ABSTRACT:

The Social media have gained tremendous popularity over the past decade, these sites have occupied a major part of people’s lives,
especially young people. Many teenagers use tik tok, instagram, snap chat and Facebook, to build relationships, connect with the
world, share and acquire knowledge and information, and build their personalities, their effects are not limited. to that, comparisons
made using social networking sites have led people to have a drop in self-esteem, with all the complications that can cause (anxiety
disorders, depression and the anxiety disorder , etc.)

INTRODUCTION:

OBJECTIVE:

The major objective of this research is to highlight a clear impact of social media, as a most popular and frequently used social media
sight on the self-esteem of [Link] media can have a significant impact on an individual's self-esteem. On one hand, social
media can provide a sense of community and support, allowing individuals to connect with others who share similar interests or
experiences. However, social media can also lead to feelings of inadequacy or low self-worth, as individuals may compare themselves
to others and feel like they are not measuring up. This can be especially true when it comes to physical appearance, as social media
often emphasizes unrealistic beauty standards. As such, it is important to be mindful of how social media affects our self-esteem and to
take steps to protect our mental [Link] use of social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat has become an
integral part of our daily lives. However, the impact of social media on our self-esteem can be both positive and negative. Social
media is often used to share carefully curated images and updates that present an idealized version of people's lives. Psychological
research has shown a link between social media use and negative self-esteem outcomes like depression and anxiety. It is essential to
cultivate a positive self-image that is not dependent on external validation from social media or other sources.

The study aims to provide a better understanding of the impact of social media on self-esteem and mental health outcomes like
depression and anxiety, and to develop interventions that can help to mitigate these negative effects. By achieving this objective,
researchers can help to inform public health policy and social media literacy programs, and ultimately improve the mental health and
well-being of individuals who use social media.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY:

Due to the constraints of time, money and geographical boundaries, this research was conducted in Bahria University Karachi campus
(BUKC). The sample size has also been limited to 150 participants due to time constraints. One of the inherent limitations of the study
was that respondents were not observed, they were given questionnaires to fill, so this study depends upon the truthfulness of the
subjects. All networking sites were included in the researchthe frequency and duration of social media use among different age groups
and [Link], the study could examine the relationship between social media use and negative mental health
outcomes like depression, anxiety, and stress, as well as the role of social support and social comparison in mediating this relationship.
Furthermore, the study could explore the effectiveness of interventions like social media literacy programs or mindfulness training in
reducing the negative impact of social media on self-esteem and mental health.

PROBLEM STATEMENT:
"The growing prevalence of social media platforms has led to an increase in feelings of low self-esteem among users who compare
themselves to others online, leading to negative mental health outcomes like depression and anxiety."

RESEARCH QUESTIONS:

 Does any relationship exist between time spent on social media and self-esteem on individuals?
 What factors of social media are responsible for lowering self-esteem of individuals?
 What is the nature of such relationship?
 How does social media use relate to self-esteem and negative mental health outcomes like depression and anxiety?
 What are the specific factors that mediate or moderate the relationship between social media use and self-esteem, such as
social support, social comparison, and self-worth?
 Are there specific types of social media platforms or content that are more likely to lead to low self-esteem outcomes?
 How does social media use vary across different age groups and demographics, and are there differences in the impact of social
media on self-esteem and mental health outcomes among these groups?
 What are the most effective interventions for reducing the impact of social media on self-esteem and mental health, and how
can these interventions be implemented on a large scale?
HYPOTHESIS:

Alternative hypothesis (H1): "Increased use of social media is associated with lower levels of self-esteem and higher levels of
negative mental health outcomes like depression and anxiety."

Null hypothesis (H0): "There is no statistically significant relationship between social media use and self-esteem or negative mental
health outcomes."

The alternative hypothesis suggests that there is a relationship between social media use and negative self-esteem outcomes, while the
null hypothesis suggests that there is no relationship.

LITERAURE REVIEW:

