# Are you aware of any networks for people shut in their home? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 13, 2016, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-aware-of-any-networks-for-people-shut-in-their-home/743073 "2016-01-13T21:35:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2016, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-aware-of-any-networks-for-people-shut-in-their-home/743073/261 "2016-04-12T13:54:23Z")
> [@CCitizen](#): > > I am not looking for **hundreds of thousands of potential friends**. What I am looking for is a few friends from the same low social class as I am. There must be millions of loners online. I used to think that. Turns out everyone online is a millionaire rock star MMA champion having sex with supermodels. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2016, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-aware-of-any-networks-for-people-shut-in-their-home/743073/262 "2016-04-12T16:32:56Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > a millionaire rock star MMA champion having sex with supermodels. Excuse me, but you’re stalking me again. ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2016, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-aware-of-any-networks-for-people-shut-in-their-home/743073/263 "2016-04-12T16:41:00Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I used to think that. Turns out everyone online is a millionaire rock star MMA champion having sex with supermodels. Not really – there are many support groups for people **much** more crazy and depressed then me. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2016, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-aware-of-any-networks-for-people-shut-in-their-home/743073/264 "2016-04-12T17:55:17Z")
> [@CCitizen](#): > > I am not looking for **hundreds of thousands of potential friends**. What I am looking for is a few friends from the same low social class as I am. There must be millions of loners online. > > If anyone can tell me where to look for friends I would appreciate. I am sorry NFPD – Not For Public Discourse. I owe you no explanation. ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2016, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-aware-of-any-networks-for-people-shut-in-their-home/743073/265 "2016-04-12T18:11:59Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > You do know recluses are able to leave their homes, don’t you? They prefer to shut themselves away from the world and aren’t exactly looking for friends. Your desire for friends marks you as the opposite of a recluse. Most recluses and loners wish they have friends but don’t know how to make it happen. ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2016, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-aware-of-any-networks-for-people-shut-in-their-home/743073/266 "2016-04-12T23:07:08Z")
> [@drewder](#): > > Most recluses and loners wish they have friends but don’t know how to make it happen. Even in the age when millions of loners are one click away from each other. ---
**Author:** ![truthSeeker2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7cd45c/32.png) [@truthSeeker2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/truthSeeker2)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-aware-of-any-networks-for-people-shut-in-their-home/743073/267 "2016-04-14T15:13:25Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > Join or create a walking club – make friends, loose weight and improve fitness. > > **If you want people to call you, write your name on public toilet walls.** Hahaha… But seriously, good advice on walking club, making friends and getting fitter. I also think OP is a sincere person who knows what is best for him. So if op doesn’t make physical friends and makes phone friends only, then that may be right for him. ---
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-aware-of-any-networks-for-people-shut-in-their-home/743073/268 "2016-04-15T07:27:37Z")
> [@CCitizen](#): > > PS. I am grateful to anyone who has **nothing positive** to say and says **nothing**. So am I, and I imagine so are a lot of people here, and yet these threads keep appearing… > [@truthSeeker2](#): > > So if op doesn’t make physical friends and makes phone friends only, then that may be right for him. That may be so, but getting a person to invest enough to be interested in phone calls when he’s not invested enough to even meet them in person, is a particularly improbable challenge. Seriously, who wants to be friends with someone who has been pretty explicit that he only cares as far as the other person can do things for him, exactly the way he wants them done? That’s not friendship, that’s toxic. Friendship is reciprocal, with give and take to accommodate _both_ person’s needs. That’s the key point that’s missing in this clever plan. It doesn’t consider the needs/desires/thoughts/feelings of the other person at all. I don’t know a lot of people who are okay being treated like a commodity. ---
**Author:** ![truthSeeker2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7cd45c/32.png) [@truthSeeker2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/truthSeeker2)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-aware-of-any-networks-for-people-shut-in-their-home/743073/269 "2016-04-15T08:51:10Z")
> [@Kaio](#): > > So am I, and I imagine so are a lot of people here, and yet these threads keep appearing… > > That may be so, but getting a person to invest enough to be interested in phone calls when he’s not invested enough to even meet them in person, is a particularly improbable challenge. > > Seriously, who wants to be friends with someone who has been pretty explicit that he only cares as far as the other person can do things for him, exactly the way he wants them done? That’s not friendship, that’s toxic. Friendship is reciprocal, with give and take to accommodate _both_ person’s needs. > > That’s the key point that’s missing in this clever plan. It doesn’t consider the needs/desires/thoughts/feelings of the other person at all. I don’t know a lot of people who are okay being treated like a commodity. There maybe people who are also interested in phone friends only, like the OP. Maybe later on, they become interested in meeting also. No one can predict it now. Even if they don’t meet, the phone at least serves the purpose of talking and listening to someone, which are important things in life. ---
