As more Americans turn to social media for news and information, we’ve seen a growing trend of political influencers who convey both accurate, actionable political information and peddle in misinformation and conspiracy theories. As these influencers become more popular as sources of news and information, reliance on traditional media has declined, suggesting that political influencers have an increasing role to play in how Americans access and understand news and information. At the same time, feelings of social isolation have increased, particularly for younger Americans (APA, 2024). In addition, survey respondents “saw a positive role for technology in social connections,” but almost half (46%) reported that those relationships were “superficial” (APA, 2024). This suggests that despite the growing reliance on political influencers, these connections should be understood as parasocial relationships, one-sided relationships individuals form with media personalities. We ask, what is the relationship between social isolation, parasocial relationships with political influencers, perceived credibility of political influencers, conspiratorial thinking, and support for social media regulation? This research explores what the U.S. Surgeon General (2023) calls a “loneliness epidemic,” aligns with CSSI’s mission to support social science research that addresses “topics of significant public interest.”

This project is part of Surveying the Social World research incubation initiative.