This study examines for the first time whether - and subsequently the extent to which - social connectedness can be derived from Facebook in a population of older Facebook users. Participants (N = 280) were aged between 55 and 81 years (M_age = 61.28 years). Exploratory factor analysis (maximum likelihood with direct oblimin rotation) revealed that Facebook social connectedness emerged as a separate factor to offline social connectedness, with correlations between the factors indicating that they were distinct constructs. In addition, participants reported levels of Facebook-derived social connectedness similar to those seen in younger samples in previous research. Future directions for research include identifying the mechanisms by which Facebook social connectedness might be associated with positive outcomes in older populations. Given the global rate of population ageing, these findings have important implications in terms of the delivery of social capital in older adults.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	ageing, belongingness, Facebook, Facebook social connectedness, older adults, online social capital, social connectedness, social networking sites
Research Division:	Psychology
Research Group:	Social and personality psychology
Research Field:	Social psychology
Objective Division:	Expanding Knowledge
Objective Group:	Expanding knowledge
Objective Field:	Expanding knowledge in psychology
UTAS Author:	Sinclair, TJ (Miss Tara Sinclair)
UTAS Author:	Grieve, R (Dr Rachel Grieve)
ID Code:	111937
Year Published:	2017
Web of Science® Times Cited:	83
Deposited By:	Psychology
Deposited On:	2016-10-17
Last Modified:	2018-08-24
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