{"id":74938,"date":"2022-08-11T09:27:20","date_gmt":"2022-08-11T09:27:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/essays.homeworkacetutors.com\/impact-of-social-media-on-self-esteem\/"},"modified":"2022-08-11T09:27:20","modified_gmt":"2022-08-11T09:27:20","slug":"impact-of-social-media-on-self-esteem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colapapers.com\/us\/impact-of-social-media-on-self-esteem\/","title":{"rendered":"Impact of Social Media on Self-Esteem"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Abstract<\/h3>\n

The rise of social media has become an
\nepidemic that doesn\u2019t seem to be stopping any time soon. The
\nsocial-comparison theory is the idea that individuals are constantly
\nself-evaluations compared to others. This theory suggests that our self-esteem
\nis affected by this social comparison and how we determine our self-worth. Because of this, there is reason to believe that as the use of social media becomes more frequent, self-esteem decreases.<\/p>\n

Keywords:
\n<\/em>self-esteem, social-comparison theory,
\nsocial media<\/p>\n

The
\nImpact of Social Media on Self-Esteem<\/h3>\n

Within the last two decades, the internet has provided
\nus with an online gateway to endless communication with almost anyone in the
\nworld with the few simple clicks of a button. Social media has evolved into
\nmore than just a form of communicating. It has become almost a lifestyle for
\nmodern culture, allowing individuals with access to a computer, cellphone, or
\nother electronic device to share any detail of their life with the world. It
\nhas changed the way many people interact and has placed an entirely different
\naspect of self-disclosure on society. As social media use continues to
\nintensify, research regarding the correlation between social media and the
\ndecline of self-esteem has become a growing research topic in the field of
\npsychology. <\/p>\n

The social-comparison theory is the idea that
\nindividuals are constantly self-evaluating and comparing themselves to others.
\nThis theory suggests that our self-esteem is affected by social comparison and
\nalters how we determine our self-worth. This theory supports the idea that as
\nthe use of social media become more frequent the self-esteem of the individual
\ndecreases.<\/p>\n

Social Media<\/h2>\n

After the development of the Internet, the world was
\nintroduced to a new form of communication. Social networking is the use of
\nparticular websites and applications to interact with other users. These
\nwebsites and applications that enable the user to participate in social
\nnetworking is what we refer to as social media. Social media sites have become an outlet
\nfor individuals to share information, pictures, and videos of themselves for
\nother\u2019s to view with a click of a button. Affiliations, schedules,
\nannouncements, and more personal content have become a normality to disclose on
\nthe Internet and share with the world. <\/p>\n

Social media\u2019s influence on the population continues
\nto grow more prevalent, predominantly in teenagers and young adults. Currently,
\nthe most commonly used social media site used for social networking is
\nFacebook, launched in 2004 at Harvard University with the intention of being a
\nform of communication for university students. Facebook now has over one
\nbillion active users, continuing to significantly increase and is available to
\nanyone who has an email address
\n(Kittinger,
\nCorreia, & Irons, 2012). <\/p>\n

Wilson, Gosling, & Graham (2012) revealed that
\nover four billion pieces of content are uploaded to Facebook on a daily basis,
\nwith 250 million pieces of that content being pictures. With an unlimited
\namount of space, social media applications have made it a simple process to
\nupload countless pictures and videos to the site that can be viewed by friends,
\nfamily, acquaintances, and even strangers. On Facebook alone, over ninety
\npercent of users upload content and update statuses on a regular basis. That
\ndoes not include the content uploaded to other social networking applications
\nsuch as Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat.<\/p>\n

As time goes forward, social media has become not only
\na way to share content, but a form of therapy for some people. Studies have
\nindicated that there are much higher levels of self-disclosure and personal
\ninformation on the Internet than ever before. In fact, further research has
\nshown that people are willing to disclose more personal and sensitive
\ninformation on social networking sites than in person. <\/p>\n

