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Australians using multiple communications technologies to connect with friends and family are more likely to feel lonely than those who use one technology.
40% of respondents who use four methods of technology say they feel lonely, compared with 11% who use one channel.
Correlation doesn't imply causality, so the survey doesn't tell us whether lonely people are more likely to reach out using multiple channels, or whether the use of specific or multiple technologies leads to feeling lonely.
Those who do feel lonely are slightly more likely than average to use SMS, and slightly less likely to use email. That could be explained in terms of demographics: the survey showed under 34s are more likely to frequently feel lonely than older people, and that the most commonly used communication technologies among 25-34s is SMS and email.
What about social networking? See page 2.
