Dangers of Social Media 1

Running Head: DANGERS OF SOCIAL MEDIA

The Dangers of Social Media

Kimberly E. Cox
Glen Allen High School

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Introduction
Social media plays a large role in most Americans lives. From connecting with family
and friends to sharing thoughts throughout the day, ninety percent of young adults have at least
one account on a social networking site. While this system seemed innovated in keeping people
in touch, the overwhelming use of social media has caused unfavorable effects on ourselves,
which will have even bigger impacts on society as a whole as the use continues to increase.
Instead of taking a picture for ones own self, picture taking has developed into which angle
will give me the most likes. Americans need for gratification and approval is heightened by
social media with the new found desire to get a new personal record of likes or retweets. As
society progresses with new technologies and new mechanisms for personal sharing, Americans
should be worried with the dangers social media has on our lives and the impact it will have on
society in the future.
Why We Join
The need to share emotional experiences online with others has become overwhelming in
the last decade. Eva Buechel and Jonah Berger discuss in their 2012 article, Facebook Therapy
that people join and post in social networking sites to aid[] [in] emotion regulation. Their
research presents that ninety percent of people feel relieved after sharing their emotional
experience via internet. Early theories of psychotherapy suggest venting emotions enables short
term healing for some, however, this theory is widely considered a myth today. Instead, the
null-findings suggest that expressing emotions online does not lead to immediate recovery.
However, along with relieving emotions, users are motivated by their image on social media and
seek to improve their status among their peers. Users strive to increase their number of followers
on social networking sites and use it as a signal for popularity (Toubia & Stephen, 2012).

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Other research concludes that people use social media for two primary reasons: 1) a need for
acceptance and 2) a need for self-presentation. When one receives a blow to their ego, they
seek their online profiles to fulfill their need for self-worth and self-integrity. In general, social
networking sites are used to maintain existing connections, acquire information about others, and
present oneself online to peers (Zuo, 2014).
Addictive Tendencies
The excessive use of social media has caused some users to develop an obsession with
social networking sites. The egocentric construction of social networking sites facilitates
addictive behavior and is the primary factor that gets users participating in an excessive way.
Women and young people are more likely to develop addictive tendencies because they are more
vulnerable to the addiction of gaining hundreds of friends on social networking sites (Smith,
2012). Internet addiction and those who had strong attachments to Facebook reported that it
would be difficult to stop using the site (Zuo, 2014).
Self Esteem and Self Control
All humans have a vital desire to maintain or improve his or her self-esteem, so it is
expected that individuals strive for positive self-presentations in both online and offline settings
(Mehdizadeh, 2010). However in todays society, the number of followers is becoming the new
barometer of how we gauge our self-worth. We keep score and compare ourselves to others via
social networking sites because of the social pressures to achieve high numbers of followers.
Therefore, posting content on social media is a way for image-conscious users to increase their
stature, as measured by their number of followers (Toubia & Stephen 2012). A study conducted
by Smith (2012) concluded that spending a lot of time on Facebook is associated with low self-

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esteem and those taking the time to post online tend to have low social self-esteem and seek to
boost it online. Therefore, those spending longer amounts of time online have lower self-esteems
than those who spend little to no time online. Wilcox and Stephen (2012) conducted a study to
observe the correlation between social media use and self-control and their results concluded that
greater Facebook use is associated with poor self-control because of enhanced selfpresentation on social networks. Frequent users were found to make more unhealthy choices,
have greater credit card debt, and lower credit scores than those that did not browse Facebook.
They concluded that people make poor choices because when focusing on past accomplishments
on their social media page, so they feel justified to indulge themselves. Social media use can
decrease self-control by enhancing self-esteem and giving its users a false sense of
accomplishment.
Narcissistic Personality
Narcissism is often wrongly seen as the equivalent of high self-esteem. While
narcissists feel superior, their self-image is unstable and dependent on their environment,
which is why one might feel threatened when his or her self-image is questioned. Social media is
a convenient outlet for narcissists because it can be used for self-promotion by posting pictures,
updating statuses, and other profile information. Studies have shown that narcissists spend more
time on Facebook, have more virtual friends, often accepted friend requests from strangers, and
had a positive attitude towards having a lot of Facebook friends for social support (Compiet,
2013). Social networking sites offer gateways for shallow relationships through virtual
friendships and emotionally detached communication through status updates and comments.
Also, owners have complete power over their self-presentation on social media, which allows

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narcissists to pursue trivial friendships and boast self-views by only presenting desirable
information about themselves (Mehdizadeh, 2010).
Conclusion
Studies regarding the use of social media and ones outlook on his or herself unveils the
dangers social networking has on self-esteem and personality. Excessive use of social media like
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram can lead to narcissistic tendencies and a temporary self-esteem
boost, which can result in a loss of self-control. When users are able to monitor and filter the
information they are sharing, it leads to false self-presentation which can cause one to celebrate
his or her accomplishments at unnecessary times or compare his or herself to others and develop
an untrue expectation of how his or her life should be in comparison to online peers.

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References
Buechel, E., & Berger, J., (2012). Facebook Therapy? Why Do People Share Self-Relevant
Content Online? Working Paper. Social Science Research Network.
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_idp2013148
Compiet, K., (June 2013). Narcissism on Facebook: Appearance and Evaluation of Narcissistic
Facebook Behavior. University of Amsterdam. Retrieved from
http://dare.uva.nl/cgi/arno/show.cgi?fid=502736
Gonzales, A., Hancock, J., (2011). Mirror, Mirror on my Facebook Wall: Effects of Exposure to
Facebook on Self-Esteem. CyberPsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 4(1-2).
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http://web.mit.edu/writing/2012/July_Summary_Readings/Effects_of_Exposure_to_Face
book_on_Self_Esteem.pdf
Kross, E., Verduyn, P., Demiralp, E., Park, J., Lee, D.S., Lin, N., et al., (2013). Facebook Use
Predicts Declines in Subjective Well-Being in Young Adults. PLoS ONE, 8(8): e69841.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0069841
Mehdizadeh, S., (2010). Self-presentation 2.0: Narcissism and Self-esteem on Facebook.
Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social networking, 13 (4), 357-64. Retrieved from
http://www.fyiliving.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/facebooknarcissist1.pdf
Smith-Duff, C., (April 2012). Facebook Use and its relationship with Self-Esteem, Personalities
and Addictive Tendencies. DBS School of Arts. Retrieved from
http://esource.dbs.ie/bitstream/handle/10788/334/ba_smith-duff_c_2012.pdf?sequence=1

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Toubia, O., and Stephen, A. T., (2012). Intrinsic versus Image-Related Motivations in Social
Media: Why Do People Contribute Content to Twitter? Working Paper. Columbia
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https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228168823_Intrinsic_Versus_ImageRelated_Motivations_in_Social_Media_Why_Do_People_Contribute_Content_to_Twitte
r
Wilcox, K., Stephen, A., (November 2012). Are Close Friends the Enemy? Online Social
Networks, Self-Esteem, and Self-Control. Journal of Consumer Research. Retrieved from
http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/668794
Wong, W. K. W., (2012). FACES on FACEBOOK: A Study of Self-presentation and Social
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http://ssweb.cityu.edu.hk/download/RS/E-Journal/journal9.pdf
Zuo, A., (2014). Measuring Up: Social Comparisons on Facebook and Contribution to SelfEsteem and Mental Health. University of Michigan. Retrieved from
https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/107346/zuo.finalthesis.pdf