Visual Sharing in Later Life: How Social Media Photo Practices Shape Social Capital, Loneliness, and Alienation

ABSTRACT This research addresses the growing societal challenge of loneliness and social alienation in ageing consumers by examining how social media photo‐sharing shapes social connections in later life. Using a two‐stage qualitative design across Italy, Great Britain, and India, the study combines participatory visual focus groups with 32 in‐depth interviews involving older consumers who actively share photographs online. The findings reveal that photo‐sharing fosters both bonding and bridging social capital through mechanisms of visual co‐presence, which sustains emotional closeness with friends and family, and visual agency, which enables participation in broader social contexts. Simultaneously, the study introduces fragile social capital, showing that visually mediated digital relationships are inherently vulnerable, as visibility and shareability make connection and relational risk coexist, thereby requiring consumers to regulate what they share through selective image choices. By integrating these insights, the research advances theory at the intersection of marketing and psychology, offering an understanding of how visual digital practices simultaneously mitigate loneliness, reduce alienation, and expose relational fragility in later life.