ArticlePloS one2024
Research on the relationship between virtual social interaction and the degree of loneliness based on algorithm matching technologies: A quantitative analysis on the SOUL APP-A virtual social software for strangers.
Article in PloS one, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Artificial Intelligence in Social Health: A Narrative Review of Uses, Advantages, Challenges, and Future Directions.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Physical activity and adolescents' parasocial relationships with virtual idols: evidence from loneliness, gender differences, and network analysis.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- From loneliness to internet addiction in adolescents: disentangling the within-person mediating role of rumination via RI-CLPM.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
This study examines the relationship between virtual social interaction and people's social behaviors and psychology using algorithm matching technologies and questionnaire surveys. The focus is on interpersonal communication on virtual social platforms. The findings indicate that engaging in virtual social networking is often accompanied by a high level of loneliness. Users who experience social anxiety in the real world tend to feel more lonely, and this loneliness is exacerbated by presenting an unreal version of oneself and having distrust in virtual social networking. Users with higher anxiety and loneliness levels are more likely to use the algorithm matching function of virtual social networking, engage in false self-presentation, and have less trust in the platform. Since the inherent flaws of virtual social networking cannot be eliminated solely through algorithm matching, a potential solution is to introduce more offline to online social functions for strangers. This exploration of actual matching on social platforms may help reduce users' loneliness.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.