“You Know You’re from Le Lignon If … ” Negotiating Neighbourhood Belonging on Social Media

This article examines how social media shapes expressions of belonging through the analysis of a neighbourhood-based Facebook group as an online local community. While the group’s title suggests an exclusive, conditional definition of belonging (“You are from Le Lignon if … ”), our study reveals two primary ways in which members express belonging: one explicit, rooted in long-term residence and collective remembering, and one implicit, based on active engagement with contemporary neighbourhood life, encompassing both celebration and critique. Moving beyond the “traditional” divide between long-term and newer residents, we show that the partial digitalization of local social life further complicates insider/outsider distinctions. The platform enables former residents – those born and raised in the neighbourhood – to express their sense of belonging from afar, participate in collective remembering, and stay connected to current local events. This highlights the power of local online communities to extend and reshape the ways in which neighbourhood belonging is practised and expressed.