Social Media and Self-Esteem Essay

Abrams focused on the damage social media can cause on our mental health. One study that she pointed to is by the UK Disability Charity Scope. They found that of 1500 Facebook and Twitter users “62 percent [of users] reported feeling inadequate and 60 percent reported feelings of jealousy from comparing themselves to other users” (Abrams). Another study that she also points to is one by researchers at the University of

Clarissa Silva article in the Huffington Post delves into social media’s impact on self-esteem. As a behavioral scientist, her interest in the matter relates to her field. She also gets the help of other experts Dr. Jennifer Rhodes, Natalia Lusinski, and Dr. Suzana Flores to help with her research. Silva states that “social media is linked to higher levels of loneliness, envy, anxiety, depression, narcissism and decreased social skills" (1). Then outlines her research findings using rhetorical appeals.

These users complete the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965) and answer questions from four measures about their perceptions of Facebook. First, participants report the degree to α = .88) and connect with other people (3 items, α = .72); then they complete a 9-item measure (α = .87) of the perceived safety of self-disclosure on Facebook compared with in person interactions; finally, participants complete a 10-item measure (α = .93) concerning the advantages of disclosing on Facebook rather than in-person (Forest et al., 2012, pp.296-297). The authors analyze the given data and find out those participants with lower self-esteem view Facebook as a safer place to express themselves than do participants with higher self-esteem. The former are also more likely than the latter to believe that Facebook offers opportunities to connect with other people, to get support and attention, and to revealing their thoughts and feelings on Facebook over in person (Forest et al., 2012,

A final contribution that social media use makes to the viewer is the furthering of the belief that how they look determines what they are worth. According to a report published by three professors at The Pennsylvania State University, “individuals who spend more time on Facebook may be more oriented toward their appearance and have less positive views of their appearance” (Rutledge et al, 2). This finding demonstrates that many individuals in society today have, either consciously or unconsciously, fallen victim to the common practice of allowing a website to determine the value that they place on themselves. Those who place less value

Finally, social media has become a way individuals negatively judge themselves as inferior to others. Americans have taken extreme actions to live up to the impractical social expectations. This is connected to self-esteem and to the individual’s emotions. People change their image for society acceptance, and personal acceptance, because many want to fit the image social media says is right. An article published by CNN states that “the more time adolescent spent on Facebook, the more likely they were to develop a negative body image and eating disorders” (Mary). A person’s body changes from day to day, a lot of people think they are overweight, ugly, etc. which in reality they almost certainly aren’t. They are used to what society says one

This paper explores two sources of information that discuss social media’s effect on one’s self-esteem. The sources used are “Social Comparison, Social Media, and Self-Esteem”, an article printed in “Psychology of Popular Media” written by Vogel et al. (2014) and “Facebook Envy: How the Social Network Affects our Self-Esteem” an internet article written by Andrea Shea (2004) found at http://www.wbur.org/2013/02/20/facebook-perfection. The sources share comparative information on the widespread use of social networking sites (SNSs), how it is used, and few similarities of how SNSs affect one’s self-esteem. The sources, however, vary in how the information and data was obtained to reach its conclusion. This paper will examine the similarities and differences of each source in relation to social media and self-esteem.

The aim of this study is to explore the themes on how social media can cause or may influence self-esteem levels. Three participants took place in this study from Northumbria University in the North East of England. The age range was from 18-19 and they were a mixture of men and women, this ensured that participants weren’t all of the same gender and gave us a fair set of results. However, this only gives us a certain amount of validity due to the results only being from people at Northumbria University who were aged 18-19 and this cannot account for others for example those over the age of 19 who are not students. A thematic analysis showed our running themes throughout the three interviews that showed social media influencing their self-esteem, these were that ‘Self-portrayal’ and ‘Achievements’. There were similar trends found throughout all three interviews, and these were that all three participants spent at least up to 2 hours on social media a day. Another trend is that all three students don’t post frequently but when they do it is for attention. Findings have been discussed with previous literatures thought about suggests that influences of self-portrayal and others image is a big

The purpose of this paper is to distinguish a correlation between social media usage and levels of self-esteem. It is my belief that those who have a higher usage of social media have a lower level of self-esteem, while those who have a lower usage of social media may have a higher level of self-esteem. There are many benefits to using social media, although many are not aware that there are also many drawbacks. This paper will prove to be very beneficial as it

