Attachment to Facebook and the civic lives of minority college students in the United States

Abstract

A survey of minority college students attending an urban university in the U.S. Midwest was conducted to examine the links between emotional attachment to Facebook and levels along key civic indicators. Results suggested that minority college students’ emotional attachment to Facebook is positively associated with their off-line and online political participation, social trust, and neighborliness, but not with their off-line and online civic engagement. Also, the findings indicate moderate levels of emotional attachment to Facebook, off-line civic engagement, off-line political participation, and social trust, and low levels of online civic engagement and online political participation among minority college students.