Remote work frequency and loneliness among United Kingdom employees: the moderating role of active and passive social media use.

OBJECTIVE

This study examines the relationship between remote work frequency and loneliness and assesses the differential moderating effects of active (e.g., posting content) versus passive (e.g., scrolling or browsing content) social media use.

METHODS

Using data from Waves 13 and 14 (2021-2024) of the UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS), comprising 7,601 individuals and 15,202 person-wave observations, this study employs fixed-effects regression models.

RESULTS

The findings reveal that higher remote work frequency is positively associated with greater loneliness (β = 0.059, 95% confidence interval [0.018, 0.100]). Furthermore, active social media use significantly buffers this positive association (β = -0.016, 95% confidence interval [-0.031, -0.001]), whereas passive social media use shows no significant moderating effect (β = -0.003, 95% confidence interval [-0.022, 0.015]).

CONCLUSION

Greater remote work frequency is associated with increased loneliness, but active social media use attenuates this association while passive use does not. As remote work becomes more prevalent, active rather than passive social media engagement may help offset the loneliness associated with this work arrangement.