According to Chen and Lee (2013), previous research
\nhas derived that there appears to be a connection between more time spent
\nonline and a decline in face-to-face communication with family and peers, which
\noften leads to feelings of loneliness and depression.<\/p>\n

Low Self-Esteem<\/h2>\n

Self-esteem is the appraisal of the value or worth of
\nthe self. It is the subjective emotional evaluation that is considered to be an
\nimportant indicator of one\u2019s well-being. Self-esteem can be perceived both
\npositively and negatively, and has shown to be interpreted differently in
\ndifferent stages of life (Forest & Wood, 2012). <\/p>\n

Someone with low self-esteem may portray more
\nintroverted characteristics such as social anxiousness, loneliness, and
\nshyness, however, there are circumstances where a socially extroverted person
\nmay have low self-esteem and overcompensate. The need to be accepted plays a
\nlarge role in self-esteem, and social media may act as a tool in a person\u2019s
\nsearch for social acceptance. <\/p>\n

According to Chen and Lee (2013), individuals with generally low self-esteem tend to self-disclose as a way to gain acceptance. Feelings of inadequacy and self-loathing stem from frequent exposure to other people\u2019s positive representations of their lives; inflicting the thought that others have a more fulfilling life than they do. Viewing happy and fun-looking photographs on social networking sites<\/a> can formulate the idea that other people are constantly living happy and fun lives in contrast to their own lives; therefore frequent use of social media is correlated with low self-esteem and greater psychological distress.<\/p>\n

People who typically have lower self-esteem than others attempt to compensate with the use of social media (Amichai-Hamburger & Vinitzky, 2010). A study conducted by Igor Pantic (2004) of one hundred Facebook users at a local university showed that people who had more self-promoting content and spent more time on the social media application had lower levels of self-esteem. By increasing the amount of friends and followers, accepting and requesting strangers as friends, posting often, and logging into social media sites frequently, individuals that possess lower self-esteem search for the approval from others by receiving \u201clikes\u201d on the social media site. These \u201clikes\u201d are the source of approval that many people search for on social media, believing that the more likes you receive, the more liked you are as a person, which is not the case. Those more concerned with their self-image are more likely to \u201cfriend\u201d other users in order to compensate for their social fulfillment, idealizing that more \u201cfriends\u201d on a social media site indicates a higher level of popularity (Lee, Moore, Park, & Park, 2012). It was noted that females spend more time on social media than males, and that females generally have more friends and followers. However, women indicated lower satisfaction in regards to body image<\/a> and weight consciousness. <\/p>\n

Social media sites allow a person to create an
\nenticing persona by choosing not only what to post, but also what to not post
\non the network. Presenting only flattering images, posting the partaking of
\ncertain activities, and only revealing the more glamorous aspects of their
\nlives can present a desirable, but misleading lifestyle. There are features on
\nsocial media sites that allow a person to remove, untag, or report unflattering
\nimages of themselves that they don\u2019t wish others to view. Tazghini and
\nSiedlecki (2013) claim that individuals with low self-esteem frequently \u201cuntag\u201d
\nthemselves from pictures that they find unflattering so that they can maintain
\ntheir desired image. <\/p>\n

Forest and Wood (2012) found that people with low
\nself-esteem have the tendency to gravitate more towards negativity on social
\nmedia rather than something positive. These individuals are more prone to
\nposting and sharing content that stems arguments and negative attention, thus
\ncreating a sense of \u201cattention\u201d directed towards themselves. Previously
\nconducted research has shown that people who reported more negative interaction
\nand less positive interaction during social networking reported higher levels
\nof depressive symptoms.\u00a0 Bergman et al.
\n(2011) argues that if an individual is already suffering from low self-esteem,
\nsocial media usage will sustain those feelings.<\/p>\n

