JaJuan Battle

Mr. Padgett
ENGL 1102
2/26/14
Annotated Bibliography
Inquiry: Why does social media impact some users self esteem?
Proposed Thesis: Social media has an effect on some users self - esteem because people have a
desire to be seen in a positive light by their peers.

Dr. Patti M. Valkenburg, Jochen Peter, and Alexander P. Schouten. CyberPsychology & Behavior.
October 2006, 9(5): 584-590. doi:10.1089/cpb.2006.9.584.
This scholarly article analyzes the correlation between social media sites and the self esteem
of its users. The reason why self esteem is analyzed is because it is believed to be the cause
of well being in adolescents as stated, most self esteem theorists believe that self esteem
is the cause and well being the effect. A blueprint to most social media is that the user
creates a profile in which viewers can see their self description, upload at least one picture of
themselves, and other people comment reactions. Since self esteem cannot be measured
numerically the article makes self esteem measurable by measuring the following tangibles:
relationships formed, frequency of reactions, and the tone of these reactions. A group of
adolescents are asked to complete a survey to gather information on these tangibles. The
group is not forced to take the survey to try to keep the integrity of the survey. Upon the end
of the survey, it was determined that the tone of reactions was the deciding factor that altered
ones self esteem, whether it be positive or negative. This means that in most cases, people
do not truly care about merely being seen on social networks, but in fact that people really
care about exactly what people think of them. A person that normally receives positive
feedback on social media will have a positive self esteem and vice versa. The self esteem
issues that negative feedback brings can pose a problem in this generation because it effects
our well being as stated earlier. This source is very credible and accurate in my opinion, but
does combat the very popular notion that we as a people desire to be seen by the general
public.
Bergland, Christopher. "Social Medias Dual-Edged Sword: Narcissism vs. Self-
Esteem."http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-athletes-way/201306/social-media-s-
dual-edged-sword-narcissism-vs-self-esteem. Sussex Publishers, 12 Jun 2013. Web. 26 Feb 2014.
Bergland is making the argument that Researchers have confirmed that the desire to be 'Liked'
on Facebook is a universal phenomenon. I do agree with this statement to a certain extent. I
feel like the use of the word desire is a bit much in this particular situation. Personally, I do
not desire to get a certain number of likes or retweets. However, I do feel like there is a rather
high percentage of social networkers that would apply to the quote. Bergland then goes on to
talk about how social media can lead to some of its users having narcissistic behavior, but an
occasional Facebook check is good for sustaining a healthy self esteem. Likes on Facebook
validate to the user whether they are seen are not because we as the user cannot fathom
someone seeing our post and not liking it. I would say this is a credible source because
Bergland cites very credible sources and a section of his book has been posted on the URL
PsychologyToday.
Valerie Barker. CyberPsychology & Behavior. April 2009, 12(2): 209-213.
doi:10.1089/cpb.2008.0228.
Barker discusses the idea of older adolescents using social media to boost self esteem. Barker
also introduces me to the idea of group self esteem. Barker says that we use social media to
feel belonged in a social group, and to be connected. Barker then says Research indicates that
females are more likely than males to use social media for relational maintenance; by contrast,
males are more interested in information seeking. I strongly agree with her statement
because it applies directly to me and I can relate to it. I would say this is a credible source
because it is cited multiple times in other scholarly articles. This articles digs deeper into the
thesis and makes one look at the correlation between social media and self esteem from a
gender aspect.
Lindsay H. Shaw and Larry M. Gant. CyberPsychology & Behavior. April 2002, 5(2): 157-171.
doi:10.1089/109493102753770552.
In this article, Shaw and Grant are making the argument that the internet as a whole overall has
a positive mental and emotional effect on its users. As it is shown in the citation, this article
was published in 2002, and around this time it was a general consensus that the internet had
negative psychological effects on its users. Frequent users were said to suffer from loneliness,
depression, and negative self esteem. Shaw and Grant debunked this common myth. I feel
like this article is important because it goes past the social media aspect and looks at the
internet in general because that is where social media and social networking derive from.
Michael A. Stefanone, Derek Lackaff, and Devan Rosen. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social
Networking. January/February 2011, 14(1-2): 41-49. doi:10.1089/cyber.2010.0049.
The productivity of a social networking account and the effects on its users are analyzed and
examined in this scholarly article. This article is saying that people who constantly update their
profile and have a lot of friends/followers generally have a higher sense of self worth than
people who do not. This article suggests that users who dont have an ideal amount of friends
online are more likely to be combative with each other while thriving users tend to focus on
morality and being more virtuous. Personally, I feel like the results from the study of this article
will vary from person to person. Some people are content with the small amount of friends
that they have and there are other people on social media that feel like they constantly have to
have more friends regardless of how many they have. I feel like it all depends on how the
particular person was raised and if they are completely secure with themselves or not.