This paper explores the articles concerning how social network can influence people’s self-esteem in a positive and negative effect through social disclosures, group identity, and self-perception. Facebook users were the main focus of this issue. It is noted to have an attractive platform for self-presentation because users can cleverly manipulate online personas to highlight their most complimentary traits. The like and comment options for statuses on Facebook is a useful indicator regarding which user falls within the Big Five (extraversion, neuroticism, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness). These associations will help us understand how certain topics people disclose on Facebook may either be rewarding or distressful for their self-esteem. Many individuals also rely on social network to find a group identity they can belong to. Further in this study, we’ll explore just what exactly influences a person to prefer social network when finding companionship compare to existing ingroups. The last study involves researchers investigating the high consistency rate of self-perceptions among online users when it comes to seeing others in a greater position. In this case, usually these users tend to see their life to be insignificant to others and perceive the self negatively, however it turns out that this result only varies on where one

. The authors of this article were interested in studying whether people with low self-esteem thought Facebook was safe and appealing for self disclosure, and if any of their Facebook posts would enable them to gather social rewards. The authors made three studies to help them find the answer to their questions. Their hypothesis was that posting on Facebook would only reduce self-disclosure, as a result of making low self-esteem people feel more free about expressing their feelings. This hypothesis was based on the information and observations from past studies. For example, in the article they talk about how Facebook helps people that feel lonely or have a low self-esteem. They also based their hypothesis on focusing on people with low-self esteem.

Social networking sites create an unspoken competition between users which will cause them to experience low self-esteem. For instance, people compete for social capital: relationships with people among a society. Jacob Silverman stated, “If I don’t get ten faves in the first three minutes after tweeting something, I’ll probably just delete it, an amateur comedian told the wall street journal…What the comedian really fears is the loss of followers and social capital” (Silverman 25). When people post on social networking sites and their tweet, status, or picture doesn’t evoke a response within a certain amount of time the author will feel unnoticed by their peers. This “unnoticed” fear causes a decrease in self-esteem because the author

Instagram impacts user’s self-image and self-esteem. Young girls and boys are being shot down by users not liking their image, commenting, or even sharing one’s post. Americans check Instagram multiple times a day, because they are looking to see how many likes, or comments they get. If these users’ do not get a certain amount of likes that exceeds their expectations they think, “I’m I pretty enough?”, “is the picture taken well?”, or “does anyone like me?”. This breaks down young Americans emotional health and well-being. Americans today that use Instagram are commenting publicly about how their self-esteem was jeopardized because of this form of social media. For example, Michelle Linker states “I feel anxiety over how many likes I get after I post a picture. If I get two likes, I feel like, what’s wrong with me? Some people judge Instagram by deleting photos that don’t get enough likes” (Gajanan). This quote is an example of how Instagram effects user’s emotionally. Some users even check their “like” count multiple times a day once uploaded for

The topic under review is how social media effects girls self esteems all round. Social media is websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking. It is quickly evolving, There are millions of users on each individual social media app. Mass media consists of radio, music, instagram, facebook, twitter, snapchat, TV, newspapers and various outlets used for advertising. Girls self esteems can either be positively affected by mass media or negatively affected. Girls in general are shown what the "perfect body is". This being shown on the TV as soon as it is put on about the way you should look or looking in a magazine that is filled with photo shopped models. When girls look at these images their self confidence drops to a complete low and according to (Miribel Tran, 2014) social media causes massive amounts of depression in young teenage girls and then depression is linked with obesity which is ultimately affecting the health of young girls. As a society we should not be creating images in young girls minds as they should be happy in their own skin and be proud of their image.

Social media use is one of the challenges that young adults face regarding their self esteem levels. Findings from Youth Central stating that 62% of young people felt that social media and advertising in the media impacted their self esteem levels in a negative way (as cited in Berman & White, 2013). Social media profiles are often well constructed and also well thought out, and often only show and emphasize the positive characteristics of either the user themselves or the life that he or she lives (Woods & Scott, 2016). Viewing profiles that are well constructed can be linked to a decrease in the self esteem of the viewers, because of the view that he or she is

Women lurk on a man’s page seeking for their materialistic items such as cars, money, and the way a man dresses. Instances such as these causes low self-esteem of individuals who do not portray these specific items or lifestyles on social media. USA Today asked 23 Chicago college students about social media and 20 out of 23 students believed social media caused anxiety or added stress to an individual’s life. One female college student believed that social media adds a lot of pressure to be the perfect person, because that’s how individuals can make themselves look online. A lot of women on social media with low self-esteem issues show their skin and wear revealing outfits to feel “better” about their own body by taking into account how many likes on Instagram or Facebook they receive. The college students have realized it was easy to portray a different version of them on the internet. Individuals believe the number of likes on Facebook/Instagram or retweets on Twitter is used as a tool for verification for acceptance within their group of peers. This can cause a domino effect of problems on an individual’s self-esteem. An individual will post photos that are outside their character just to seek approval through the likes from their peers. This may boost an individual’s self-esteem temporarily, but once he or she logs off social media their self-esteem really hasn’t improved. Valkenbur, P. M., Peter, J., & Shouted, A. P. (2006). Friend