I think that this level of analysis is really essential. It's not enough to say that something is addictive, we need to ask why.
Going one step further, I think that when social media came on the scene society in general was already fairly isolated and looking for some type of connection. Social media offered a quick fix, but frankly exacerbated the issue. It is a really vicious cycle. It feels even harder to connect to the real world around us nowadays.
I appreciate it, it really is something worth investigating because it is a problem that affects the entire planet basically (looking at the amount of active users that social media have).
The most fundamental questions I could find are:
Loneliness occurs only in logical intelligent beings or also in animals?
Loneliness is something created by our mind or is it something physical like the lack of a resource such as water, food, air? (maybe some of our organs release some harmful chemical when we are alone for a long time, I don't know, something similar to adrenaline)
How long is the maximum time that a person spent alone and what symptoms did he present? (This could guide us if loneliness causes physical damage)
If loneliness does not cause physical damage, then do we do the damage ourselves? Why? Perhaps our sexual reproduction cycle is related to this? But then, Why do the elderly also suffer from loneliness if they have already passed their reproductive stage? And what about children?...
But the fundamental question:
Can someone survive alone? If the answer is yes, I immediately leave my city and go to live in the forest, it is not a joke.
Humans are uniquely social creatures. There are other animals that tend to congregate in packs or hives or whatever due to evolutionary pressures, but I don't think they experience loneliness in the ways humans do.
Just look at what happens in solitary confinement. It literally drives inmates mad (and yes there is a bit of a confounding variable of this taking place in a prison, but the general principle still applies).
We have the phrase "No man is an island" for a reason. Although I'm sure you can always find exceptions, humans generally do not well without other humans. We have evolved to be in groups. The need for others is not quite as fundamental as the need for food and general physical safety, but it is not more than a step away. This is who we are as humans.
The modern world doesn't seem well equipped to address this need. We've lost most of our 3rd places, the youth in most developed countries face crushing economic circumstances, and our world feels more disconnected than ever.
Going one step further, I think that when social media came on the scene society in general was already fairly isolated and looking for some type of connection. Social media offered a quick fix, but frankly exacerbated the issue. It is a really vicious cycle. It feels even harder to connect to the real world around us nowadays.