Isolation and Social Media in - and out of - this World

Humans are on the verge of becoming interplanetary. Deep space exploration may seem like an odd place to situate a research study on social media. On the contrary, it provides an ideal situation to understand the relationship between isolation and other extreme conditions on social media usage. This research will study astronauts and space analog participants, with a novel focus on their social media prior to and after isolation. Many astronauts and analog participants are active social media users We construct a database of the social media posts of space analog participants and International Space Station astronauts to understand how the extreme experiences of space explorers is revealed, framed, and shared on social media.

We answer three questions about isolation, social media usage, and social interaction. First, how does isolation change behaviors on social media? Second, how does social media usage affect the experience of social and physical isolation? Third, how are isolation experiences remembered and represented in social media which research has shown affects their self-esteem and mental well-being?