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Social media friends don’t help overcome loneliness: study
The study found that 35% of participants’ social media contacts were strangers, and those connections were linked to higher loneliness.
- On Wednesday, Oregon State University researchers published a study in Public Health Reports finding that social media connections with strangers correlate with greater loneliness, while online ties to known contacts neither reduced nor increased isolation.
- A 2023 Surgeon General's report warned of a national loneliness epidemic, noting that social disconnection carries health risks comparable to heavy smoking and affects roughly half of American adults.
- Surveying over 1,500 adults aged 30 to 70, OSU researchers noted about 35% of participants' social media contacts were people they had never met in person. The study cannot determine whether loneliness precedes stranger-seeking or vice versa.
- Clinical psychologist Melissa Greenberg of the Princeton Psychotherapy Center advises prioritizing in-person connections by joining book clubs, fitness classes, or volunteer groups where shared interests foster friendship.
- Professor Brian Primack, the study's lead author, advises users to "reflect on that" regarding stranger interactions, emphasizing that midlife and older adults comprise 75% of the U.S. population heavily exposed to social media.
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30 Articles
Survey of more than 1,500 Americans indicated that those with more online contacts, but not in person, experience an increase in loneliness
ABC FOX Montana+12 Reposted by 12 other sources
Social media friends don’t help overcome loneliness: study
The new research is a step toward filling a knowledge "gap" regarding social media’s role in loneliness.
·Missoula, United States
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Coverage Details
Total News Sources30
Leaning Left6Leaning Right5Center13Last UpdatedBias Distribution54% Center
Bias Distribution
- 54% of the sources are Center
54% Center
L 25%
C 54%
R 21%
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