From Loneliness to Belonging Post Pandemic: How to Create an Engaged Online Community and Beyond

Introduction

It is too early to know the real impact and trauma the world has endured throughout the global pandemic. While research soars and in-person situational elements collide, the variables of living conditions and social interactions have become delicate and complicated. Social isolation forced people into online platforms disrupting social norms and behaviors to curb the pandemic's spread (Abrams et al., 2021; Hales et al., 2021). Institutions navigated what was deemed acceptable behavior during the immediate crisis, yet our present reality demands navigating online environments in a different capacity. The topography has changed, requiring considerate understanding and a myriad of solutions to encourage social beings to re-engage, collaborate, and renew belongingness.

Volatile economic activity affecting the globe further complicates recovery. It also demonstrates a clear need to understand and support the emotional, psychological, and physiological ramifications of thwarting social animals from social exchanges (Public Health Reports, 2021). We must also acknowledge that before the pandemic social exchanges were different. McGinty et al. (2020) and Luchettie et al. (2020) argue that contrary to 'experts' predictions, loneliness during the early months of the pandemic was not as worrisome because, at that time, people perceived a shared sense of community and everyone was in the situation together (Hales et al., 2021). Research indicates that the perception of togetherness was distinctively different at the end of the pandemic, where many felt ostracized and socially rejected from relational and collective loneliness patterns (Hales et al., 2021). Most of the population was sent home and told to “isolate” to slow the spread. However, distinct groups had different rules and regulations, and inequities and disproportionate burdens were realized as social fragmentations (Abrams et al., 2021).

Additionally, as the lines faded between work and home and school and home, researchers began to report the toll of isolation and loneliness leading to depression, anxiety, and negative behavioral patterning (Kovacs et al.,2021; Shelvin et al., 2020; Entringer & Gosling, 2021; Wilkialis et al., 2021; and Zhou et al., 2021). Moreover, by remaining distant from others, exclusion and the ability to ignore and devalue the importance of others created the perfect storm of negative social experiences. Isolation, ostracism, and loneliness are all negative social experiences that threaten several basic needs: belonging, self-esteem, control, meaningful existence, and certainty (Williams, 2009; Hales & Williams, 2020). Which begets the question, “As the world returns to a new normal, how will humans learn to reconnect with others to lessen the effects of isolation and loneliness?”

This chapter looks to contextualize the effects of isolation and loneliness on human behavior, social engagement, and online communities. Understanding these factors will lead the reader to the key indicators of belonging, including comfort, contribution, connection, psychological safety, and wellbeing. Methodology to understand how to create belonging spaces will be explored and contextualized, leading the reader to create authentic belonging behavior and reimagining collective applications and spaces. Finally, the reader will learn mechanisms to reemerge into a culturally responsive community in remote spaces and beyond.