The use of social networking sites has globalized immensely in the past decade. Facebook is the most widely used social networking
site as it has more than one billion users worldwide (Facebook, 2012). Apart from being the medium for expression of opinion and
platform for sharing of knowledge and moments, Facebook has also reduced distances by making people feel more connected and
helped them build new relationships and maintain the existing ones.(Boyd & Ellison, 2007).
One major feature of Facebook is to make the personal profiles of users available for public or friends to view and scrutinize and
allow them to pass on their judgments and give feedback through comments to make sure the user understands their opinion on his
personal life (Muise et al., 2009; Boyd & Ellison, 2007).
These opinions of other people, either friends or public, and the feedback from them have very strong effect on people’s self-esteems.
Heatherton and Policy (1991) claim self-esteem can be either stable or fluid in nature i.e. it can take time to develop for some people
while it can change with trends and daily events for others. While negative feedback lowers the self-esteem of individuals, positive
feedback increases the self-esteem to a very high degree (Valkenburg et al., 2006).
Social media has gained immense popularity in the last decade and its power has left certain long-lasting effects on people. The
upward comparisons made using social networking sites have caused people to have lower self-esteems. In order to test the hypothesis
150 students from institute of business management were surveyed through questionnaires and interviews. This research was limited
to the students of IoBM and Facebook, being the most popular social networking site was used as the representative of social media.
Correlation and regression model was applied to the data with the help of SPSS statistics to test the relationship between social media
and self-esteem. The major findings suggest that approximately 88% people engage in making social comparisons on Facebook and
out of the 88%, 98% of the comparisons are upward social comparisons. Further this research proves there that there is a strong
relationship between social media and self esteem. Increase in social media usage causes the self-esteem of individuals to decrease.
One hour spent on Facebook daily results in a 5.574 decrease in the self-esteem score of an individual.(Muqaddas Jan,
SanobiaSoomro, Nawaz Ahmad
European Scientific Journal 13 (23), 329-341, 2017).

Social networking sites and their influence on the self esteem of adolescents in Embu county, Kenya
Virginia W Nyagah, Asatsa Stephen, Jonathan MuemaMwania
Journal of Educational Policy and Entrepreneurial Research 2 (1), 87-92, 2015
As technology improves and advances, social networking sites have an even bigger impact on society and human relationships, both
positive and negative. Social networking sites have influence on teenagers in the way they develop socially. The way teenagers are
connected to these global SNSs is both a frightening prospect for parents and educators and an intriguing area for social science
research. Further there is no comprehensive knowledge of the activities adolescents do on these sites as well as how they impact their
social life. This study therefore sought to specifically investigate the influence of social networking sites on the self-esteem of
adolescents in secondary schools in Embu County Kenya. The researcher adopted a descriptive survey design. The target population of
the respondents for this research was secondary school students and teachers in Embu County. Random sampling technique was used
to select five boarding schools for the study sample. From each school, fifteen students and three teachers was selected for each unit of
analysis to make a total sample of one fifty students and 15 teachers selected from the target population. The data collection
instruments designed for the researches were questionnaires, Rosenberg self-esteem scale, and interview schedules. The questionnaires
and Rosenberg self-esteem scale was designed for the students while interview guides were for teachers. Data collected was analyzed
using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS). The study concluded that almost all the students use social network sites, therefore
that social networking is very common among students who are in secondary schools. Facebook topped the list of the most common
social site used by secondary schools students. The study further concludes that various students have different motivation for visiting
the social networking sites. The study further concluded that social networking influence the self-esteem and psychological wellbeing
of secondary school student. The study recommends that secondary schools students should be given guidance and counseling on how
to positively utilize the social networking sites to their advantage and not to have a negative impact on their self-esteem.

Impact of facebook addiction on narcissistic behavior and self-esteem among students

Sadia Malik, Maheen Khan
J Pak Med Assoc 65 (3), 260-263, 2015
Objective: To investigate the relationship between Facebook addiction, narcissism and self-esteem and to see if gender played any role
in this equation.
Methods: The correlational study was conducted from February to March 2013 at the Department of Psychology, University of
Sargodha, Punjab, Pakistan. Using convenient sampling, two equal groups of male and female students were enrolled from different
departments of the university. Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale, Hypersensitive Narcissism Scale and Rosenberg's Self-esteem Scale
were used for evaluation. SPSS 17 was used for statistical analysis.
Results: Of the 200 subjects in the study, 100 (50%) each were males and females. Facebook addiction was positively correlated with
narcissism (r= 0.20; p< 0.05) and negatively with self-esteem (r=-0.18; p< 0.05). Relationship between narcissism and self-esteem was
non-significant (r= 0.05; p> 0.05). Facebook addiction was a significant predictor of narcissistic behaviour (β= 0.202; p< 0.001) and
low self-esteem (β=-0.18; p< 0.001). There were no significant gender differences in the three variables (p> 0.05 each).
Conclusion: Facebook addiction was a significant predictor of narcissistic behaviour and low levels of self-esteem among students.

