BELONGING & LONELINESS IN CYBERSPACE: IMPACTS OF SOCIAL-MEDIA ON GRADUATE STUDENTS’ WELL-BEING

This study examines the influence of social media on the lives of graduate students in Central Punjab, Pakistan, in terms of belonging, loneliness, and well-being. The study uses semi-structured, as the approach to exploration research guided by exploratory design which was conducted with eleven MS/MPhil and PhD students who were recruited on the basis of purposive and maximum variation sampling methods. Thematic analysis developed by Braun and Clarke was used to investigate the way students make sense of and bargain their emotional and relational experiences in digital spaces. Results show a double trend: social media can act as an important space of academic, emotionally supportive, and community-building interaction, but on other hand, it exacerbates loneliness, stress due to comparison, and emotional exhaustion. Students who participated intentionally, either by putting their academic efforts into collaboration or supportive peer groups, claimed to have greater belonging, whereas the passive usage, algorithm-mediated comparisons, and internet poisoning made the students feel more isolated. The study provides culturally competent evidence on the current discourses on cyberspace, psychological well-being, and higher education in South Asia.