A literature review

Increasing prevalence of social media use in modern societies, where a large part of the population is feeling lonely, has led to speculations regarding the possible links between social media use and loneliness. This throughout review of empirical research evidence shows that such links indeed exist, and they are rather complex. Lonely people are more likely to turn to social media and they also often use it in specific ways and with specific motives. In return, social media can make them feel either more or less lonely – depending on a series of different factors, including for example how they use it, how much time they spend on such activities, but also their age and psychological dispositions. The review concludes by offering some policy pointers based on the findings but it also identifies significant gaps in the existing literature.

BLASKO Zsuzsa;  CASTELLI Chiara; 

2022-06-01

Publications Office of the European Union

JRC129042

978-92-76-53092-3 (online),   

1831-9424 (online),   

EUR 31092 EN,    OP KJ-NA-31092-EN-N (online),   

https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC129042,   

10.2760/700283 (online),