The Effect of Social Media Use on Social Isolation Among Older Adults: The Role of Participation in Social and Leisure Activities

Background and Purpose: Due to chganges of family structure and the COVID-19 pandemic, older adults have become increasingly vulnerable to social isolation. Although Social media is emerging as an important means of fostering social connection for older adults(Wu & Chiou, 2020), its excessive use may rather diminish real-world social interactions, which can excerbating social isolation(Kim et al., 2018; Meshi et al., 2020). However, in the perspectives of active aging and age-friendly environment, participation in social and lesiure activities can alleviate the social isolation of older adults(Jung & Ahn, 2023). Furthermore, online social networks function as a key mechanism through which social media facilitates older adults’ engagement in social and leisure activities. Online interactions based on shared interests can lead to offline gatherings, which may help reduce social isolation (Chen & Schulz, 2016; Liu et al., 2024).

Thus, this study aimed to explore associations among social isolation and social media use in older adults focusing on the mediating effect of participation social and lesiure activities, to explore the way to reduce social isolation of older adults in digital society.

Methods: This study utilized data from the 2022 Age Integration Survey conducted by the OO Research Institute of South Korea. The survey targeted individuals aged 20 and older across 15 regions, including 7 metropolitan cities and 8 provincial areas. Participants were recruited using proportional quota sampling based on national census data, considering gender, age, and geographic distribution. From the total sample of 1,210 respondents, 598 individuals aged 65 and over were selected in this study.

5-item Social Isolation Scale of Vincenzi and Grabosky (1987) was used to measure social isoaltion, and 6-item Social Media Scale of Wei and Gao (2017) was used to measure social media use. Participation in social and leisure activities was assessed using a modified version of the Pittsburgh Enjoyable Activities Test (PEAT: Pressman et al., 2009), with two items excluded due to concerns about reliability and conceptual overlap. In line with previous research, items were categorized into social activities and leisure activities subscales. Structural equation modeling (SEM) and bootstrapping method was used to examine the mediating effect.

Results: The measurement model demonstrated a satisfactory fit to the data: χ2 = 138.814(df=62, p<.001); CFI=.988; SRMR=.020; RMSEA=.046. The Structural Model also showed a good fit to data: χ2 = 292.226(df=150, p<.001); CFI=.988, SRMR=.040, RMSEA=.040.

The model indicated that the direct effect of social media use on social isolation was not significant (β = -.022, p = .643). Only the indirect effect of social media use on social isolation through social and leisure activities was statistically significant (β = -.111, LLCI= -.159, ULCI= -.048).

Conclusion and Implication: The result of this study indicates that mitigating social isolation among older adults requires more than simply promoting the use of social media. Rather, it is crucial to facilitate the transition from social connections formed online to active participation in social and leisure activities in older adults.