With 3.196 billion social media users globally (Kemp, 2018), the implications of the ubiquitous nature of social networking sites (SNS) on emotional wellbeing must be considered. Social networking sites are web-based services which allows individuals to create a public profile and link users with whom they share a connection with (Boyd & Ellison, 2007). The widespread use of SNS raises questions on its impacts on emotional wellbeing, such as its effects on loneliness, which is an individual’s subjective insight into the deficiencies of their social relationships (Russell, Cutrona, Rose, & Yurko, 1984). A longitudinal study indicated that the relationship between the Internet and emotional wellbeing is bidirectional (van den Eijnden, Meerkerk,
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This occurs as the relationships developed through SNS fail to meet the basic psychological needs for belongingness that help reduce feelings of loneliness, as heavy costs associated with SNS usage include diminished social involvement, decreased face-to-face relations, and increases in isolation (Brandtzæg, 2012). Baumeister and Leary (1995) explore two criteria which drive satisfying belongingness needs; first, individuals require frequent and agreeable interactions with a few other people, and second, for individuals to satisfy innate psychological needs, relationships must offer stable and mutual ongoing support. In order to satisfy emotional needs, feeling a sense of belongingness, not mere social contact, is necessary to reduce the range of ill effects deprivation can induce, such as loneliness (Baumeister & Leary, 1995). Thus, while SNS allow users to maintain contact, they do not imitate the belongingness that facilitates positive wellbeing, and Reis (1990) further supports this notion through indicating that loneliness manifests as a result of a lack of intimate connections, rather than the amount of social contact. A longitudinal study found evidence that SNS users have a greater number of weaker ties in social relationships (Steinfield, Ellison & Lampe, 2008), suggesting that usage of SNS is not appropriately indicative of the intimacy or meaningfulness of social connections. SNS allow individuals to connect with and maintain ties with other users, however their inability to provide stable and significant relationships demonstrate that they cannot be used as substitutes to real-world relationships, rendering them unable to reduce
This occurs as the relationships developed through SNS fail to meet the basic psychological needs for belongingness that help reduce feelings of loneliness, as heavy costs associated with SNS usage include diminished social involvement, decreased face-to-face relations, and increases in isolation (Brandtzæg, 2012). Baumeister and Leary (1995) explore two criteria which drive satisfying belongingness needs; first, individuals require frequent and agreeable interactions with a few other people, and second, for individuals to satisfy innate psychological needs, relationships must offer stable and mutual ongoing support. In order to satisfy emotional needs, feeling a sense of belongingness, not mere social contact, is necessary to reduce the range of ill effects deprivation can induce, such as loneliness (Baumeister & Leary, 1995). Thus, while SNS allow users to maintain contact, they do not imitate the belongingness that facilitates positive wellbeing, and Reis (1990) further supports this notion through indicating that loneliness manifests as a result of a lack of intimate connections, rather than the amount of social contact. A longitudinal study found evidence that SNS users have a greater number of weaker ties in social relationships (Steinfield, Ellison & Lampe, 2008), suggesting that usage of SNS is not appropriately indicative of the intimacy or meaningfulness of social connections. SNS allow individuals to connect with and maintain ties with other users, however their inability to provide stable and significant relationships demonstrate that they cannot be used as substitutes to real-world relationships, rendering them unable to reduce