Social Media Effects: Social Isolation

Overview

Social media use has continued to expand as existing sites grow and new sites are created. In a Pew Research Center study in 2023, the most popular sites for all American adults were YouTube (83 percent) and Facebook (68 percent). Among young adults 18–29, YouTube (93 percent), Instagram (78 percent), and Snapchat (65 percent) dominated. Scholars have identified significant connections between social media use and social isolation. Some have praised social media as a method of ameliorating isolation, but others have insisted that it is frequently used to avoid human contact. Some scholars have identified a negative link between mental and physical health and extensive social media use.

In popular opinion, social media has generally been identified as social interactive platforms like Facebook, X (previously Twitter), YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Reddit, and Myspace. However, some scholars have broadened the definition to encompass email, blogs, and instant messaging. Each medium provides channels of communication between individuals and/or groups. Since the early days of social media, scholars have studied the link between social media platforms and social isolation, the sense of being an outsider surrounded by insiders. As early as the 1920s, theorists at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology, including noted philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer John Dewey (1859–1952), identified the role of communication in social interaction and social integration.

As the century advanced, media took on the role of facilitating the formation of a sense of community through newspapers, radio, and television, connecting individuals and households to the outside world. With the rise of the internet, that sense of community was transformed as the meaning of time and space became more fluid. Scholars used data from the United States General Social Survey to report that the average number of close friends with whom Americans feel free to discuss their lives and feelings dropped from three to two between 1985 and 2004. The number of Americans who reported having no close friends at all rose from 8 percent to 23 percent during that same period, and the rate of social isolation climbed from 10 percent to 23 percent. Not all scholars agreed with this assessment. Anthony Paik and Kennethy Sanchagrin, for instance, maintained that interview bias may have inadvertently affected the results. In 2023, a Pew Research Center survey indicated that the number of adults reporting having no close friends had returned to 8 percent. In the United Kingdom, scholars have identified a “crisis of friendship” as larger numbers of individuals live on their own, as the sense of community life continues to erode, and as populations become increasingly mobile.

Sherry Turkle, a psychologist trained in psychoanalysis, suggested that access to the internet had changed the nature of American life by 1985 with the rise of chat rooms, forums, bulletin boards, user groups, and other interactive online platforms. She suggested that some people, particularly those who struggle socially or have few real-life friends who shared their interests, found online interaction more satisfying than real-life interaction. She argued that, over the next decade, social isolation increased with the infinite landscape provided by the internet; the easy accessibility of mobile connections; and the global robotic revolution. Some communication studies have indicated that 89 percent of Americans have had personal conversations interrupted by the use of cell phones, and 82 percent of those who have been interrupted describe those interruptions as having a negative impact on personal interaction. While interruptions may consist of family or work calls considered important, others are simply social media or email notifications that have no immediate relevance. In other studies, even the presence of a cell phone on a lunch table has been shown to interfere in personal interactions, leading to less meaningful conversations and less investment in personal contact with others.

Graham Crow examined the role of social networks in social exclusion, which may be closely linked to social isolation, by building on sociological studies of theories of group solidarity within the context of insiders versus outsiders. Crow maintained that in order to understand the true impact of social media, scholars must pursue appropriate methodologies, understand the diverse influences exerted by social networks, and consider both the prosocial and antisocial natures of social networks. Crow contended that social networks may be stronger or weaker in response to the number of people who belong to the network, the level of connections among members, and the broader impact of social network settings. He acknowledged that social networks are chiefly successful because they provide users with what is needed, offering a sense of shared culture, common language, and adherence to both written and unwritten rules. As in real life, the most enduring relationships on social media tend to be between individuals who already have a common bond, such as family, friends, former classmates, or those who share a common interest, such as hobbies or sports. However, the antisocial nature of social media is also evident in the presence of “closed groups” that allow or deny membership according to stated criteria and in the desire of some users and groups to keep knowledge away from “outsiders.”

Applications

Teenagers have been shown to be more likely to use social media than any other age group, and in 2022, 97 percent of American teenagers used the internet daily. While social media sites Six Degrees had been established in 1997, and Myspace in 2003, it was Facebook—established by Mark Zuckerberg, Chris Hughes, and a group of friends at Harvard University in 2004—that was credited with transforming social media. In 2006, American teenagers reported an average of 137 social network contacts each. Information, images, and comments, both positive and negative, are posted and reposted, tweeted and retweeted multiple times, sometimes increasing their impact by the hundreds or thousands. In 2023, a Gallup survey reported that 51 percent of teenagers spent at least four hours daily on social media.

