ABSTRACT
The proliferation of social media forever changed the way the world communicates and how individuals project their identity to the social sphere. Social media collapses geo-spatial divides, opening the world to a means of communication that is asynchronous, atopian, and unlimited. The success of social media platforms continues to dominate communication markets capitalising on the innate human need to be connected. This chapter examines the way ‘being’ depends on a stable sense of belonging and considers how the hyper-connectivity offered by social media will impact identity formation. Belonging is a key component in identity formation – the understanding of ‘I’ in the midst of ‘we’. Maslow (1943) situates belonging on the third pyramidic step of the ‘hierarchy of needs’, but in many ways belonging encompasses every aspect of ‘being’. Technological communication has the potential to create a virtual sense of belonging that transcends the physical, allowing for a new type of connection, one that is beyond an individual's geographic, cultural, and social limitations, thereby challenging and re-forming an individual's concept of ‘being’. However, the connectivity offered through social media does not always equate to a genuine sense of belonging – a belonging not contingent on external validation.
