Is social media making us more or less lonely? Here's what the stats say
In a world where billions of people are connected through social media, are we truly becoming more connected, or are we becoming the loneliest generation?
Social media has transformed the way we communicate and connect with people. According toEncyclopaedia Britannica, one of the first social networking sites, SixDegrees.com, launched in 1997, allowing users to create profiles, add friends, and exchange messages.
Since then, social media has exploded in popularity. Today, people of all ages, from children to grandparents, use various platforms to stay informed, entertained, and connected.
According to recent statistics, there are around 5.6 billion social media user accounts globally, while in South Africa, roughly 40% of the population use social media.
Social media is meant to connect people. It allows us to keep in touch with loved ones regardless of distance, reconnect with old friends, meet new people, and share important moments in our lives.
But does being digitally connected mean we feel emotionally connected?
A 2023 study published by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) found that people who primarily use social media to maintain relationships reported feeling lonelier than those who used it for other reasons.
In other words, simply spending time on social media isn’t necessarily the problem, why you’re using it appears to matter.
Other studies highlighted by Psychology Today also found that people who already feel lonely or anxious, and then spend their time passively scrolling through other people’s posts, often report increased feelings of loneliness and anxiety.
The takeaway is that our intentions when using social media may be just as important as the amount of time we spend online. Using social media to actively engage with others can be a very different experience from endlessly scrolling through feeds and comparing ourselves to other people’s lives.
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