Mediating effects of self-concept clarity on the relationship between passive social network sites use and subjective well-being
Shanyan Lin, Danni Liu, Wei Liu, Qi Hui, Kai S Cortina, Xuqun You
Current Psychology 40, 1348-1355, 2021
The current study examined the relationship between passive social network sites use and subjective well-being (i.e., cognitive and
affective evaluations of lives), as well as the mediating role of self-concept clarity underlying this relationship. A convenience sample
of Chinese speaking adults volunteered to take part in this study (the valid sample size was 328). Participants completed an online
survey that comprised the Passive Social Network Sites Use Questionnaire, the Self-Concept Clarity Scale, the Satisfaction with Life
Scale and the Frequency of Experienced Emotions Scale. Structural equation modeling with latent variables revealed that the passive
social network sites use was negatively associated with subjective well-being, which was fully mediated by self-concept clarity.
Limitations and practical implications of the study are discussed.
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Impact of social media on personality development

Sultan Alzahrani, Christian Bach
International Journal of Innovation and Scientific Research 3 (2), 111-116, 2014
The aim of the study is to examine the impact of social media on personality development of adolescents and to identify social media
factors that influence personality development. A qualitative approach has been adopted in order fully explore the subject matter
without any constraints. Data was collected using only peer reviewed Journal Articles and articles from book sections. The grounded
theory method was used to reach the conclusion. The findings show that use of social media is extreme in adolescents as they use not
only for socializing, but also for communication, entertainment, and all the other activities. The four main social media factors that
influence personality development include (i) Culture of Popularity,(ii) Unreal Standards of Appearance,(iii) Approval Seeking
Behavior, and (iv) Prevalence of Depression and Anxiety. The research has two main limitations. The first limitation is that the study
does not make use of primary data in forms of interviews or observation but it was made sure that only primary sources are used.
Secondly, the use of qualitative approach which increases researcher bias. The findings of this study can be used to minimize the
negative effects of social media on the personality development of adolescents through educational and intervention plans. The
findings show that social media has an adverse effect on the personality development of adolescents. The study specifically identifies
the four personality factors that are altered by the excessive use of social media. These findings can be used to develop interventions to
minimize this negative impact on adolescents.
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The influence of selfesteem in the relationship of social media usage and conspicuous consumption
Lee KarWai, Syuhaily Osman
International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences 9 (2), 335-352, 2019
To-date, conspicuous consumptions in both developed and developing countries remain on the rise. As a developing country, there is
no exception for Malaysia. The luxury goods sector in Malaysia has been growing along with the rest of the world over the past
thirteen years. Current research aimed to investigate conspicuous consumption through examining it from social media usage
perspectives and the moderating role of self-esteem of consumers in the relationship between social media usage and conspicuous
consumption. The framework of this study suggests that social media platform can cause social comparison among consumers, which
the comparison domains are, wealth, status and attractiveness. These comparisons can lead to increasing motivation of acquisition of
luxurious products and conspicuous consumption. The study also suggests that difference of high and low self-esteem is moderating
the proposed relationship of social media usage and the propensity to consume conspicuously. A survey technique was conducted
among 387 consumers using mall-intercept method at selected shopping malls to collect required data for analyses and the sample
obtained consisted of Malaysian social media users aged above 18. Multiple regression and PROCESS analyses were conducted to test
the correlation between social media usage and conspicuous consumption and moderation of self-esteem as proposed in the research
framework. The result obtained indicates that social media usage has significantly influenced conspicuous consumption; and self-
esteem was found significantly moderating the relationship between social media usage and conspicuous consumption. Overall, this
study provides valuable insights on the understanding of conspicuous consumption and related variables that are influencing it such as
social media usage and self-esteem. Consumers and authorities can benefit from these results to create awareness regarding the impact
of these variables to ensure better purchase decision to be made by consumers.
Sharing, liking, commenting, and distressed? The pathway between Facebook interaction and psychological distress

Wenhong Chen, Kye-Hyoung Lee

Cyberpsychology, behavior, and social networking 16 (10), 728-734, 2013

Studies on the mental health implications of social media have generated mixed results. Drawing on a survey of college students
(N=513), this research uses structural equation modeling to assess the relationship between Facebook interaction and psychological
distress and two underlying mechanisms: communication overload and self-esteem. It is the first study, to our knowledge, that
examines how communication overload mediates the mental health implications of social media. Frequent Facebook interaction is
associated with greater distress directly and indirectly via a two-step pathway that increases communication overload and reduces self-
esteem. The research sheds light on new directions for understanding psychological well-being in an increasingly mediated social
world as users share, like, and comment more and more.

Getting personal? The impact of social media on preferential voting

Niels Spierings, Kristof Jacobs

Political Behavior 36, 215-234, 2014

Ever since the successful presidential campaign of Barack Obama in 2008, attention has been drawn to the political impact of social
media. However, it remains to be seen whether the successful Obama campaign is the exception or the rule. Our research focuses
specifically on the impact of social media on preference voting. First it seeks to establish whether candidates make use of social media
during election campaigns and whether voters in turn follow politicians. Afterwards it examines to what extent social media make a
difference and yield a preference vote bonus. Theoretically, two types of effects are outlined, namely a direct effect of the number of
followers a candidate has and a statistical interaction effect whereby a higher number of followers only yields more votes when the
candidate actively uses the social media. To carry out our analysis, we make use of a unique dataset that combines data on social
media usage and data on the candidates themselves (such as position on the list, being wellknown, exposure to the old media, gender,
ethnicity and incumbency). The dataset includes information on all 493 candidates of the 10 parties that received at least one seat in
the Dutch 2010 election. It turns out that candidates are eager to use social media, but that relatively few people follow candidates.
There is a significant interaction effect of social media usage and the number of followers, but that effect appears to be relatively
small.

