COMMUNICATION IN THE SOCIAL NETWORKS AS A WAY TO OVERCOME LONELINESS IN MIDDLE AGE

The rapid development of Internet technology has created a new social space - the social networks that provides rich soil for new psychological researches. Loneliness is one of the most serious psychological problems of a modern human. The article is devoted to the study of individual aspects of the experience of loneliness when communicating in social networks. The sample for the study was formed on the basis of an online consultation center, working in the mode group in the social network VKontakte. The research was attended by 150 people aged 17 to 39 years of different professions and education. For the experimental group were selected those respondents, who have a tendency to overuse the Internet or have Internet addiction and devote the most time to communicate in social networks. For the control group were selected those respondents who use the Internet sparingly. In experiment were tested the following hypotheses: Persons, who are susceptible to overuse the internet and prefer to communicate in social networks, have high level of loneliness. Persons, who are susceptible to overuse the internet and prefer to communicate in social networks, prone to disharmony in interpersonal relationships. Married persons, who are susceptible to overuse the internet and prefer to communicate in social networks, have low levels of satisfaction in marriage. Persons, who build virtual intimacy, prone to Internet addiction. Hypotheses were confirmed. Researcher have developed the recommendations, that should help customers to reduce feeling of loneliness. After following the recommendations within a month, customers noted a reduction of time they spent using the internet. Rates of loneliness, on average, fell from high to moderate levels.