Webinar: Young People & Loneliness in the Digital Age
This webinar was hosted on The Tackling Loneliness Hub as part of their ‘Social Infrastructure & the Built Environment – Building Connection for All’ series which includes sessions on ‘Inclusive Transport’ and ‘High Street Stores’, highlighting how both physical and digital environments influence social connection, belonging, and wellbeing.
Recording Date:
Tuesday, 14th October 2025
Speakers:
Alex Quattrone, Research & Development Manager
Harry Hobson, Loneliness & Technology Lead
Event Description
Time online for teens is far greater than time with family, time at school or in local neighbourhoods – so how does this online-environment (Snapchat,Tiktok, Youtube, Roblox, Discord, Instagram) affect how loneliness shows up in the lives of young people? This discussion will explore how young-people use tech, go online, and explore loneliness in this digital-first age. We’ll be taking a textured look at how teens spend time online, sharing headlines from quant-polling and ethnography on teenagers and friendships online, carried out by Neighbourly Lab and Kings College London.
As well as hearing experiences from teenagers in their own words about what they do online and why, we’ll be exploring how being online affects how young people view friendships and their place in the wider world (recent ‘More in Common’ polling showed that only a third of 18-24- year-olds believe “most people can be trusted”, compared to nearly half of all adults (71% of those being aged 75 and over.)
The session was led by Harry Hobson, who leads Neighbourly Lab’s work on technology and loneliness; and will also draw on learnings from his serving as a Commissioner on the Play Commission, alongside Alex Quattrone, Research & Development Manager at Neighbourly Lab and lead on the ‘Social Value of Snapchat for Young People’ study.