A first-of-its-kind study of U.S. adults suggests that all of those strangers you're friends with on social media are not helping you to feel less lonely.
On the contrary, social media connection with people you don't know in person is associated with increased loneliness, according to scientists at Oregon State University.
In a nationally representative study of more than 1,500 adults ages 30-70, connecting online with people you actually do know was not linked with greater loneliness, but neither was it associated with decreased loneliness.
The findings suggest that "people experiencing loneliness may wish to examine critically their interactions with strangers on social media and to prioritize in-person connections over social media ones, even when those social media connections are considered close," study leader Brian Primack said.
The research was published today in Public Health Reports, the official journal of the U.S. Public Health Service. The agency developed a deep interest in loneliness following the 2023 report on the nation's loneliness epidemic by then Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, said Primack, a professor in OSU's College of Health.
The surgeon general's report notes that even before COVID-19, about half of American adults reported measurable levels of loneliness, and that lacking connection brings health risks on par with smoking.
People who often feel lonely are more than twice as likely to develop depression. They also face a 29% increased risk of heart disease; 32% increased risk of stroke; 50% increased risk of developing dementia (for older adults); and greater than 60% chance of premature death.
The research by Primack, two OSU faculty colleagues and two graduate students represents a step toward filling a knowledge hole regarding social media's role in loneliness. Most prior studies, Primack said, have looked at teens and young adults, whereas this study examines adults in midlife and later adulthood.
"This gap in the literature is important because people who aren't teens or young adults comprise 75% of the U.S. population, these people are heavily exposed to social media, and many of the downstream health impacts of loneliness grow increasingly severe as adulthood progresses," Primack said.
