Manifestation of Depression and Loneliness on Social Networks: A Case Study of Young Adults on Facebook

Abstract

As people around the world are spending increasing amounts of time online, the question of how online experiences are linked to health and well-being is essential. This paper presents how activities on Facebook are associated with the depressive states of users. Based on online logs of 212 young adults, we show not only the sheer size of the network but also the frequency and diversity of interactions on social networks have close associations with depression. Depressed individuals reported smaller involved networks regarding comments and likes, the two popular forms of interactions. In contrast to the decreased level of interactions, depressed individuals showed an increase in the wall post rates and were active online during midday, which can be interpreted as an endemic behavior linked to the perceived degree of loneliness among young adults who are avid users of social media. We discuss these findings from theoretical, empirical, and subjective perspectives.