‘It’s complicated’: Facebook’s relationship with the need to belong and depression Mai-Ly N Steers ‘Facebook depression’ findings have been mixed. One reason for the conflicting results may be Facebook’s complex relationship with relatedness needs and depressive symptoms. Thus, this article reviewed the existing literature to better elucidate these associations. Facebook use appears to be motivated by both connection and disconnection (and vice versa), which in turn, has implications for users’ mental health. Additionally, Facebook engagement promoting connection (e.g., dialog with friends) seems to improve well-being whereas disconnecting activities (e.g., evaluative social comparisons) may lead to negative consequences. A key to understanding ‘Facebook depression’ may be to explore Facebook’s built-in features, which may be provoking and proliferating users’ negative affect. This article identifies established theories related to these mechanisms, in order to guide future research. Address University of Houston, USA Corresponding author: Steers, Mai-Ly N (mailysteers@gmail.com) Current Opinion in Psychology 2016, 9:22–26 This review comes from a themed issue on Social media and applications to health behavior Edited by Clayton Neighbors and Melissa Lewis http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2015.10.007 2352-250/# 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. In a little over a decade, Facebook has become the most powerful and pervasive social networking site in the world. With 936 million users accessing Facebook daily [1], Facebook has revolutionized and redefined day-to- day social interactions. Moreover, being part of this cyber ‘global village’ may be appealing since it offers the prospect of fulfilling relatedness needs ‘on demand’. Self-determination theory postulates that meeting one’s relatedness needs (e.g., belongingness, connectedness, and intimacy) is an essential element to well-being [2]. Therefore, a few basic questions seem to underlie much of the current literature: Does Facebook make users feel more connected or more disconnected from others? Moreover, what implications does Facebook use have on users’ affective well-being (e.g., depressive symptoms levels)? I will delve into how the research addresses both of these questions. Specifically, this article navigates and eluci- dates some conflicting results surrounding ‘Facebook depression’ research. Moreover, I propose that one of the keys to understanding how Facebook influences users’ well-being may be to examine built-in features, which might contribute to fostering and even perpetuat- ing depressive symptomology. That is, what is it about Facebook’s virtual landscape which might predispose some users to experience depressive symptoms? Thus, the latter half of this article is dedicated to (1) identifying some of Facebook’s integral mechanisms which might contribute to the etiology of ‘Facebook depression’ and (2) suggesting concrete, conceptually based theories which may help to explain how these specific Facebook mechanisms might provoke depressive symptoms. Facebook use and relatedness needs Research demonstrates that Facebook use may fuel both connection and disconnection (and vice versa). For in- stance, Facebook use not only appears to facilitate social- ly skilled individuals (e.g., extroverts) in communicating more frequently with others [3] but also aids those less socially adept (e.g., shy) in improving their friendship quality [4]. In addition, Facebook may be a useful plat- form to cultivate social capital [5]. Relatedly, Facebook engagement has been found to be positively associated with greater perceived social support [6]. Furthermore, posting about one’s romantic relationship on Facebook has been associated with increased connectedness [7,8] and greater commitment [9]. Conversely, studies have also demonstrated dystopic, interpersonal effects related to Facebook use. For example, cyberbullies have used Facebook as a conduit to perpetrate victimization of Facebook ‘friends’ [10]. Furthermore, other studies have demonstrated that Facebook may increase conflict in romantic relationships; thus, Facebook usage has been linked to greater jealousy [11], increased relationship dissatisfaction [12], and other negative, relationship-ori- ented consequences (e.g., cheating) [13]. Positive and negative affective states and Facebook use Similarly, Facebook use has been associated with both positive and negative mental and affective states. For instance, greater Facebook engagement has been linked to mature coping and higher possibility for self-actuali- zation [14]. Additionally, viewing one’s own Facebook profile has been associated with increased self-esteem [15,16]. Moreover, a study measuring psychophysiological Available online at www.sciencedirect.com ScienceDirect Current Opinion in Psychology 2016, 9:22–26 www.sciencedirect.com