Examining the relationship between social media addiction and loneliness: A cross-sectional study of Pakistani Youth

Abstract

In today’s world the use of the internet has been increased, causing people to become internet addicts. Research has shown that many people are becoming addicted to social media due to the excessive time they spend on these platforms. In Pakistan, students use social media a lot, and it is often seen that many young people, especially university students experience the loneliness. The aim of this study is to discover how using social media is connected or associated to feelings of loneliness. The study was conducted in Pakistan on the student at different universities in Islamabad. The study is based on Uses and Gratifications Theory and Social Presence Theory. It uses a quantitative cross sectional method to investigate the research process. The data were collected from 404 undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) students enrolled in different universities in Islamabad using a structured questionnaire. Incorporating the Social Media Addiction Scale (SMAS) and the UCLA Loneliness Scale. The data were analyzed using SPSS including descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation. A significant positive relationship was found between social media usage and feelings of loneliness. While the strength of the relationship was moderate (r = 0.305, p < 0.01). The study primarily emphasizes that females tend to experience more loneliness compared to males. This study adds to existing research by showing real empirical evidence from a developing country. It also highlights that students should use social media in a balanced way, so it does not harm their mental health and instead supports their overall wellbeing.