Have you ever noticed a college café filled with dozens of students, but their eyes are fixed on glowing screens? They scroll endlessly through updates, notifications, or reels—sometimes nothing at all. If you have seen this, you have witnessed the “new loneliness.” They’re together, yet profoundly alone. This social disconnection is no longer a personal issue—it’s a public health crisis.

The U.S. Surgeon General already declared loneliness a national epidemic, associating it with depression, heart disease, and premature death. Recent data from the Pew Research Center (2025) show that one in six Americans feels lonely or isolated; the rates are even higher among young adults. Surveys show that about 65 percent of college students report feeling lonely. These are not distant trends; they describe the emotional reality of many college students today.

Amid rising mental health concerns on campuses, the impact of technology on students’ well-being is often underestimated. Social media has become an influential means of interaction and engagement across personal, academic, and professional needs. If loneliness is a disease, then excessive digital and screen time must be controlled. Schools and institutions must address these issues.

In this research on college students’ experience of social media addiction, many reported feeling isolated and empty even though they were ‘connected’ to social media. That disconnect isn’t accidental; it’s built into how digital platforms work, amplifying comparison, envy, and the fear of missing out—FOMO. This is now called algorithmic FOMO, a fear of missing out fueled by the algorithms that decide what we see online. Teens and parents strongly agree that social media worsens their mental health by increasing anxiety and social comparison, and evidence is piling up, reinforcing why tackling digital isolation must be a public health priority.

Like FSU, many colleges have expanded counseling, mindfulness workshops, and peer-support programs. These are really helpful, but there should be institutional policies as well. To tackle the challenge, universities can embed digital well-being into the first-year experience. A first-year orientation module could explain the negative effects of social media feeds on attention span and help students monitor their own screen time. Colleges can teach young students boundary-setting techniques such as notification batching or scheduling quiet hours.

Counseling centers might insert a brief “digital check-in” to assist students in recognizing shifts in affect that correlate with their online behaviors. Faculty and administrators can demonstrate balance themselves by not sending emails at night, observing rest periods, as well as supporting authentic in-person interaction. Professors can implement visible steps such as screen-free study hours, peer-led meetups, and unplugged events.

None of these steps means banning any app or blaming the users. Rather, the call is to treat our relationship with technology as part of holistic well-being. Colleges exist to prepare people for life and train us to overcome challenges. It’s time they teach not just how to think critically, but how to connect meaningfully.

Loneliness should not be treated as a personal flaw; rather, it’s a design flaw of our current technology-driven, fast-paced society. The reality is, we are living in this system, and we are learning to overcome. The solution starts with our next generation, where the young adults are gathering every day: on our campuses. Teach students not only how to write a paper, but also how to live beyond the screen. They don’t need more digital followers. They need more real-life connections.