over time.
She contrasted that with the wealthy celebrity lifestyle she remembered seeing as a child on shows like MTV Cribs.
Large private compounds had personal chefs, home gyms, movie theaters, bowling alleys and other amenities that made it possible to live without leaving the property.
Even as a child, Nicole said, that lifestyle looked lonely to her.
Today, she argued, ordinary people can build a similar kind of isolation through apps and subscriptions.
“You can isolate yourself just as easily,” she said.
That may be the strongest part of her argument. Technology has not necessarily made people antisocial, but it has made social dependence optional in a way that was once available mainly to the rich.
She Says Big Tech Benefits From Isolation
Nicole then took the argument further.
She said many tech companies are not simply selling convenience, but also collecting personal information and building business models around user behavior.
Her broader claim is that technology companies benefit financially when people become more individualistic and more dependent on digital services.
“Tech startups rake in billions of dollars by getting us hooked on products and services that alienate us from our peers,” she said.
Nicole argued that a society where everyone buys their own tools, drives their own car, maintains their own household and pays separately for every service creates more opportunities for companies to make money.
She stopped short of saying tech executives are deliberately sitting around planning social collapse.
“I am not suggesting that all the technofeudist CEOs just gather around a table and conspire to start the next civil war,” she said.
But she added that she does not believe companies are especially troubled by the social consequences if those same trends remain profitable.
That distinction matters.
Nicole is making an argument about incentives, not claiming there is evidence of a literal coordinated plot.
Her theory is that systems can encourage isolation without any single person needing to design that outcome from the beginning.
Data Shows Neighborly Contact Has Declined
Nicole also cited statistics to support her claim that neighborhood relationships have weakened over time.
She said data from the United States Congress Joint Economic Committee showed that between 1974 and 2016, the share of adults who said they spent a social evening with a neighbor several times a week fell from 30% to 19%.
She also said reported trust between people declined during roughly the same period.
Nicole connected that decline to the concept of “collective efficacy,” which she described as the combination of social cohesion and a willingness to act for the common good.
In simple terms, neighborhoods may function better when people know one another well enough to care what happens beyond their own property.
Nicole said close-knit communities can be safer because residents pay attention, intervene and look out for each other.
By contrast, people who barely know who lives next door are less likely to feel responsible for anything outside their own home.
She even used her own life as an example.
Nicole admitted that she lived beside her neighbors for two years before learning their names.
They exchanged greetings, but little else.
Then one day, her neighbor saw her struggling to turn over compacted dirt in her garden and simply came over to help.
That small act changed the relationship.
Since then, Nicole said, they have become friendlier and helped each other with other things.
“If I had just hired someone to help me weed my garden,” she said, that connection might never have developed.
Community Often Comes From People You Did Not Choose
Nicole argued that one of the most overlooked parts of community is that people do not always choose it.
Neighbors are a perfect example.
“You don’t get to swipe left on them,” she said.
People living beside each other may have different ages, cultures, politics, interests or beliefs, but physical proximity forces at least some interaction.
Nicole believes that matters because people become more nuanced once they are known personally.
Someone who seemed like a stereotype from a distance becomes a real person with a family, habits, flaws and good qualities.
She also cited a 2006 meta-analysis that, according to her, found that contact between different social groups can reduce prejudice by lowering anxiety and increasing empathy.
Her point was that isolation does not only make people lonelier.
It can also make it easier to distrust entire groups of strangers.
That observation feels especially relevant in a culture where so much social interaction now happens through screens, where people can block, mute or unfollow anyone who makes them uncomfortable.
Real neighborhoods do not work that way.
More Connected Online, More Alone Offline
Nicole said average daily time spent socializing with friends fell from about 60 minutes in 2003 to around 20 minutes in 2020.
At the same time, she argued, “third places” where people casually gather are disappearing while streaming and delivery services make staying home easier.
She pointed to another cultural change: entertainment itself has become more fragmented.
In the past, people often watched the same television shows at the same time and talked about them together.
Now, there are so many streaming options that everyone may be watching different things at different speeds.
“We used to have a monoculture,” Nicole said. “But now everyone’s fragmented.”
Her conclusion is that modern society has created a strange contradiction.
People can message almost anyone instantly, order almost anything they need, and access unlimited entertainment without leaving the couch.
Yet many people still feel isolated.
Nicole believes the solution is not necessarily to delete every app or reject modern technology.
Instead, she argues that people should recognize what convenience may be replacing.
Sometimes the inefficient option may actually be better.
Asking a neighbor for help, going to a store, calling a friend, helping someone move or simply talking to the people nearby can feel less convenient than tapping a screen.
But those small moments may be doing something an app cannot.
They give people reasons to need each other.
A former park ranger and wildlife conservationist, Lisa’s passion for survival started with her deep connection to nature. Raised on a small farm in northern Wisconsin, she learned how to grow her own food, raise livestock, and live off the land. Lisa is our dedicated Second Amendment news writer and also focuses on homesteading, natural remedies, and survival strategies. Lisa aims to help others live more sustainably and prepare for the unexpected.