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The value of followers on social media

Rae Yule Kim

IEEE Engineering Management Review 48 (2), 173-183, 2020

Social media transformed how customers interact with brands. This article utilizes social capital theory and examines how the
followers on the brand social media influence on tangible outcomes, such as sales performance. Brand followers on social media often
engage in support activities such as via sharing or generating brand contents and spreading positive Word of Mouth about the brand
throughout their peer networks. In this aspect, the followers on the brand social media are considered digital social capital of the
brand, and their brand support activities on social media are likely to have significant contributions to brand sales. Also, we utilize
brand attachment theory to predict that the follower effect will be larger for niche brands. We implemented fixed-effect models and
examined the dynamic trends in the number of followers and ticket sales performances of all 31 teams in the National Football League
while controlling for team-level heterogeneities. The results suggest that the followers on brand social media contribute significantly
to sales outcomes. Also, the effect is stronger for niche brands compared to mass brands.

The relationship between social media addiction and self-esteem among Turkish university students

Özge Buran Köse, AzeDoğan

Addicta Turk. J. Addict 6, 175-190, 2019

Social media occupies more and more space in the daily lives of contemporary young adults. As online interactions have become more
common than face-to-face interactions, social media has started to majorly impact individuals’ ways of living, communication,
language, interests, and psychology. Even though social media and internet addiction are not defined as behavioral addictions among
the DSM diagnostic criteria due to lack of scientific proof, its stages (conflict, relapse, etc.) reveal themselves as behavioral addictions
like shopping or gambling addictions. The aim of this study is to indicate the psychological dimensions of social media addiction in
young adults, to point out their significance, and to produce scientific proofs for the literature, which are needed. In processing the
data, normality tests have been applied. Women are more addicted to social media for the purposes of mood modification and being
occupied. Social media addiction levels increase alongside increases in the number of Instagram followers. In addition, fake account
owners and stalkers are more addicted to social media than others. Meanwhile, a moderate, negative correlation exists between self-
esteem levels and social media addiction. The correlation coefficient increases for users who have more than 500 followers in the
categories of relapse and conflict.

Follow me and like my beautiful selfies: Singapore teenage girls’ engagement in self-presentation and peer comparison on
social media

Trudy Hui Hui Chua, Leanne Chang

Computers in human behavior 55, 190-197, 2016

This study explores teenage girls' narrations of the relationship between self-presentation and peer comparison on social media in the
context of beauty. Social media provide new platforms that manifest media and peer influences on teenage girls' understanding of
beauty towards an idealized notion. Through 24 in-depth interviews, this study examines secondary school girls' self-presentation and
peer comparison behaviors on social network sites where the girls posted self-portrait photographs or “selfies” and collected peer
feedback in the forms of “likes,” “followers,” and comments. Results of thematic analysis reveal a gap between teenage girls' self-
beliefs and perceived peer standards of beauty. Feelings of low self-esteem and insecurity underpinned their efforts in edited self-
presentation and quest for peer recognition. Peers played multiple roles that included imaginary audiences, judges, vicarious learning
sources, and comparison targets in shaping teenage girls' perceptions and presentation of beauty. Findings from this study reveal the
struggles that teenage girls face today and provide insights for future investigations and interventions pertinent to teenage girls’
presentation and evaluation of self on social media.

Follow me and like my beautiful selfies: Singapore teenage girls’ engagement in self-presentation and peer comparison on
social media
Trudy Hui Hui Chua, Leanne Chang

Computers in human behavior 55, 190-197, 2016

This study explores teenage girls' narrations of the relationship between self-presentation and peer comparison on social media in the
context of beauty. Social media provide new platforms that manifest media and peer influences on teenage girls' understanding of
beauty towards an idealized notion. Through 24 in-depth interviews, this study examines secondary school girls' self-presentation and
peer comparison behaviors on social network sites where the girls posted self-portrait photographs or “selfies” and collected peer
feedback in the forms of “likes,” “followers,” and comments. Results of thematic analysis reveal a gap between teenage girls' self-
beliefs and perceived peer standards of beauty. Feelings of low self-esteem and insecurity underpinned their efforts in edited self-
presentation and quest for peer recognition. Peers played multiple roles that included imaginary audiences, judges, vicarious learning
sources, and comparison targets in shaping teenage girls' perceptions and presentation of beauty. Findings from this study reveal the
struggles that teenage girls face today and provide insights for future investigations and interventions pertinent to teenage girls’
presentation and evaluation of self on social media.

