Posting habits and behavior on social media can reveal different types of loneliness, according to researchers at the University of California, San Diego, who analyzed archived profiles of 415 students, infohub.kz reports.
For the study, the scientists compared participants' psychological test results with the visual characteristics of their posts, the language of their captions and their overall activity on the platform. To assess visual content, the authors used machine-learning algorithms that identified emotions, head tilt and the number of faces in a frame.
The findings showed that loneliness leaves distinctive traces on a profile. People lacking close connections or experiencing emotional loneliness were more likely to use profile photos with a sad or angry expression, post late at night and use negatively charged words in their captions.
Those suffering from social isolation and a lack of a wide circle of contacts, meanwhile, generally commented less often, gave fewer "likes" and hardly ever shared photos of people.
The main common marker was a shortage of faces in posted photos, along with a preference for profile pictures showing the head tilted upward. The authors stressed that online habits reflect a person's internal subjective state rather than the actual size of their social circle.
The researchers believe the findings will help specialists better understand the mechanisms of social isolation among young people.