Exploring the Link Between Facebook Engagement, Loneliness, and Feelings of Belonging in Users

The use of social media in our daily lives has transformed social interaction and connectedness. Individuals’ personalities, emotional regulation and considerations of making online friends as true genuine friends may shape their social media use. The current study aims to investigate Cr Our study used a secondary dataset of 509 participants. The sample included 267 (52.5%) females and 242 (47.5%) males. The findings indicated that Facebook use on weekdays was a significant predictor but small association with loneliness (B = 0.56, β = 0.16, t = 2.07, p = .039), while during weekends was not (B = –0.20, β = –0.06, t = –0.74, p = .462). Also, people who perceive their Facebook interactions as more genuine tend to report slightly higher levels of belonging (B = 0.087, β = 0.16, t = 3.68, p < .001) having a modest effect. Gender had a significant effect on Facebook use during weekdays (F(1, 497) = 6.33, p = .012) and weekends (F(1, 497) = 4.52, p = .034). Specifically, male students reported higher Facebook use both on weekdays (M = 2.57, SD = 1.58) and weekends (M = 2.68, SD = 1.52) compared to female students (weekdays: M = 2.24, SD = 1.38; weekends: M = 2.41, SD = 1.47). For this reason, our study draws the attention of policymakers to take necessary steps to promote meaningful, balanced, and authentic social media use that may support individuals’ social and emotional well-being.