A study conducted by Seidman (2013) found that highly
\nneurotic individuals were more inclined to post and share content on their
\nsocial media profiles. Additional research conducted by Pantic (2014)
\nassociated excessive Facebook usage with a variety of psychiatric disorders
\nincluding anxiety, depression, and eating disorders. The study revealed that
\napproximately fifty percent of females reported dissatisfaction in relation to
\ntheir bodies. It was theorized that this was a result of the emphasis on being
\nthin that is portrayed in the media<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h2>\n

The
\ntheory that social media usage has a negative effect on self-esteem has been
\nsupported by multiple conducted studies. Data collected from young adults,
\nparticularly college students, has been fundamental in the research surrounding
\nself-esteem and social media, but has presented limitations in the studies
\nbecause the sample does not represent the entire population. Therefore further
\nresearch is required to obtain confirmation on this theory. <\/p>\n

The
\nimportance of further research on the effects social media has on self-esteem
\nis extremely prevalent, especially as the use of social media increases. \u00a0Children are beginning to have access to
\nsocial networking sites which means that they are exposed to the same content
\nas adults, which can be incredible risk to their under-developed behaviors and
\nself-esteem. Self-awareness of what is on the internet and that not everything
\nis truth <\/p>\n

References<\/h2>\n
    \n
  • Amichai-Hamburger, Y. & Vinitzky, G. (2010). Social network use and personality. Computers in Human Behavior, 26(2010), 1289-1295.<\/li>\n
  • Bergman, S. M., Fearrington, M. E., Davenport, S. W., & Bergman, J. Z. (2011). Millennials, narcissism, and social networking: What narcissists do on social networking sites and why. Personality and Individual Differences, 50, 706\u2013711.<\/li>\n
  • Chen, W. & Lee, K. (2013). Sharing, liking, commenting, and distressed? The pathway between Facebook interaction and psychological distress. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 16<\/em>(10), 728-734.<\/li>\n
  • Forest, A. L., & Wood, J. V. (2012). When social networking is not working: Individuals with low self-esteem recognize but do not reap the benefits of self-disclosure on Facebook. Psychological Science, 23(3), 295-302. <\/li>\n
  • Kittinger, R., Correia, C., & Irons, J. (2012). Relationship between Facebook use and problematic Internet use among college students. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 15(6), 324-327.<\/li>\n
  • Lee, J., Moore, D., Park, E., & Park, S. (2012). Who wants to be friend-rich? Social compensatory friending on Facebook and the moderating role of public selfconsciousness. Computers in Human Behavior, 28(2012), 1036- 1043.<\/li>\n
  • Pantic, I. (2014). Online social networking and mental health. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, X(X), 1-6.<\/li>\n
  • Tazghini, S. & Siedlecki, K. (2013). A mixed approach to examining Facebook use and its relationship to self-esteem. Computers in Human Behavior, 29, 827-832.<\/li>\n
  • Seidman, G. (2013). Self-presentation and belonging on Facebook: How personality influences social media use and motivations. Personality and Individual Differences, 54, 402-407.<\/li>\n
  • Wilson, R., Gosling, S. & Graham, L. (2012). A review of Facebook research in the social sciences. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 7(3), 203-220.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Abstract The rise of social media has become an epidemic that doesn\u2019t seem to be stopping any time soon. The social-comparison theory is the idea that individuals are constantly self-evaluations compared to others. This theory suggests that our self-esteem is affected by this social comparison and how we determine our self-worth. Because of this, there […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5804],"tags":[9845,5294,9887,9867,9888,9889,9890,9886,9885],"class_list":["post-74938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-psychology","tag-1-dissertation-writing-service-in-uk","tag-bishops-writing-bureau","tag-cn","tag-create-a-paper-using-the-following-criteria","tag-homework-help-assignment-answers","tag-in-1050-word-essay","tag-in-a-4-to-6-page-essay","tag-in-a-page-paper-assignment","tag-write-an-essay-in-words"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colapapers.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colapapers.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colapapers.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colapapers.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colapapers.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74938"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.colapapers.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74938\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colapapers.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colapapers.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colapapers.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}