Most U.S. college students, 54%, reported being lonely, and those who spent more time on social media were more likely to have those feelings, according to a recent University of Cincinnati study of roughly 65,000 students.
“We can’t say that using social media for two or more hours a week is leading to you being lonely and vice versa, but we do see that being related,” says Madelyn Hill, who led the peer-reviewed study and is an assistant professor of instruction at Ohio University‘s College of Health Sciences and Professions.
“But this also can be very subjective for the individual. We see a lot of our marginalized groups actually having a lot of social connection through social media, and that if they were to remove social media, they might feel more lonely or potentially be more isolated. It really is on the person.”
While research tells an “important story with social media,” loneliness among college students isn’t new, says Amaura Kemmerer, vice president of clinical success at Uwill, a platform that provides mental health and wellness support to students in the U.S. and abroad.
Loneliness has “always been a part of the college transition,” she says. “Where we’ve maybe gone astray is that many times students are not prepared for those feelings. We send so many messages to young people about how college is going to be the best time in their life. But I think we don’t always prepare them, both as parents and folks working on campuses, that it might take some time for them to build community friendships and position themselves not to have those heightened or persistent feelings of loneliness.”
Additionally, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many students lack “strong socialization skills,” says Cliff Lampe, a professor and associate dean for academic affairs in the University of Michigan‘s School of Information. “How do they build those? Social media is probably not the right way, but there’s no alternative they have at the moment.”
Effects of Social Media on Student Isolation
Thirteen percent of respondents in the 2026 UC study, all ages 18 to 24 from more than 120 colleges, were excessive social media users — meaning engagement exceeded 16 hours or more a week.
Those who averaged 16 to 20 hours and at least 30 hours a week had 19% and 38% increases in loneliness, respectively, compared to peers who didn’t use it.
How social media affects individuals is complicated, Lampe says, and the question remains: “Is it making students more lonely, or are students lonely and turning to social media as a way to get the dopamine they would normally get from interpersonal relationships?”
[Read: Stress in College Students: What to Know.]
“It would be great if we could say, ‘Oh, social media is bad and it makes people unhappy, and we should stop using social media,'” he says. But “there’s a lot of factors. Is it true that social media is harmful for some people with some types of use? That seems to be very clear that it is. But the types of people that it affects and how it affects them based on what kind of use they have all can be very different.”
For instance, there’s a difference between passive and active use, Lampe says.
“If you’re just doomscrolling or if you’re FOMO scrolling or whatever it happens to be, that’s usually associated with more negative emotions,” he says. “But if you’re actively engaging with somebody, participating in a creative community, organizing, whatever else, that active use tends to have more positive emotional and social outcomes.”
Therefore, it’s important to self-evaluate your social media use, Hill says.
Consider how you feel after using it, she says. “Are you getting social connection through there? It really is an individually based experience and activity. Some people maybe just scroll, where others are actually connecting with friends and family. But understanding that using social media for two or more hours a day could potentially decrease your time for in-person socialization, which may be more meaningful to individuals.”
While some loneliness in college is expected, Kemmerer says, persistent feelings “lead to anxiety, depression and sleep disturbance” and can “become something much more significant that interferes with student success” if not addressed.
[Read: How Parents Can Support the Adjustment to College]
How Colleges Are Addressing Loneliness
Colleges play a role in developing “environments that foster in-person connections and a sense of belonging among students,” Ashley L. Merianos, senior author of the report and professor in the School of Human Services at UC, wrote in an email. “Promoting these opportunities can help reduce student isolation, which is linked to loneliness and patterns of excessive social media use such as doom scrolling.”
UC, for instance, has built areas on campus to help foster social connection, such as wellness spaces and counseling services, she says.
Beyond cultivating in-person interactions and offering clubs and organizations, many schools have started incorporating these topics into the curriculum.
“There’s something called a ‘first-year experience‘ class almost all colleges have where there’s some curriculum around things like social media use and loneliness,” Kemmerer says. “But there are also even required opportunities to participate in in-person work with peer mentors. I think schools are looking at it and trying to create more face-to-face interaction.”
What Role Do Parents Play?
Because of technology advancements — such as the ability to FaceTime, make phone calls, and send voice memos and pictures in an instant — it’s easier than ever to stay in touch with family and friends.
[Read: Social Media: Do’s and Don’ts for College Students]
But while it’s tempting to constantly check in with college-age children — and vice versa — parents need to have “stronger digital boundaries,” Lampe says.
“One of the things that strikes me that’s different from when I went to school is most of these students are in touch with their parents every day,” he says. “That’s something that’s changed a lot over time. I know it feels counterintuitive — it does to me as a parent — but the biggest thing that I think parents can do for their kids is give them space to grow into adulthood and form other relationships besides their parental relationship.”
Parents should also encourage their child to get off social media long enough to connect with peers and the rest of campus, Hill says.
“In my freshman year, when I was feeling like I wasn’t meeting friends or felt lost, my mom was a huge proponent and encourager for me to look into organizations and things to do,” she says. “So I think parents being that for their child: Getting out of the dorm, meeting people, even if it’s just saying hello to someone in the dining hall or sitting in the dining hall.”
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What Colleges Are Doing About Social Media and Student Isolation originally appeared on usnews.com
