How do undergraduate university students make sense of their experience of loneliness and its relationship to social media?

Introduction: When starting university, many students report feeling lonely. Research suggests loneliness impacts functioning, psychological wellbeing, and health. Social media has become a central part of young people’s lives. Researchers have found a relationship between loneliness and social media, however, the direction of this relationship remains unclear. Research in this area is largely quantitative and says little about the lived experience of students. This research aimed to understand how undergraduate students made sense of their experience of loneliness and its relationship with social media.

Method: Undergraduate students (18-21) enrolled at the University of Leeds were recruited through an online screening survey. Those who met inclusion criteria were invited to participate in photo elicitation interviews. Twelve interviews were conducted. Interviews were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA).

Results: Five superordinate themes emerged, with eight subordinate themes. Participants explained their experiences of university, loneliness, and social media across two significant aspects: ‘finding a community’ and ‘curating an identity'. Through a ‘relationship lens’, participants described aspects of forming and maintaining relationships, and the central role that social media played in this. Participants’ inner experiences of being ‘in control or consumed’ were influenced by their online and offline worlds, shaping their experience of connectedness. Central to all experiences was a sense of ‘feeling safe in vulnerability’ when moving to university, an unfamiliar place with unspoken rules and norms.

Discussion: Employing a novel research method using visual methods enhances understanding of undergraduate university students’ individual experiences of loneliness and its relationship to social media. These findings set out a foundation from which student support can be developed. Combined approaches, using whole university and targeted interventions could support normalising and therefore relieving loneliness. Community-based approaches, such as peer support, could be helpful with this. Targeted approaches to help students develop emotional literacy and distress tolerance skills may support students with social media use and loneliness.