Peer Texting Reduces Loneliness More Than Chatbots

Researchers at the University of British Columbia and the University of Pennsylvania tested nearly 300 first-semester college students in a two-week experiment published earlier this month in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. Students assigned to daily peer texting reported significantly larger reductions in loneliness than those who messaged an empathetic chatbot or kept a journal; chatbot effects matched journaling.