Is Social Media Making Us Lonely?
2:5:42 2024-08-19 813

When award-winning poet and critic, and director of creative writing at Yale University, Richard Deming sat down to write a book about loneliness, he knew his story, among many others, would lead the way in excavating this complex yet universal human experience.

“Essentially, I’ve suffered from chronic loneliness all my life,” Deming shared. “I have substance abuse and addiction in my background as well, and loneliness certainly fueled that. A few years ago, I’d written my second collection of poems, Day for Night, and friends kept referring to it as ‘a meditation on loneliness.’ To be honest, I was surprised because I hadn’t been conscious of that being a theme running through the work, but of course when they pointed it out, I couldn’t not see it.”

He went on to say, “As a topic, loneliness remains understudied and under-addressed, even as it seems to be more and more prevalent all the time.” Determined to better understand loneliness and its connections to creativity, Deming built the book, This Exquisite Loneliness, around the life stories of key figures who acknowledged loneliness as part of their creative and intellectual lives.

Deming is right—loneliness does seem to be on the rise. In fact, in 2023 the U.S. surgeon general issued an advisory on what was named “our epidemic of loneliness and isolation,” which included a National Strategy to Advance Social Connection, an unprecedented step in our nation’s history. For many people, turning to social media for connection has become a daily habit in our digitally-saturated world. But this could be making matters worse.

According to research, the more time you spend on social media, the more likely you are to feel lonely. One study showed that more time spent scrolling through snapshots of other people’s happiness on social media actually fueled loneliness and distress, possibly driven by jealousy. Using social media to maintain connections with others tends to lead toward yet more feelings of loneliness, perhaps as a result of disappointed expectations—virtual interactions may not be adequate substitutes for face-to-face conversations and shared experiences.

 

Forgive Others   2025-07-23
Reality Of Islam

Patience in Islamic Codices

11:28:24   2025-08-02  

The Fields of Patience

11:22:10   2025-07-30  

Patience Against Sin

10:34:41   2025-07-23  

A Mathematical Approach to the Quran

10:52:33   2024-02-16  

mediation

2:36:46   2023-06-04  

what Allah hates the most

5:1:47   2023-06-01  

allahs fort

11:41:7   2023-05-30  

striving for success

2:35:47   2023-06-04  

Imam Ali Describes the Holy Quran

5:0:38   2023-06-01  

livelihood

11:40:13   2023-05-30  

silence about wisdom

3:36:19   2023-05-29  

MOST VIEWS

Importance of Media

9:3:43   2018-11-05

Illuminations

friendship

2:13:43   2022-05-27

your character

2:33:4   2023-02-15

salih & the special camel

8:3:0   2018-06-21

education importance

7:26:19   2022-04-08

the quran

3:18:29   2022-12-24

educators

9:50:37   2023-02-28

bahlool & a businessman

8:21:9   2018-06-21



IMmORTAL Words
LATEST Take Responsibility for Your Choices Interpretation of Sura Hud - Verses 108-110 Patience in Islamic Codices Study Reveals the Shocking Amount of Plastic We Breathe in Every Day Third Phase of AI Is Here. Here is How Agents May Impact Our Lives. Yellowstone Aspen Forests Are Already Responding to The Return of Wolves The Key to Success in Your Work and Life The Fields of Patience Interpretation of Sura Hud - Verses 105-107 Eating Eggs Can Actually Lower Bad Cholesterol, New Study Says We Have a New Record for The Most Accurate Clock Ever Built Almost 50% of Microplastic Pollution Comes from Cars. Here is Why.