Social media was found to strengthen the differences being insider and outsider groups and therefore contribute to incidences of social isolation among teens. Insider/outsider status was closely linked to incidences of cyberbullying and harassment of outsiders. A number of factors have been linked to social isolation in teens, but cyberbullying presents a unique set of problems because teens do not always know who is behind the cyberbullying. Thus, they do not always know how to confront it, and they may learn to distrust classmates and even friends because of this. When teens share information among their friends, the cyberbullying may increase, exacerbating the problem still further. In some cases, teens have turned to suicide when there seemed to be no other way of dealing with the problem.

In a 2017 study of perceived social isolation (PSI) among 1,898 Americans aged nineteen to thirty-two years, Brian A. Primack and his colleagues found that PSI was linked to greater morbidity and mortality. They defined social isolation as a sense of not belonging, the feeling of being an outsider, or not being involved in meaningful relationships. Social media was identified as Facebook, X, Google+, YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, Vine, Snapchat, and Reddit. Perceived social isolation was measured by using the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System. Primack et al., found that social media use may sometimes mitigate the effects of PSI, but the study also revealed that young adults with the highest levels of social media use often feel more socially isolated than less frequent users.

High levels of social media use were also correlated with higher incidences of obesity, increased cortisol levels, disrupted sleep, impaired immune functions, impaired cognition, threats to vascular mental health and gene expression, and higher rates of depression. The individuals most likely to be helped by extensive social media use were generally identified as those experiencing rare diseases and conditions, stigmas, the elderly, the temporarily isolated, and those with special interests. Primack et al. found that 90 percent of American adults in this age group used social media daily. Slightly more than half of all users were female. Some 57.5 percent were White, 13 percent were African American, 20.6 percent were Hispanic, and 8.9 percent were biracial or multiracial. More than 55 percent were in a committed relationship, and 35.6 percent lived with a significant other. Some 38 percent came from families with annual incomes of $75,000 or more. Around 26 percent had college degrees or higher. A 2023 survey by Pew Research Center reported demographic information by specific social media platform, showing that people of different ages, races, education levels, and socioeconomic levels reported interest in different social media sites.

A number of scholars in various countries have found that the use of social media may exacerbate loneliness because some users interact on social media in order to avoid actual human contact. Some scholars have also reported that narcissists are attracted to social media because it gives them opportunities to increase their own sense of importance. US President Donald Trump was frequently quoted as an example of this phenomenon as evidenced by his “Twitter storms” in response to widespread negative reactions to his many controversial actions and statements.

Social media and its effect on social isolation became the subject of renewed focus following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, as social distancing and quarantine measures caused a sharp spike in both social isolation and the usage of social media. In 2022, Healthline reported that although social media was useful for keeping in touch with others, increased time spent on social media was associated with overall worse mental health during the pandemic. Following the conclusion of the pandemic, several reports showed that while social media reduced loneliness for some older people, on a whole social media did not reduce social loneliness during or after the pandemic, and instead could increase feelings of being emotionally isolated.

Discourse

When signing up to use social media sites, users create profiles or social avatars of themselves to display to others. On Facebook, for instance, information requested includes name, birthdate, place of residence, marital or relationship status, religious and political affiliation, education and employment data. Users ignore any information they do not wish to make public, and they choose whether they want to make information available to the public, to friends and friends of friends, or only to friends. Scholars have found that what is posted and what exists may vary widely because people may not be who they say they are. They may belong to a different sex, age group, race or ethnicity, be of a different sexual persuasion, and so on. Media scholars have suggested that, at best, social media users tend to present their ideal selves. For other users, comparing themselves to unrealistic ideals may lead to envy of others and dissatisfaction with their own lives. In worst cases, it may strengthen the belief that one is an outsider being purposefully excluded from the larger group.

Some scholars argued that social media might be more helpful in alleviating a temporary sense of isolation than in ameliorating entrenched loneliness. For example, a study conducted in the Netherlands revealed that social media may be successful in helping individuals to deal with nighttime loneliness because it is always available, even when other individuals, perhaps within the user’s own household, may be sleeping. Others have found that social media is also helpful in strengthening existing ties and in maintaining contact among family and friends who are geographically separated.