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Social media influencers: Followers’ perceptions and self-concept

Julia Chapman, Janis Whitlock

Cornell University, College of Human Ecology Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research, 2019

Our data suggest that, for young adults, following SMIs is not related to their overall self-esteem or social comparison. Rather, it
appears that young adults tend to use influencers’ pages to find techniques or information to reach goals, and that these goals are
already in place and prompt them to follow influencers, rather than being a result of following. Furthermore, it seems that social
comparison is happening more often with peers on Instagram, suggesting that young adults are able to separate their peer group from
influencers as benchmarks for social norms. Our qualitative data also suggest that young adults may use influencers as a way of
connecting with peers through sharing posts with each other. Overall, it appears that peer relationships on Instagram influence
followers’ affect and self-concept more than SMIs, while SMIs may have more influence over techniques, styles, and aesthetics that
followers adopt.

Given the exploratory and preliminary nature of these findings, we recognize several limitations, especially within our qualitative data
including: small and homogeneous sample, and having only one person read through the transcripts for themes. However, we intend to
conduct more interviews and, using the data we have already collected, edit our interview script to collect more in depth and relevant
data.

METHOD:

Participants:

The number of participants that took part in our research are 150. In which 111 are females and 39 are males.

Materials:

The first page of this survey required participants to respond to a message of informed
Consent. This form described participants’ responsibilities, emphasized confidentiality, discussed
The possible benefits and risks of taking the survey, and informed the participants about the
Purpose of the study. Before moving on to answering any survey questions,
Participants were required to consent to the provided information by selecting the “Yes” option,
Saying that they gave consent to participants in the [Link] participants did not consent to the
Provided information, or if they did not want to participate in the study, then they were given the
Option to select “No,” thus submitting their form automatically and ending the survey.
Once participants acknowledged their voluntary consent, they were moved to the second portion of the survey. They completed the
second section of the survey by answering several questions regarding their personal demographics. This included their gender
assigned at birth, age in years, religious affiliation, family system, birth order, number of siblings,SES background, education. After
completing the demographics section, participants were then transferred to the third portion of the survey. Here, participants were
asked to respond to a series of 14-questions and 10 questions form Rosenberg
Sellf Esteem Scale.

This Survey was designed to assess the self-esteem of participants by measuring their present feelings and attitudes about themselves
in the moment.

MEASURES:

Consent form

The participants’ participation in this research was voluntary as the participants were told to fill out this form with their willingness.
We included the following consent on the survey form which is listed below.

“Your Participation in this Research is completely voluntary and you have a right to withdraw at any point in this research.
All information collected through this Survey will remain confidential and will only be used for Research purposes. You are
required to fill out the form completely. Please write your name as a willingness to participate and thank you for your time.”
PROCEDURE:

After our topic was confirmed, we started to look for questionnaires for making a survey form to conduct the research or for the
collection of data. As our hypothesis consisted of impact of social media on self esteem , we look for online questionnaires regarding
it. We changed the questions as per our research and added a few questions ourselves to inquire how media is influencing their lives,
after adding questions and completing our survey form, we distributed the questionnaire to all social media platforms such as
Instagram, Facebook, Whats App, and Linked-In. The google form was shared and we got 150 responses in the survey. After getting
our desired responses, we stop receiving further responses so that we can work on our data. We compile the data that we got and
further used it to make our report
RESULTS:

The sample size of our research was 150. There are (n=111) Females and (n=39) Males participants in our research data.

Age
 Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent

18-25 126 84.0 84.0 84.0

above 26 6 4.0 4.0 88.0

Valid
Under 18 18 12.0 12.0 100.0

Total 150 100.0 100.0

There are 3 age groups and the number of participants from the age range present in the data are (n=18) Under 18, (n=150) 18-25, and
(n=26) above 26. Our target group were university students age ranging around 18-25 from both Gender.
Education

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative

Percent

Intermediate 16 10.7 10.7 10.7

Matric 13 8.7 8.7 19.3

Valid Post Graduate 10 6.7 6.7 26.0

Undergraduate 111 74.0 74.0 100.0

Total 150 100.0 100.0

There are 4 educational group from which the participants belong to. The participants have education of the class of (n=16)
Intermediate, (n=13) Matric, (n=111) Undergraduate, and (n=10) Undergraduate level. Most of the participants have an education
level of Undergraduate as they are University Students.

