By Andrew Brock, Jordan Cook, Logan Wentzlaff, Zachary Daly, and Alexandra Momot
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
Social life is a crucial part of life for university students because a major part of a person’s college experience is centered around their relationships. Social media can help foster these connections, but it has also isolated students from in-person communities, leading to loneliness.
This creates a barrier that makes it harder for students to form meaningful connections with others, which has been highlighted as one of the main drivers of mental health in higher education.
According to a 2020 study by Psychiatry Research, “More than 35% of university students experience loneliness.” The loneliness they are experiencing has been shown to increase the odds that students could experience psychotic experiences. These experiences are events that are classified as hallucination or delusion-like symptoms, which may indicate that the person impacted may be impacted by psychosis later.
One of the main ways that college students are experiencing loneliness is because of social media.
“People are on social media because it’s difficult to find connections, community, and companionship in real life, so they’re online trying to seek that.” Says Courtney Hill, a junior at Towson University studying Electronic, Media and Film.
Hill is a member of Lambda Kappa Tau Productions, a film production society on Towson’s campus. Though Hill is a full-time student who also participates in extracurricular activities, she has noticed trends of students socially isolating themselves, which directly impacts student involvement on campus. Though Towson University has approximately 250 clubs that students can participate in, there has been a trend of clubs facing difficulties gaining students, while still having the ability sustain its current members.
According to a 2020 study by Computers & Education, “Approximately 41% of school friendships become more distant during the first semester of university life.” Students are also having trouble establishing relationships, leading to loneliness.
Hanna Lehner is a junior at Towson University, studying mass communications and specializing in public relations. As a recent transfer student, Hanna is having a tough time socializing since she also commutes to campus. “I mainly just have a difficult time keeping up with clubs since I live off campus and have a part-time job,” says Lehner.
Another factor that impacts campus involvement is age difference amongst students. Students who are closer to graduating may be less involved than freshmen due to having to fulfill degree requirements or having job commitments. The overall focus on graduating can curb students’ attention from campus involvement. “I think being 23 and knowing a big part of the campus is younger than me also plays into my involvement,” says Lehner. Social media platforms offer students an opportunity to get involved in on-campus events and extracurricular groups. This is because most of the clubs have social media like Instagram.
Towson University senior Shamron Eugene is one of those students using social media in a way that is making the relationships that he has formed throughout college flourish.
“Some of the connections that I’ve been able to make on campus, I’ve been able to nourish those connections and further those connections through social media,” Eugene said.
Rather than establishing relationships online, the study found that students should use social media to nurture in-person relationships. Doing this might lead to loneliness, impacting students to a lesser degree.
Residential students may struggle less with loneliness because they live on campus. This may help the younger age groups not feel as lonely as, according to a Pew Research study, people under 30 are the predominant demographic that uses social media. Living on campus, or closer to it is one of many ways students can reverse the up-ticking trend of loneliness.
Loneliness and the related increase in risk for mental health issues have also seen an even higher impact on certain demographics. According to a Journal of Affective Disorders study, groups such as women, minorities, and people of lower socioeconomic status reported that they had a lower quality of life compared to other demographics. That was also the case when looking at students who had mental disorders, so if the continued loneliness does turn into a mental disorder, those students could be at an even higher risk of having a lower quality of life if they were also in one of the demographics that are affected more. This adds a different wrinkle to the issue of loneliness and increases the urgency to solve the issue.
Extracurricular activities provide students from these groups to feel seen and heard. Students can benefit in numerous ways. When they join an extracurricular group that aligns with their passions and goals.
Jolie Blackshear is a junior at Towson University studying Mass communications specializing in Public Relations. She has been a part of the Alpha Kappa Psi professional business fraternity for six months at Towson University. Most members of her fraternity are a part of marginalized racial and ethnic groups in America.
Blackshear describes her experience with Alpha Kappa Psi as, “eye-opening.” She said that “The fraternity has helped me to develop an understanding of what I want to do professionally.”
Blackshear’s involvement with her fraternity benefits different areas of her life. She has made profound connections through their community and gained the opportunity to advance in her professional life.
College life has long been a space for building social circles, dorm life, walking to class, and late-night food hall runs. But in recent years, that experience has shifted due to COVID-19, and the rise of social media has reshaped how students connect and get involved on campus.
Finlay McNabb, a Towson Mass Communication graduate who started college in 2020, described his intro to Towson University experience as “Zoom University.” After just two weeks on campus, classes went online. “The COVID shutdown made it super hard to meet new people,” he said. “But the isolation also pushed people to stay connected. People had to get creative.”
Social media helped fill that gap. “That’s where I saw what was going on,” Finlay said. “It made it easier to meet people, but I could also see it caused a lot of insecurity in people.”
When campus life returned, students were eager to reconnect in person. “People were ready to socialize again,” he said.
This reflects a broader trend. A Pew Research Center study found that 84% of adults aged 18–29 use social media, with about 60% saying they are constantly online. While it offers connection, it can also make relationships feel more surface-level. As a graduate student now, Finlay sees how social life changes over time. “Freshmen seem more socially involved. Everything’s new and exciting. But by graduation, the path is more direct and your circle is smaller, more close-knit.”
One way many younger students combat loneliness is through forming strong connections through online communities. Snapchat and Instagram acts as a hub that fosters community for different kinds of college students. Though social media can be daunting, it can be a source of strength for any student who may feel disconnected.
College social life hasn’t disappeared—it just looks different now! In a digital world, connection is still possible.
* Headline and image created by Microsoft 365 Copilot