Adolescent Perspectives on Social Connectedness in Their Local Communities: Implications for the Design of Technologies to Promote Individual and Collective Wellbeing

Social connectedness refers to a sense of belonging, perception that others care for you, and experience of relationships with others as fulfilling. Research shows that social connectedness has numerous benefits to mental and physical health. Yet a defining paradox of the digital age is that, despite humans being more technologically connected than ever, we experience alarming levels of loneliness, disengagement, and perceived disconnection from one another. This study holistically addresses how we might design technologies toward the outcome of meaningful social connection. To this end, we conducted focus groups with preteens and teens to elicit their perspectives on how tangible social practices lead to the intangible feeling that one is socially connected to their local community. Our analysis identified four types of inter-related practices through which community members enacted social connectedness: rapport-building, reciprocal, restorative, and authentic. Understanding these practices will help us to avoid designing technologies that unintentionally distract, disengage, divide, or isolate people from one another. Attending to these practices can help us design and incorporate technologies into communities in ways that complement and even enhance how they naturally enact social connectedness.