Family system

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative

Percent
 Joint Family 38 25.3 25.3 25.3

Valid Nuclear Family 112 74.7 74.7 100.0

Total 150 100.0 100.0

The Participants belong to Nuclear Family system or joint family system/ there are (n=380) who belongs to Joint Family system and
(n=112) who belongs to Nuclear Family system.
Social Class

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative

Percent

Lower class 3 2.0 2.0 2.0

Lower Middle class 1 .7 .7 2.7

Middle class 73 48.7 48.7 51.3

Valid
Upper class 7 4.7 4.7 56.0

Upper Middle class 66 44.0 44.0 100.0

Total 150 100.0 100.0

The social class is divided into 5 parts with each participant belonging to one of them. (n=3) belongs to lower class, (n=1) belongs to
Lower Middle class, (n=73) belongs to Middle Class, (n=66) belongs to Upper Middle Class and (n=7) belongs to Upper Class. The
majority of the participants belong to Middle Class.

How often do you use Social Media Networks (e.g, Facebook, twitter etc. )?

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative

Percent

Valid A few times a month 7 4.7 4.7 4.7

A few times a week 8 5.3 5.3 10.0

About once a day 18 12.0 12.0 22.0

 more than once a day 117 78.0 78.0 100.0

Total 150 100.0 100.0

According to the given table the highest response is (n=117) which is more than once a day on How often do they use the Social
Media Networks. The other responses are (n=7) on A few times a month, (n=8) on A few times a week and (n=18) on About once a
Day.
Does the numbers of followers you have on each networking site affect your
use of the site?

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative

Percent

No 106 70.7 70.7 70.7

Somewhat 25 16.7 16.7 87.3

Valid
Yes 19 12.7 12.7 100.0

Total 150 100.0 100.0

The majority of the participants (n=106) answered No that the numbers of followers they have doesn’t affect their use of site, and the
minority of the participants (n=19) said Yes to it with the remaining participants (n=25) responding with Somewhat.

Why do you use social networking sites?

 Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent

Business networking 11 7.3 7.3 7.3

reasons

Personal networking reasons 87 58.0 58.0 65.3

Valid to become well known on the 19 12.7 12.7 78.0

internet

to connect with new people 33 22.0 22.0 100.0

Total 150 100.0 100.0

The Majority of the participants (n=87) use social networking sites for personal reasons according to the given table with least number
of participants (n=11) using for Business networking reasons. The remaining participants (n=19) use the internet to become well
known and the other participants (n=33) use to connect with new people.

How would you describe your level of self-esteem?

 Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent

Often high 52 34.7 34.7 34.7

Often Low 19 12.7 12.7 47.3

Valid
Often varies 79 52.7 52.7 100.0

Total 150 100.0 100.0

As suggested by the above table the highest number of responses from the participants (n=79) tells that their self-esteem level often
varies with least number of responses of (n=19) from the participants that tells that their self-esteem is often low. The remaining
participants (n=52) choose a response of often high on their self-esteem level.

I worry about how many people will like/ respond to the things I post.

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative

Percent

Agree 27 18.0 18.0 18.0

Disagree 43 28.7 28.7 46.7

Neutral 37 24.7 24.7 71.3

Valid
Strongly agree 13 8.7 8.7 80.0

Strongly disagree 30 20.0 20.0 100.0

Total 150 100.0 100.0

As mentioned in the table above (n=43) is the highest response from the participants saying that they disagree about them worrying
about how many people will like/respond to the things they post with second highest response(n=37) of a neutral and least response
(n=13) of saying that they strongly agree. The other response (n=27) saying that they agree and the Reponses of (n=30) saying that
they strongly disagree.
Being a member of certain social networking sites makes me feel accepted.

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative

Percent

Agree 29 19.3 19.3 19.3

Disagree 45 30.0 30.0 49.3

Neutral 34 22.7 22.7 72.0

Valid
Strongly agree 6 4.0 4.0 76.0

Strongly disagree 36 24.0 24.0 100.0

Total 150 100.0 100.0

As mentioned in the table above the highest number of participants (n=45) disagree that being a member of certain social networking
sites makes them feel accepted with the second highest response (n=36) of strongly disagreeing. The least number of participants
(n=6) strongly agree with the statement with others responding (n=34) Neutral and (n=29) responding with Agree.

Sample of 150 students from IoBM was selected based on the confidence level of 95% and confidence interval of 8. In order to test
the hypothesis each respondent was given a questionnaire which tested their self-esteem and enquired the amount of time they spent
on social media.
 Summary Report

self-esteem

How many time do you Mean Std. Deviation

spend on Social Media in a
day

less than 1 hour 25.2500 2.67606

1-2 hours 16.7358 1.07687

3-4 hours 12.1951 1.32702

5+ hours 8.2500 2.11105

Total 15.9533 5.93967

The summary of the data is mentioned below in table 1. According to the survey the people who
spend less than half an hour daily on social media platforms have a mean score of 25.25 for
self-esteem; people who spend 1-3 hours daily have a mean score of 16.7358 for self-esteem;
people who spend 3-5 hours daily have a mean score of 12.1951 for selfesteem; people who
spend more than 5 hours daily on such platforms have a mean score of 8.25 for self-esteem.

