Social media websites designed to help people connect are actually having the opposite effect and causing users to feel more alone, a new study has found.

The more time people spend online on platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, the more likely they are to feel cut off from the rest of the world, according to psychologists.

People who typically spend more than two hours online a day are doubling their chances of feeling isolated, US researchers discovered.

They questioned 1,787 adults aged 19 to 32 about their use of the 11 most popular social media sites - Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Google Plus, Instagram, Snapchat, Reddit, Tumblr, Pintrest, Vine and LinkedIn - at the time the research was conducted in 2014.

Those who visited various sites 58 or more times each week were found to be three times more at risk of experiencing loneliness than those who went online less than nine times per week.


The link with isolation was found even after taking account of social and demographic factors that might have influenced the results.

Lead scientist Professor Brian Primack, from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, said mental health problems and social isolation are at "epidemic levels" among young adults.

Image: The more time spent online, the less time is left for real-world interactions, a study finds

"We are inherently social creatures, but modern life tends to compartmentalise us instead of bringing us together," he said.

"While it may seem that social media presents opportunities to fill that social void, I think this study suggests that it may not be the solution people were hoping for."

Co-author Elizabeth Miller, professor of paediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh, said: "We do not yet know which came first - the social media use or the perceived social isolation."

She said it could be one or the other, or a combination of both.

But even if a compulsion to go online was prompted by a feeling of loneliness, the social media experience did not appear to alleviate the sense of isolation, she added.

The team explained there could be many reasons for this.

The more time a person spends online, the less time is left for real-world interactions.

In addition, seeing certain aspects of other people's lives may spur feelings of envy and rouse the belief that your life is disappointing and dull in comparison.

Prof Primack added: "I don't doubt that some people using certain platforms in specific ways may find comfort and social connectedness via social media relationships.

"However, the results of this study simply remind us that, on the whole, use of social media tends to be associated with increased social isolation and not decreased social isolation."

The study has been published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.