Showing with whom I belong: The desire to belong publicly on social media

Despite a plethora of social media use research, surprisingly little is known about what social media users post about, and, more importantly, why. In three studies (N = 1,140), we present novel evidence for a disposition describing individual differences in the desire to display belonging on social media: the desire to belong publicly (DTBP). We validate an eight-item DTBP scale, encompassing the desire to display both a high quantity (e.g., having many friends) and a high quality of belonging (e.g., having close friends) on social media. The scale shows good internal consistency and test-retest reliability over two weeks. DTBP is related to, but conceptually distinct from neighboring constructs such as need to belong and need for popularity, as well as other personality dimensions known to drive social media behaviors such as extraversion, public self-consciousness, and social comparison propensity. DTBP is related to indicators of active and passive social media use, daily use of social media, frequency of posting about belonging, and social media addiction, above and beyond other constructs, and on different social media platforms (i.e., Instagram and Facebook). In sum, DTBP is a reliable and valid construct that aids the understanding of why and how individuals use social media.