Internet can’t match real life

Social media not a full answer

REGULAR READERS of The Yorkshire Post will undoubtedly be familiar with this newspaper’s efforts to tackle the hidden epidemic of loneliness.

For more than three years, the newspaper has run an award-winning campaign to get loneliness to be universally recognised as a health priority and to encourage our readers to volunteer for support services.

This campaign has paid dividends with local authorities around the region being persuaded to include loneliness in their healthcare strategies and readers volunteering thousands of hours of their time to help those in need.

But the sheer scale of the problem means campaigns can only go so far in tackling this issue.

More than one million older people in the UK are said to be “chronically lonely” and new research suggests loneliness could be more deadly than obesity when it comes to the increased risk of an early death.

While it is heartening that more older people are making use of the internet to make new friends, it is equally worth heeding the warning from the Campaign to End Loneliness that social media sites like Facebook and Twitter are no “silver bullet” for allowing those who feel isolated to make meaningful connections with other people.

This finding is something backed up by previous research which found the more people use Facebook, the more unhappy they are, while those who invest more time in real relationships enjoy enhanced feelings of wellbeing. The advice for all of us is simple; reach out to the vulnerable and isolated people in our lives and make them feel part of a community.

As the Campaign to End Loneliness director of campaigns Sam Dick puts it: “Social media might make it easier to find places to find company but we still need to do more. Put simply, if you know an older person who is lonely, don’t tweet them, talk to them.”