By Rachel Hosie

The longer you spend on social networks, the lonelier you’re likely to be.

You might think that social media allows us to be connected to our loved ones 24/7, but a new study has discovered that it’s actually making us feel lonelier.

The report suggests that if you spend over two hours a day on social networks, your chances of feeling socially isolated are twice as high.

The study was carried out by the University of Pittsburgh and saw researchers questioning 1,787 adults aged between 19 and 32 about their use of the 11 most popular social media sites – Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Google Plus, Instagram, Snapchat, Reddit, Tumblr, Pinterest, Vine and LinkedIn – at the time the research was conducted in 2014.

They found that people who visit social networks over 58 times a week are three times more likely to feel lonely than those who use the sites under nine times.

It has long been suggested that social media is contributing to the rise in FOMO (fear of missing out), but this study suggests the problem may be more serious.

However it’s not clear whether social media causes loneliness, or whether it’s just that already lonely people are more likely to spend longer on social networks.

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

“It’s possible that young adults who initially felt socially isolated turned to social media. Or it could be that their increased use of social media somehow led to feeling isolated from the real world.”

The scientists allowed for demographic differences and maintained that there’s a link between social media usage and loneliness.

However as well as FOMO from events you didn’t attend, the study suggests that the longer someone spends on social media, the less time they have for real life social interactions.

As suicides and mental health issues amongst students and young adults are on the rise, the role of social media is being increasingly scrutinised.

“We are inherently social creatures, but modern life tends to compartmentalise us instead of bringing us together,” Professor Brian Primack, from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 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.”

Source: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/social-media-high-usage-more-isolated-lonely-people-study-university-pittsburgh-a7614226.html

According to Russian and Ukrainian mass media, the protests against rising electricity prices in Armenia are acquiring not only political, but also geopolitical importance, which may have unpredictable consequences, political analyst Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan told Tert.am.

“A number of media outlets are trying to cover the Yerevan protests in a certain light. Specifically, Russian and Ukrainian mass media are discrediting the protesting Armenian citizens. As a result, the international community is inadequately responding to the Yerevan protests, viewing them as being of not only political, but also geopolitical importance,” the expert said.

Such world media outlets as Associated Press, BBC, France-Press have responded to the Yerevan protests.

Mr Melik-Shahnazaryan notes that his messages are a warning to Armenia’s society that it should not be exposed to external influence or allow Russia and Ukraine to draw it into their conflict.

“For the struggle being waged on Yerevan streets to serve its purpose, and for them to consistently deal with the problems raised by the protesters,” the expert said.

Becoming a tool for Ukrainian and Western propaganda poses a threat of unpredictable consequences, Mr Melik-Shahnazaryan concluded.

Ara Papyan, Director of the Yerevan based analytical center Modus Vivendi, also agrees that the campaign somewhat incurs the influence of both foreign and domestic policies.

“Although ostensibly economic, this problem is, in essence, a political one. Let us not forget that it is the result of a poor management and corrupt administration, which stems from the political system,” he said, referring to the transactions that led to the privatization and sale of the Electric Networks of Armenia to the Russian side.

Commenting on the West’s reaction, Papyan highlighted their specific set of values which he said is expected to have its influence on absolutely every corner of the world. He said their accentuation in Armenia’s case would be the call on people to control the government expenditures.

The expert said he finds that the greatest disservice was done by Yevgeny Bibin, the CEO of the Electric Networks of Armenia, whose decision to seek higher tariffs for power eventually led to a public rebellion (destabilizing the situation in Armenia).

Papyan said he finds that the problem’s root cause is poor management resulting from an awkwardly structured political system.