Correlations

How many time How would you describe your level of

do you spend on self-esteem?
Social Media in
a day

How many time do you Pearson Correlation 1 -.933**

spend on Social Media in a Sig. (2-tailed) 000
day N 150 150
Correlation between Ho many time spent on a Social Media in a day and self-esteem of an individual. Correlation is significant at the
level 0.01 (2 tailed). From the result of the correlation test it can be concluded that there is a negative relationship between the two
variables. Increase in the time spent on social media websites would result in the decrease of the self-esteem of an individual. It can
also be concluded that there is a statistically significant correlation between social media usage and self-esteem as the sig value shown
in table is less than 0.05.

Table 5.1: Model Summary

Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the

Estimate

1 .933a .871 .870 2.14059

Predictors: (Constant), How many time do you spend on social media a day

Table shows the model summary of the data. The value of R is 0.933 and it represents simple
correlation which we have already calculated in table 2. The R Square shows how much of
total variation in the self –esteem (dependent variable) can be explained by time spent on
Facebook (independent variable) which is very large in this case; 87.1%.

Tab;e 8.2: ANOVAa

ANOVA Table helps to Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig. measure how well the
regression equation fits Regression 4578.522 1 4578.522 999.218 .000b the data. As shown in
1 Residual 678.152 148 4.582
Total 5256.673 149
a. Dependent Variable: Self-esteem
b. Predictors: (Constant), How many time do you spend on social media a day
table 4 sig, value is less than 0.05. This means that the regression model is statistically significant and a good predictor of the
dependent variable which in this case is the self-esteem of individuals.

DISCUSSION:
84% of our sample were adults in age range 18-25 whom mostly belonged to nuclear family, with middle class or upper middle class
socioeconomic status, also majority was found to be undergraduate students as most responses were collected from our own
classmates and student community. The first section of the questionnaire enquired how frequently social media is used by each
respondent on a daily basis, the reason behind the usage and whether these respondents make comparisons with others on such
platforms or not. The second section of the questionnaire measured the self-esteem of each individual. According to the results
approximately 49% people engage in making social comparisonson and 24% were neutral and rest disagree when inquired “I worry
about how many people will like/ respond to the things I post.” Most of comparisons are upward social comparisons. It has been
observed that upward comparisons make people feel inferior and have negative evaluations of themselves. These upward
comparisons in most of the cases have a negative effect on the self-esteem of people. The answers of the respondents suggested that
every individual between the age of 18 and 25 uses platforms like Facebook, Instagram, twitter and linkedinn and majority of the
people use them for their personal relationships, than come their urge to connect with new people and least marked reason was the
business purposes remain informed regarding the major events in the world and fulfill their affiliation needs. Numerous studies have
proved that social networking sites are used by teenagers to make strong and healthy relationships with their peers. The results
of the questionnaire were compiled and analyzed. The findings of this research suggest that there is a strong relationship between
social media usage and self-esteem of individuals. Both of these variables are negatively associated as shown in table 2. Increase in
social media usage would cause the self-esteem of people to decrease. Time spent on social media could be used to predict the self-
esteem of individuals. One hour spent on media platforms daily results in a 5.574 decrease in the self-esteem score of an
individual. This research clearly shows the negative impact of social media on the self-esteem of individuals. Self-esteem is the
mixture of two variables; the self-respect of individuals and their self-confidence (Branden, 1969). As people spend more time on
media , they visit other people’s profiles and they start envying certain individuals who they think are superior or better-off than
them. Some people argue that most people use media networks to know what is going on in other people’s lives and judge others on
the basis of the cues found on the profiles of these people. These individuals make upward comparisons with others. As a result
they start feeling inferior, less privileged and ungrateful. These negative feelings have a direct impact on the self-esteem of
individuals. Social comparisons made using social networking sites such as Facebook, Instgram,twitter, snapchat etc makes the
people feel worse about their lives and promotes negative well-being of individuals. As a result people end up having low self-
evaluations.

