I find this area of research really interesting, as social media can have both positive and negative outcomes for its users. I think there is potential for social media to increase a sense of belonging, and my colleagues and I found this in a small pilot study where we looked at how a private group setting could minimise isolation for student teachers when they did their practicum studies. We found that having a group setting, where the students knew each other and the lecturer before social media was added, did support a sense of belonging even when they weren't in the same physical space. However, we used social media in a really purposeful way. Personally, I feel human engagement with technology is where powerful change is made, rather than social media on its own being a "cure".

They are a good means to keep in touch with someone. But at the end, the won't cure the mentioned deprivations if you don't meet the person face to face.

In my humble opinion the answer is definitely YES. Even if we often focus on the negative aspects of the social media (bullying, manipulation, fundamentalism, etc..), it can not be denied that social media opens a new niche for people in a manner that was never seen before in the terms of equality. Today, you can be anybody in the social media irrespectively on your socio-economical or health status. I personally know a lot of people who were simply unable to develop a massive social network before, from different reasons. On the other hand there is a healthy population, who will lose some social skills, interpersonal face-to-face strategies and coping mechanism by the extended usage of SM. The smaller problem is the (false)factual communication and the adverse effect of closed discussion (inbred) groups (conspiracy-theories, fundamentalism, etc) . The major problem is the fact that you need to simplify the colorful spectrum of the human emotions for interaction in SM. This reductive tendency may simplify the emotional toolset of IRL isolated subjects, making it even harder to communicate face-to-face. We will see, how the human evolution will handle this challenge. Personally I think we are currently on the doorstep of a new evolutional paradigm. As I can see our evolution in the terms of creating physical and theoretical complexity just entered into an exponential phase. Gutenberg developed an evolutional strategie for unlimited sharing of adaptive knowledge, Marconi found out how to transfer this information beyond physical boundaries, Neumann created the theory to orgainize this information into graph bifurcations automatically, the DARPA provided accesibility for anyone, and the Facebook created the space for the emotional context of this adaptive information. I think the circle just closed with this final step, and only the time can tell how can we live with this...

There is a wonderful book by Kory Floyd called the Loneliness Cure that addresses these issues and attends specifically to intersections with social media! I recommend.

I have not enough time to discuss this question  but my answer more not than yes.

Best regards

Dear Radostina:

You wonder whether social media can "cure" the alienation and loneliness. I agree with your idea that through the social media we can find old friends, establish new contacts, and know a lot about the physical and social world. However, the role of social media in such a cure is, say, a double sword, mainly because they can also foster individuals' alienation and loneliness. Note that, in general, social media all over the world emphasize the negative (e.g., war, war-related activities, criminality and the like), and overlook the positive (e.g., peace, pro-social acts, and so forth). Therefore, there are contents transmitted though the social media that can cure one's the alienation and loneliness, and other contents that can foster them.

As I see it, individuals are the main responsible for their alienation and loneliness and also for their cure. In other words, if individuals live in harmony with themselves, the others, and even the universe, then they are likely to feel no sense of loneliness and even alienation. As a psychologist, I know of many lonely individuals who live surrounded by a multitude of people and have at their reach a lot of several social media (e.g., TV, movies, magazines, and the like). In contradistinction, I also know of several individuals who are alone and feel no loneliness and alienation at all.

Of course, for one to live in harmony with himself/herself, the others and the universe or in a cosmic harmony s/he cannot follow a shortcut, by rather a demanding track. 

In this vein, it is worth mentioning that Alexander the Great, King of Macedonia, once asked his tutor, the Greek geometer Menaechmus, to teach him a shortcut to master of geometry. It is alleged that Menaehmus replied the following: Oh King! To travel through your country there are royal roads and roads for ordinary people, but in geometry there is only one demanding road and this road is the same for all.  

Of course there should be several ways to "cure" one's loneliness, alienation, and the like. We risk following a shortcut rather than a demanding track when we think that this could be done without an active participation on the part of the individual.

I hope I have got your question and that this helps.

Do you think that social media can "cure" the alienation and loneliness? - ResearchGate. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/post/Do_you_think_that_social_media_can_cure_the_alienation_and_loneliness [accessed Feb 14, 2017].

There are situations and times when media can assist in establishing friendships and/or planning social gatherings that may help to build meaningful relationships. In some cases it allows people to make connections that otherwise would be impossible due to inability to participate in social events. For example, in cases of people with severe disabilities or new mothers who have responsibilities preventing them from social engagements (Parry, Glover, & Mulcahy, 2013).

However, Turkle (2012) also discussed how technology makes our communication more shallow and actually increases our loneliness. With technology and social media allowing us to be connected anytime anywhere, we are never fully present and engaged in any interaction and thus, we are not building strong and meaningful relationships.

Some sources you might consider:

http://search.proquest.com/openview/1c60c2737e80a68e2778da592e15bbbe/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y

http://search.proquest.com/docview/1437601396?pq-origsite=gscholar

https://www.amazon.com/Alone-Together-Expect-Technology-Other/dp/0465031463