**Author:** ![Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harvey_The_Heavy)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-aware-of-any-networks-for-people-shut-in-their-home/743073/270 "2016-04-15T13:24:48Z")
Well, there’s always [Dial-A-Swede](http://www.cnbc.com/2016/04/08/swedens-tourism-board-launches-dial-a-swede-hotline.html). ---
**Author:** ![mistymage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mistymage/32/459_2.png) [@mistymage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mistymage)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-aware-of-any-networks-for-people-shut-in-their-home/743073/271 "2016-04-15T18:28:38Z")
I’m surprised no one has created a network for people who just want to talk and hear someone else’s voice (now and then). There are all those toxic oldsters who get cutoff from family, bored housewives and young kids who are struggling with fitting in. I guess most of them use Facebook but you don’t get to hear one another. Skype would work for that… you don’t have to use the video part. But I’m not sure how anonymous that is (been ages since we used it). ---
**Author:** ![Whiskey\_Dickens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9fc348/32.png) [@Whiskey\_Dickens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whiskey_Dickens)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-aware-of-any-networks-for-people-shut-in-their-home/743073/272 "2016-04-15T18:54:53Z")
> [@CCitizen](#): > > Every adult must decide risks for him/herself. I state some unpopular political opinions at risk of getting stalked. I eat lots of fried food. I agree with your point about deciding as an adult, but I still don’t think you have the authority. This is probably straying into Great Debates/The Pit, but I believe an adult is self-sufficient if possible. Living with parents while accepting an allowance deep into your 40’s and being an adult are mutually exclusive. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-aware-of-any-networks-for-people-shut-in-their-home/743073/273 "2016-04-15T18:57:30Z")
> [@mistymage](#): > > I’m surprised no one has created a network for people who just want to talk and hear someone else’s voice (now and then). … You have heard of phone sex lines? ---
**Author:** ![mistymage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mistymage/32/459_2.png) [@mistymage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mistymage)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-aware-of-any-networks-for-people-shut-in-their-home/743073/274 "2016-04-15T19:20:34Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > You have heard of phone sex lines? But those cost money which isn’t something the OP really wants to spend. I was thinking of more along the lines of community services that do check-ins on elderly people to make sure they didn’t fall down and break a hip or died. Last month a young friend buried his my-aged father … who was discovered about 2 weeks after he died. (I have actually thought about doing phone sex as a job but somehow I think the sound of the cockatoo screeching, laughing and twanging the metal bars of his cage behind me would not lend itself to sexy funtimes. 😉 ) ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-aware-of-any-networks-for-people-shut-in-their-home/743073/275 "2016-04-15T20:57:09Z")
> [@Kaio](#): > > That’s the key point that’s missing in this clever plan. It doesn’t consider the needs/desires/thoughts/feelings of the other person at all. I don’t know a lot of people who are okay being treated like a commodity. Not really – I am mainly looking for people like me. ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-aware-of-any-networks-for-people-shut-in-their-home/743073/276 "2016-04-15T20:58:30Z")
> [@truthSeeker2](#): > > There maybe people who are also interested in phone friends only, like the OP. There are millions of **Homo Interneticus** as unsuccessful in life as I am. On most support groups most people are stranger then me… ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-aware-of-any-networks-for-people-shut-in-their-home/743073/277 "2016-04-15T20:59:44Z")
> [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](#): > > Well, there’s always [Dial-A-Swede](http://www.cnbc.com/2016/04/08/swedens-tourism-board-launches-dial-a-swede-hotline.html). Thanks a lot. I will look into it. Always learn something useful. ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-aware-of-any-networks-for-people-shut-in-their-home/743073/278 "2016-04-15T21:00:58Z")
> [@mistymage](#): > > I’m surprised no one has created a network for people who just want to talk and hear someone else’s voice (now and then). There are all those toxic oldsters who get cutoff from family, bored housewives and young kids who are struggling with fitting in. I guess most of them use Facebook but you don’t get to hear one another. Skype would work for that… you don’t have to use the video part. But I’m not sure how anonymous that is (been ages since we used it). Thanks a lot – you understand that there are millions of people like me. Of course there are hundreds of millions of normal people unlike me. ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-aware-of-any-networks-for-people-shut-in-their-home/743073/279 "2016-04-15T21:02:15Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > You have heard of phone sex lines? They cost $4/minute in this life, and may help achieve eternal suffering in the next. ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-aware-of-any-networks-for-people-shut-in-their-home/743073/280 "2016-04-15T21:04:04Z")
> [@mistymage](#): > > I was thinking of more along the lines of community services that do check-ins on elderly people to make sure they didn’t fall down and break a hip or died. Last month a young friend buried his my-aged father … who was discovered about 2 weeks after he died. My condolences. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-aware-of-any-networks-for-people-shut-in-their-home/743073.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-aware-of-any-networks-for-people-shut-in-their-home/743073.md?page=15)