Oregon State study highlights link between social media and loneliness in adults

CORVALLIS, Ore. – A new study from Oregon State University scientists suggests that social media connections with strangers can contribute to increased loneliness among U.S. adults. The research, published today in Public Health Reports, is the first of its kind to focus on the impact of such interactions.

This nationwide study involved more than 1,500 adults ages 30-70, revealing that connecting online with individuals known in person was not linked to either increased or decreased loneliness.

The findings suggest a critical need for individuals experiencing loneliness to reassess their online interactions and prioritize in-person connections. The official journal of the U.S. Public Health Service, Public Health Reports, published the study, marking the agency's deep interest in the topic following the 2023 report on the nation's loneliness epidemic by then Surgeon General Vivek Murthy.

Prior to COVID-19, about half of American adults reported measurable levels of loneliness, a lack of connection that carries health risks comparable to smoking. People who frequently feel lonely are more than twice as likely to develop depression.

Loneliness also increases the risk of several serious health conditions. Individuals face a 29% increased risk of heart disease, a 32% increased risk of stroke and a 50% increased risk of developing dementia for older adults. Furthermore, loneliness is associated with a greater than 60% chance of premature death.

Brian Primack, study leader and a professor in Oregon State University's College of Health, highlighted the significance of the research. He noted that most prior studies on social media and loneliness have focused on teens and young adults, creating a knowledge gap.

"This gap in the literature is important because people who aren't teens or young adults comprise 75% of the U.S. population," Primack said. "These people are heavily exposed to social media and many of the downstream health impacts of loneliness grow increasingly severe as adulthood progresses."

The researchers found that about 35% of the study group's social media contacts were people they had never met in person. They suspect that interactions with strangers on social media are linked to loneliness due to the high potential for misinterpretation.

Jessica Gorman, a study co-author, elaborated on this point. "We know that social media interactions can result in idealization of other people's friendships with each other, which can exacerbate the effects of social comparison," Gorman said. "This idealization is possibly stronger when those friendships involve people you've never met because there is no personal experience to counter that idealization."

The research, supported by the National Institutes of Health, took place in summer 2023. Research assistant professor Dawn Hyosin Kim and graduate students Geethika Koneru and Memuna Aslam also contributed to the project.

Study participants reported their non-business engagement with ten social media platforms, including Facebook, X, Reddit, YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Pinterest and WhatsApp. The current project expands on earlier work by Primack and Gorman that identified a link between loneliness and the amount and frequency of social media use. This research also adds to a growing body of scholarship by Oregon State University researchers exploring loneliness' link to conditions such as insomnia and nightmares.