Nearly four in ten US adults say they belong to an online community, but Americans remain deeply divided over whether relationships formed online can match the depth of ones formed face to face, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.
The divide falls sharply along generational lines, with young adults far more likely than their grandparents’ generation to see digital bonds as genuine.
A wide age gap over digital intimacy
There’s an age divide on this topic as well. Adults under 30 are far more likely than those ages 65 and older to say online relationships can be just as meaningful as in-person ones , the Pew-Knight Initiative report found.
Specifically, among adults under 30, 54% say relationships formed online can be as meaningful as those formed in person , while just 14% of those aged 65 and older agree.
Across all age groups combined, skepticism still wins out. About half of Americans overall say personal relationships formed online are not as meaningful as in-person ones.
About one-third say they can be just as meaningful, while 20% aren’t sure.
Pew researchers noted that views on this issue vary a lot by age, and adults under 30 are the only age group in which more say online relationships can be just as meaningful, than say they don’t measure up.
Who is actually spending time in these spaces
The generational split mirrors a broader pattern in how differently age groups use online spaces for connection in the first place. The survey finds that nearly four-in-ten U.S. adults are part of an online community.
That share rises to about half among young adults , at a time when many are worrying about fraying social ties and rising loneliness.
Pew defined online communities broadly, including groups on social media, discussion forums, messaging services and online games. That range matters because it shapes who forms close bonds where.
However, doubts linger about whether online relationships can match the depth of in-person ones even among people who regularly participate in these digital spaces.
Belonging to a community itself appears to shift perceptions of what counts as meaningful connection. While a quarter of those who are not in an online community find digital connection on par with in-person, this rises to 48% of those who are in one.
That gap suggests firsthand experience inside these groups, not just age, shapes how people judge the authenticity of online bonds, a dynamic that echoes findings elsewhere about how young adults lead both joining and leaving these digital spaces.
Why people stick around, and why they leave
Value and closeness do not always move together in these spaces. About seven in 10 participants say the communities add at least some value to their lives, though 29% say they add little or none.
Yet deep emotional closeness remains rare. Only around 20% feel very or extremely close to others in their main community.
When people do walk away from an online community, the reasons tend to be social friction rather than simple boredom. Pew’s closer look at people who left a community found that losing interest was the most common reason.
Among those who had left, 57% cited too much arguing, 43% cited harassment and just over four in 10 cited too much politics.
What the numbers suggest for dating and relationships
The findings arrive as more romantic and platonic relationships originate through screens rather than chance encounters, a trend that has reshaped expectations about where meaningful connection can start.
The generational gap uncovered here, with roughly 54% of people under 30 crediting online bonds as genuine versus a mere 14% of seniors, points to a lasting cultural fault line rather than a passing habit.
Similar research into reconnecting with old friends over text has shown younger generations treat digital contact as a normal extension of real relationships, not a lesser substitute.
Pew surveyed 9,750 U.S. adults from May 26 to June 1, 2026, through its randomly recruited American Trends Panel, using online and live telephone interviews in English and Spanish.
