There has been ongoing debate about the effects of social media use on young people and how best to regulate it. Our study demonstrates that links between social media and young people’s wellbeing, specifically loneliness, are nuanced. Treating social media as a single entity obscures differences between the various types of platforms as well as variations in individuals’ digital habits and reasons for using these platforms.
Dr Timothy Matthews, Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Greenwich and first author of the study
29 May 2025
Study finds links between social media and loneliness depend on the app
New research finds that although overall time spent online is linked with higher levels of loneliness, use of social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter is not.
The study, published in Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences found that it is the type of digital and social media platform that is associated with loneliness, rather than the use of social media itself.
The international research team led by the University of Greenwich in collaboration with the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College London, Duke University, University of Oslo and University of California, Irvine investigated the links between digital technology habits and loneliness.
They analysed data from a cohort of 1,632 young adults (aged 24–26) in the United Kingdom who had been followed prospectively since childhood for the Environmental Risk Longitudinal Twin Study – a large cohort study, now in its third decade, which was founded by researchers at the IoPPN. Data were collected via an online survey in 2019–2020, allowing for comparison before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The researchers found that time spent watching TV, gaming, browsing the web and overall time online was linked with greater loneliness, but networking social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter (now known as X) were not.
WhatsApp was uniquely found to be associated with lower levels of loneliness. However, social media sites that promote passive consumption such as YouTube and Reddit, as well as some dating apps, were linked with heightened loneliness.
These patterns between social media platforms and loneliness were the same before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The associations were present regardless of participants’ prior symptoms of depression and anxiety, suggesting these mental health conditions did not explain the links.
Researchers also found that compulsive use of digital technology or experiences of online victimisation were linked with higher levels of loneliness. The findings suggest that it is the nature of digital technology experiences that are associated with loneliness, rather than technology as a whole.
It is unclear whether loneliness leads to increased digital media usage, or if using digital media leads to loneliness, however our findings emphasise that digital technology can be a double-edged sword for already vulnerable young adults. Although we found that lonely individuals were more likely to spend time online seeking resources to support their mental and physical health, they were also more likely to report using digital technology in maladaptive and compulsive ways that interfered with their day-to-day life and thus could benefit from targeted interventions.
Professor Helen Fisher, Professor of Developmental Psychopathology at the IoPPN and ESRC Centre for Society and Mental Health and co-author of the study
“Social media use, online experiences, and loneliness among young adults: A cohort study” (Timothy Matthews, Louise Arseneault, Bridget Bryan, Helen Fisher, Rebecca Gray, Joanne Henchy, Terrie Moffitt, Candice Odgers) was published in Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. Doi: 10.1111/nyas.15370
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Professor of Developmental Psychopathology