International Journal of Human Research and Social Science Studies

Family meals have long served as a primary ritual for social bonding, emotional connection, and intergenerational transmission of values across cultures. However, the proliferation of curated social media engagement during these sacred communal moments has fundamentally altered the nature of family interaction for Generation Z. This qualitative phenomenological study explores how curated social media use during family meals contributes to loneliness among Gen Z young adults in Ghana. Drawing on in-depth semi-structured interviews with 28 Gen Z participants (aged 18-25 years) recruited from three Ghanaian universities, the study employs interpretive phenomenological analysis to examine participants' lived experiences of family meal disruption. Findings reveal four major themes: (1) the erosion of meal-time presence as algorithmic distraction fragments attention and diminishes relational depth; (2) the performance paradox where curated online identities obscure authentic self-presentation during family interactions; (3) the intergenerational technology gap as a source of misunderstanding, resentment, and emotional distance; and (4) the lingering guilt and awareness of disruption accompanied by perceived inability to disengage. Participants described family meals as "hollowed out" by the persistent presence of curated social media, where physical co-presence masked emotional absence. Loneliness emerged not from the absence of family members but from the felt absence of genuine connection during moments of togetherness. The findings extend the Displacement Hypothesis and provide culturally grounded insights for intervention. Recommendations include family-level digital curfews, intergenerational technology dialogue, and the restoration of meal-time rituals as sites of authentic connection.

Family meals, social media, curation, loneliness, Gen Z, phenomenology, Ghana, family rituals, digital wellbeing, intergenerational relationships

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