Social Media And Self-Esteem

The cultural adaptation of online social networking has revolutionized the means in which humans interact; now, with websites like Facebook and Instagram people are able to instantly and illustratively share their life experiences with a simple click of a button or snap of a picture. In a world where human interaction is evolving, it becomes inevitable for individuals and societies to learn and adjust to such untraditional ways of communicating. In fact, the ability to constantly be conscious of the lives of friends and family all over the globe indeed influences human behavior and perception. Subsequently, Facebook and Instagram’s tangible accessibility provides incessant opportunities for its users to define ones self-worth through social …show more content…
Therefore, social media is not only a networking tool but it is a large social comparison tool; Facebook and Instagram provide a round-the-clock platform in which people use the half-truth identities of their peers to subjectively determine self-worth. Users utilize Facebook In fact, the Gothenburg Research Institute in Sweden conducted their largest Facebook study and concluded that users who spend a lot of time on Facebook and those who socially compare their mundane lives to their peers seemingly more exciting lives via the social website tend to have lower self-esteem (Denti).Thus, those who developed low self-esteem may experience a spiral of decline of emotional and social wellbeing that can lead to depression and social …show more content…
However, with internet and social media as main form of communication nowadays, people may possibly neglect interpersonal connections. Consequently and contrary to the social purpose of websites like Facebook and Instagram, such websites hinder face-to-face social interaction. Yazino, an online casino, conducted a study that showed one in four people spend more time socializing online than they do in person (Telegraph.com). “People increasingly prefer quick and frequent engagement with instant updates on news than a prolonged chat and are also finding new ways to catch up with friends from the comfort of their sofa “said Yazino owner, Hussein Chahine, as a possible reason to depressed amount of interpersonal communication. Truthfully, even when people are together in social events, they are easily distracted by their smartphones; checking updates, posting pictures of the party they’re at, or the meal they’re having at dinner. Rather than enjoying each other’s company and the bliss of in-the-moment events, society misses out on present moments because they’re preoccupied with updating their social profile. Thus, exaggerating the highs of life and concealing the lows of life to create the ideal online persona results in unrealistic goals and