Does Social Media Lead to Social
Isolation
Matthew Alex Cooper
CSC 540
Defining Social Media
Media that is posed by the user and can take many different forms. Some
types of social media are forums, message boards, blogs, wikis and
podcasts. Social media applications include Google, Facebook and
YouTube.”
I include online gaming. Because it is a way of communication.
History


Telephone – people found themselves replacing
face-to-face contact for wired connection
Television – people found themselves watching
television for long periods of time daily.
Kraut's research

Longitudinal study found that the Internet does
lead to loneliness.
Addiction

Whether it be gaming online or browsing
countless webpages, people who feed their
addiction via the Internet may be susceptible to
loneliness
Characteristics of Addiction

Salience

Mood modification

Tolerance

Withdrawal symptoms

Conflict

Relapse
Results from Gaming



Many psychologists believe that online gaming
can become addictive
The problem with online gaming is that it may
become the single most important thing in a
person's life and compromise all other activities
This is just Problematic Internet Usage, not
necessarily loneliness
Cause or Effect


A recursive cycle
People with deficient social skill may see the
Internet as ”The Prozac of social communication”
Loneliness As a Cause
Loneliness As an Outcome
Study on Secondary School Children
• Secondary school students using Internet excessively feel themselves
lonelier than those using Internet less.
• Analysis showed that the average usage of Internet of the secondary
school students per week was 15 hours.
Study on University Students
The variable of loneliness explained 21.8% of total variance alone and appeared to be the
most important predictor as a variable
Depression, the second important variable that predicted PIU behavior, explained only
3.3% of total variance alone.
The third variable, computer self-efficacy, explained only 2.8% of the total variance
alone.
individuals experiencing the feeling of loneliness tend to have more PIU behavior
depression was less predictive of problematic Internet use than loneliness
Conclusion



Loneliness and the use of the Internet tends to be
a recursive relationship
The only real relationship found is that those who
use the computer compulsively tend to have
negative outcomes
The negative outcomes may lead to loneliness
References
Ceyhan, A., & Ceyhan, E. (2008). Loneliness, Depression, and Computer Self-Efficacy as Predictors of
Problematic Internet Use. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 11(6), 699-701. doi:10.1089/cpb.2007.0255
Deniz, L. (2010). Excessive Internet Use and Loneliness Among Secondary School Students. Journal of
Instructional Psychology, 37(1), 20-23. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
Junghyun, K., LaRose, R., & Wei, P. (2009). Loneliness as the Cause and the Effect of Problematic Internet
Use: The Relationship between Internet Use and Psychological Well-Being. CyberPsychology &
Behavior, 12(4), 451-455. doi:10.1089/cpb.2008.0327
Griffiths, M. (2010). Online video gaming: what should educational psychologists know?. Educational
Psychology in Practice, 26(1), 35-40. doi:10.1080/02667360903522769
Mu, H. (2007). Social use of the internet and loneliness. Informally published manuscript, Department of
Philosophy, Ohio State University, Newark, Ohio. Retrieved from http://etd.ohiolink.edu/sendpdf.cgi/Hu%20Mu.pdf?osu1186168233