Abstract
Background: Social media engagement is often framed as either a source of connection and utility or a threat to healthy digital functioning. This binary view is limiting in emerging-market settings where Facebook and Instagram are embedded in communication, information seeking and entertainment. Drawing on Uses and Gratifications Theory (UGT) and a digital well-being perspective, this study examines whether engagement is associated with users’ gratifications and whether gratifications explain digital well-being among Facebook and Instagram users in Bangladesh. Method: The study analyses 385 populated records from the supplied Group 3 Meta master database. The focal model uses three reflective constructs-Social Media Engagement (SME), Uses & Gratifications (UG), and Digital Well-Being (DWB)-each measured with three five-point Likert items. Measurement diagnostics include indicator loadings, Cronbach’s alpha, composite reliability, AVE and HTMT. Structural relationships are assessed with standardized paths, R², effect sizes, bootstrap confidence intervals and mediation analysis. A sensitivity analysis excludes one straight-line response. Results: SME was positively associated with UG (β = .305, p < .001) and with DWB in the total-effect model (β = .199, p < .001). With UG included, the direct SME→DWB path remained significant (β = .174, p = .001), whereas UG→DWB was positive but non-significant (β = .085, p = .107). The indirect effect through UG was small and its 95% bootstrap interval included zero. The model explained 9.3% of UG and 4.6% of DWB variance. Composite reliability was acceptable, although Cronbach’s alpha was below .70 and DWB AVE was marginally below .50. Contribution: The study distinguishes engagement from gratification and digital balance rather than treating social media use as a unitary exposure. The evidence supports a direct engagement-well-being association in this dataset but not a gratification-mediated mechanism.