Most socially connected counties in Maryland
In today's digital age, social media platforms enable people to bridge geographic distances and connect with their friends, family, and community, no matter where they are. According to a 2022 Gallup and Meta study, at least 1 in 3 people across seven countries, including the U.S., said they used in the past week.
While social media has its drawbacks鈥攕uch as pulling attention away from other tasks or fostering a problematic comparison culture鈥攊t remains a vital tool for helping people stay connected.
A said social media helped them develop relationships, learn social skills, and make a positive impact in their community, according to a 2024 report from The Social Institute.
compiled a ranking of the most socially connected counties in Maryland using 2021 data from , based on a . County pairs were ranked by their social connectedness index, which measures the relative probability that two individuals across two locations are friends with each other on Facebook. The social connectedness index is a scaled value up to a billion. Larger indexes indicate a greater share of Facebook friends between county pairs.
