‘It's complicated’: Facebook's relationship with the need to belong and depression

• Facebook depression research has yielded mixed findings.
• This may be because connection and disconnection drive Facebook use and vice versa.
• Facebook use related to disconnection is negatively associated with well-being.
• Moreover, Facebook's built-in mechanisms may proliferating ‘Facebook depression’.
• Theories are proposed to explain how these features promote ‘Facebook depression’.

‘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.