Can The Use Of Social Media Lower Teens’ Self-Esteem?

Connecting the world has become incredibly simple thanks to social media. One can use Instagram to promote a new business, check Twitter to see what their favorite celebrity is up to, and Facebook to find out when a friend's birthday is. But is social media causing more harm than good? This study sought to determine whether social media and self-esteem, particularly among adolescents, are linked. Two surveys, each for 130 students from two high schools, were completed: one to evaluate their use of social media, and the other to measure their sense of self-worth. Correlational tests were conducted on each participant's self-esteem score and each social media variable; When all 130 participants were taken into account, two variables were found to be significant. For the second data set, participants who did not use social media were excluded. Four variables were found to be significant against self-esteem scores: whether participants were bothered if they did not receive as many likes on their posts as they thought they would, the number of likes they received on their most recent selfie, the number of likes they typically receive on their selfies, and how long they waited to check social media after posting something.

The current study concluded that self-esteem is influenced by social media. According to the study's lead author, smartphone use during that period was correlated with an increase in depressive symptoms. In addition, there was a corresponding rise in reports of students seeking counseling for depression and anxiety-related issues. On the other hand, people who spent more time doing things that didn't involve screens, like socializing in person, participating in sports, and going to religious services, were less likely to talk about their mental health.