Every year, the Turkish Language Institution conducts an online vote to select the Word of the Year. The top universities in Türkiye nominate seven words, and the public chooses the final word through online voting. These words often reflect the key themes and social issues of that year.
For this year, the nominated words were: “crowded loneliness,” “compassion,” “alienation,” “algorithm,” “corruption,” “artificial intelligence,” and “digital fatigue.” Among them, “crowded loneliness” received the most votes and was chosen as the Word of the Year.
What Does “Crowded Loneliness” Mean?
The term “crowded loneliness” was first inspired by Charles Dickens’ quote:
“Despite all the crowds, what a loneliness!”
It describes the paradox of feeling lonely despite being surrounded by people. Even though we socialize frequently, travel, and interact with various groups, we often struggle to form deep and meaningful relationships.
A Reflection of Modern Society
In today’s world, many people experience crowded loneliness, even when surrounded by large groups. One major reason is our increasing dependence on the digital world. As we spend more time online, our perception of real-life interactions weakens. This makes it harder to form genuine friendships and communicate effectively in the real world.
like in older times.crowded