CONCLUSION:
Social media has a very strong impact on the self-esteem of individuals. Students use these social networking sites for information,
communication and building and maintain of relationships. But majority of the people end up making upward and downward
comparisons with others. The upward comparisons make people envy others and their lifestyles and also feel less obliged and
ungrateful for their bounties. As a result the self-esteem of such people gets negatively affected. Social media is growing very
drastically in almost every country in the world. So it is impossible to keep people, especially students who use Facebook,
twitter, Instagram and Linked inn type media platforms on a daily basis, away from social media for a very long time. Parents and
teachers should play an active role here by guiding students regarding self-esteem, self-recognition, self-actualization and self-
confidence. Parents should also limit the access of their children on these sites plus raise awareness in their children regarding the
negative repercussions of Social media.

LIMITATIONS:
The sampling method used was convenience sampling so there can be certain doubts on whether the sample is a true representation of
the whole population or not. Due to certain cost and time constraints the sample size was also kept short. Though the questionnaire
was well constructed but the integrity of the students cannot be measured. Self-esteem depends on person to person and the factors
that cause to change also vary from person to person so their never can be an accurate measure for self-esteem. Due to embarrassment
or other social factors the respondents might have not been truthful in their answers. Participants may not provide accurate or honest
responses to questions about their social media use and self-esteem, due to social desirability bias or other factors that may influence
their responses. The questionnaire may not cover all relevant factors that contribute to the relationship between social media use and
self-esteem, and may not capture the full range of experiences and perspectives of participant. The study may not be able to account
for all extraneous variables that could influence the relationship between social media use and self-esteem, such as individual
differences in personality or life experiences.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

 Parents should keep a check on their children. They should observe the effects of these sites on their children and accordingly
limit the time their children spend on such social networking sites.
 Children should be taken to workshops and awareness programs where they should be guided about self-esteem, self-
recognition, self- actualization and self-confidence.
 Parents and teachers should raise the morale of students and make them more confident in their conduct.
 Campaigns must be held to raise awareness in people regarding the negative repercussions of social networking sites.
 Researchers could use a combination of methods, such as surveys, interviews, and behavioral measures, to provide a more
comprehensive understanding of the relationship between social media use and self-esteem.
  Longitudinal studies: Researchers could conduct longitudinal studies that follow participants over time to better understand the
temporal relationship between social media use and self-esteem, and to identify potential moderators or mediators of this
relationship.
 Representative samples: Researchers could use representative samples to ensure that the findings are generalizable to the
larger population, and could also include diverse populations to examine potential differences in the relationship between
social media use and self-esteem across different groups.
 Experimental designs: Researchers could use experimental designs to establish a causal relationship between social media use
and self-esteem, and to test the effectiveness of interventions designed to mitigate the negative effects of social media on self-
esteem.
 Ecological validity: Researchers could aim to improve the ecological validity of their studies by examining social media use
and self-esteem in naturalistic settings, rather than relying solely on laboratory or survey-based measures.
By incorporating these recommendations into future research on the impact of social media on self-esteem, researchers can
help to improve the validity and generalizability of their findings, and develop more effective interventions to promote positive
mental health outcomes among social media users.

References:
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Student’s signature:

AQSA MEHBOOB;________

SYEDA IMMTISAL FATIMA:_______

SYEDA NOOR FATIMA:________

IQRA ZAIB:_______
APPENDIX:
1. Gender
 Male Female

2. Age
Under 18 18-25 above 26

3. Education
Matric Intermediate Undergraduate Post Graduate

4. Family system
Nuclear Family Joint Family

5. Birth Order
first born Middle child Last born other

6. Number of siblings
1 2 3 4 or above

7. Social Class
Upper class Upper Middle Middle class Lower Middle Lower class
class class

8. How many time do you spend on Social Media in a day?

less than 1 hour 1-3 hours 3-4 hours 5+ hours

9. How often do you use Social Media Networks (e.g, Facebook, twitter etc.)?
more than once a day About once a day A few times a week A few times a month
 10. Does the numbers of followers you have on each networking site affect your use of the site?
Yes No Somewhat

11. Why do you use social networking sites?

Why do you use Why do you use Why do you use Why do you use
social networking social networking social networking social networking
sites? sites? sites? sites?

12. How would you describe your level of self-esteem?

Often high Often Low Often varies

13. I worry about how many people will like/ respond to the things I post.
Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree
disagree

14. Being a member of certain social networking sites makes me feel accepted.
Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree
disagree

Instructions: Below is a list of statements dealing with your general

feelings about yourself. Please indicate the level of your satisfaction on a
scale of 1-4 with 4 being the highest level of satisfaction.

1. On the whole, I am satisfied with myself. 1 2 3 4

2. At times I think I am no good at all

3. I feel that I have a number of good qualities.

4. I am able to do things as well as most other people.

5. I feel I do not have much to be proud of.

6. I certainly feel useless at times.

7. I feel that I'm a person of worth, at least on an equal plane

with others.

8. I wish I could have more respect for myself.

9. All in all, I am inclined to feel that I am a failure.

10. I take a positive attitude toward myself.