Communication scholars have found that social media has been successfully used to ameliorate a sense of isolation in distinct groups. New mothers, particularly those who have been used to working or who have been socially active, may feel a strong sense of isolation when spending weeks or months caring for an infant. In a 2012 study, McDaniel, Coyne, and Holmes examined the impact of social media in dealing with this sense of isolation among 157 new mothers. The average age of the mothers was twenty-seven, and the average age of their infants was 7.9 months. These mothers spent an average of three hours each day on the internet, often writing or perusing “mommy blogs” that allowed them maintain contact with family, friends, and other new mothers. They found that blogging had a positive impact on marital satisfaction, couple conflict, parenting stress, and depression. In a German study of 7,837 individuals over the age of forty who did not live in institutions, Hajek and König (2019) used Bude and Lantermann’s social isolation measurement to examine the use of Facebook to mitigate social isolation, finding that daily users felt less socially isolated than occasional users or those who never used Facebook.

Social media has proved to be useful in relieving loneliness among those who are isolated from society by ill health, geography, or circumstances. For many, social media sites such as Facebook have provided a connection to the rest of the world. The anthropomorphization of products is also being used in much the same way. Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, and Microsoft’s Cortana are all examples of twenty-first-century interactive technologies that provide individuals with a human voice that responds to requests and demands. Like social media, the anthropomorphizing of electronic devices may give some users the sense of belonging that is necessary to human well-being.

Communication scholars have long understood the need to belong as a basic need, and they have suggested that in the absence of contact with others, humans may lead individuals to search for ways to connect with others though a sense of belonging to insider groups. This may be done through such behaviors as contributing to charities, choosing to buy high-status rather than low-status consumer products, purchasing larger sizes when selecting food items, or buying nostalgic items that remind them of childhood and family memories. On Facebook, such individuals may overestimate their number of friends or accept friend requests from people they do not know. To test the use of social media among lonely individuals, Mourey, Olson, and Yoon studied 118 undergraduates at the University of Michigan and discovered that while the use of anthropomorphic products served specific purposes for socially isolated individuals, they were less useful than interactions with other humans over the long term.

Terms & Concepts

Anthropomorphization: The practice of bestowing human characteristics on animals or objects. It is frequently used as a literary device in children’s stories where animals talk with humans. Within the context of contemporary technology, it generally refers to interactive devices that have been programmed to speak intelligently in human voices and perform specific actions or obtain requested information, such as making telephone calls, playing music, opening or closing a program, or scheduling appointments.

Cortisol: A hormone that is released in reaction to stress levels, consumption of caffeine and certain foods, and levels of sleep and physical activity. Cortisol may enter cells and modify the activity of genes through the process of gluconeogenesis as it manufactures glucose from the body’s proteins and fatty tissues. Excessive social media use has been shown to raise cortisol levels, creating health problems.

“Mommy Blogs”: Originally, the term was used to describe the blogs written by new mothers, who used them as a way to share the experience of learning to parent a newborn, discussing such issues as lack of sleep and the shortage of opportunities for adult conversation. Over time, the definition has expanded to include female bloggers who ever mention their children or parenting. “Mommy blogs” have been used to refer to any female who has a child living at home and who reads or contributes to blogs.

Morbidity: From a medical perspective, the term refers to disease rates in the overall population. It may refer to incidence of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, or other common conditions.

Narcissism: A preoccupation with the physical self or being obsessed with one’s own self-worth. The term is frequently used in popular culture to refer to egotistical individuals, but narcissism is a real personality disorder that is characterized by constant seeking for attention, demanding admiration from others, disregarding information that detracts from one’s view of oneself, and being unable to understand the feelings of others.

Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS): A measurement used by psychiatrists, psychologists, counselors, and others to measure and monitor physical and mental health, including perceptions of social isolation, pain, fatigue, physical function, and general quality of life.

Social Avatar: A social avatar is a graphic illustration that is personalized for a particular user to represent the social media user instead of an actual photograph. On social media sides, avatars are generally two-dimensional, but they may be three-dimensional in online games or virtual worlds. Avatars may reflect the actual characteristics of a user; or they may be caricatures; or they may be distortions or illusions of the real self.

Social Exclusion: Refers to the process by which individuals or groups of individuals are excluded in part or in whole from the society in which they life. Common categories of exclusion include gender, race and ethnicity, social class, age, and physical and mental stigmas. The perception of being socially excluded may create or heighten the sense of social isolation, which has negative impacts on both mental and physical health.

Social Networks: The term is used to refer to both the network governing real-life social and personal interactions and to the social media networks that link users together to exchange information, reactions, comments, and photographs.

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