Evaluating Selfies, Likes and Status Updates: Self-Esteem and Its Impact On Social Media Behaviors

EVALUATING SELFIES, LIKES AND STATUS UPDATES 1
Evaluating Selfies, Likes and Status Updates: Self-Esteem

and Its Impact on Social Media Behaviors
Melissa T. McCormack
Marymount Manhattan College

Abstract
The emergence of social media websites has opened doors for users as a communicative outlet to
express their thoughts and ideas throughout the globe. With social media platforms so easily
accessible in todays society, social networking has been embedded into our daily lives and
social routines. The present study investigated the relationship between self-esteem and common
behaviors found while using social media platforms. Participants filled out a survey and
evaluated statements in regards to the self and social media behaviors based on their own
personal experiences. A significant relationship was found between low self-esteem and all
negative social media behaviors evaluated in the survey. An unexpected finding in the results
was that there was also a significant relationship between low self-esteem and the positive social
media behavior of Posts from my friends/people I follow have motivated me to change my
lifestyle.

Evaluating Selfies, Likes and Status Updates: Self-Esteem and its Impact on Social Media
Behaviors
The emergence of social media websites has opened doors for users as a communicative
outlet to express their thoughts and ideas throughout the globe. Instead of retaining information
in earlier platforms where technology was more intensive and some expertise was required to
use, we are now able to create our own content, share our content with people, and respond and
collaborate with them in a user-friendly setting. Social networking platforms, like Facebook and
LinkedIn, help users build and maintain relationships with friends, family, and colleagues and
also connect with others with common interests.
The rise of smartphone usage and the Mobile internet has enabled new advancements in
forms of human interactions through instant messaging, Mobile internet forums, and social
networking (Manikadan, 2013, p. 607). With social media platforms so easily accessible, social
networking has been embedded into our daily lives and social routines. It is cause to wonder the
impact that social media has on ones self esteem and well-being as the population is consistently
being exposed to this shift of social exchange in society.
Social Media and Well-Being
According to Schlenker (as cited in Kramer & Winter, 2008), humans have a need for
self-esteem, and it is essential that self-esteem should be maintained and/or raised for quality of
life (Kramer & Winter, 2008). James (1890) and Baumeister and Leary (1995) found that as a
fundamental element of human social life, the need to be seen and valued has been
conceptualized as a fulfillment of emotional well-being (as cited in Greenwood, 2013). Social
media presence and communication are vital predictors of social self-esteem and well-being
considering the fact that peer acceptance and interpersonal feedback on the self are both main
features of social networking websites (Valkenburg, Peter & Schouten, 2006, p. 584). Expressing
our own thoughts and ideas puts us in a vulnerable position where we may either be criticized or
praised amongst our peers. With the allowance of a wider audience in social media platforms,
can our daily online social behaviors be a negative or a positive influence on our self-esteem?
Social Comparison Based on Self-Esteem
The capacity of social information presented on social media platforms is astounding.
While these affordances allow users to keep-up-to-date, they also produce basis for social
comparison and envy on an unprecedented scale. (Krasnova, Wenninger, Widjaja, and
Buxmann, 2013, p. 1) The over-exposure to social information can lead to negative feelings of
envy or positive feelings to motivate oneself to reach goals based on the users posted
information.
The Present Study
Past research studies have examined the relationship between self-esteem, well-being and
the use of social media. The present study was executed to assess the correlation between low
and high self-esteem with specific common social media behaviors. It was hypothesized that
negative behaviors may be correlated with low self-esteem while positive behaviors are
correlated with high self-esteem. The researchers hypothesized that people with lower self-
esteem would be more likely to engage in negative behaviors while social media platforms are
utilized.

Method
Participants
The participants consisted of 24 females, 23 males and 1 transgender between the ages of
20 and 32 who voluntarily filled out the online survey accessible through a link posted on
Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Materials
An online questionnaire (available in the Appendix) was completed by the participants
and data collection was provided by an online web survey tool, SurveyGizmo.com. The
Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale was used in questions 3 through 12 which was a widely used self-
esteem measure in social science research (Rosenberg, 1989). Participants were presented with
statements in regards to four key theoretical principles of self-concept formation: reflected
appraisals, social comparisons, self-attributions and psychological centrality. They then
evaluated these statements in a Likert rating scale from 1 for strongly disagree to 5 for strongly
agree. The scale was modified from its original design to include the Neutral option. Based on
their answers, the participants were assigned a self-esteem score. Negative items were reverse
coded so that a high score continued to indicate high self-esteem. The possible range for this
scale was 0 to 40. Self-esteem scores between 20 and 33 were within normal range; scores below
20 suggest low self-esteem. Questions 15 through 20 included statements that reflected common
social media usage behaviors in which participants also used the same Likert rating scale to
evaluate based on their own personal experiences.
Procedure
Participants were recruited by voluntarily accessing the online survey webpage through a
link posted on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. No incentives were rewarded in the
participation of this survey, and the participants were able to access the survey with the option to
opt-out at any time. Participants who did not fill out the survey in its entirety were excluded from
the results.
The researcher evaluated the data by calculating each participants self-esteem score
using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale on page 2 of the online survey. The score ranged from 0-
40. Scores between 20 and 33 were within normal range. Scores below 20 suggested low self-
esteem. Scores are calculated as follows:
For questions 3, 4, 6, 8, 9: Strongly agree = 4, Agree = 3, Neutral = 2, Disagree =1,
Strongly Disagree = 0
For questions 5, 7, 10, 11, 12: Strongly Agree = 0, Agree = 1, Neutral = 2, Disagree = 3,
Strongly Disagree = 4
Each participants individual self-esteem score was then compared to each of their
responses on Social Media usage behaviors (questions 15-20) on page 3.

Results
Descriptive Statistics
Of the 47 participants, 93.6% use Facebook, 46.8% use Twitter, 91.5% use Instagram,
36.2% use LinkedIn, 40.4% use Pinterest and 4.3% use another social media platform.
Participants visited or utilized social media platforms on an average of 3 hours per day (M =
2.77, SD = 2.35). The average Self-Esteem Score, ranged from 0 to 40, was 29 (M = 28.98, SD =
7.20).
Variable Correlations
To calculate the correlation between Self-Esteem Score and the amount of hours a person
visited or used social media platforms on a daily basis, a Pearsons r was used between the two
variables (See Table 1). No correlation was found between the variables.
Table 1. Self-Esteem Score and Hours Spent on Social Media
Self-Esteem Score Number of hours spent using
Social Media
Pearson Correlation 1.000 -2.51
Sig. (2-tailed) .089
N 47.000 47

Pearsons r was also used to calculate whether Self-Esteem Score and Social Media
behaviors had a correlation (See Table 2). Correlations can be seen in all negative social media
behaviors and in the positive social media behavior of Posts from my friends/people I follow
have motivated me to change my lifestyle.
Table 2. Self-Esteem Score and Social Media Behaviors
Pearsons r Sig. (2-tailed)
The attention I get from publishing posts on social media
websites makes me feel good.
-.245 .097
I have deleted posts I have made because they did not
receive the response I wanted.
-.522** .000
I have found myself feeling jealous of what my
friends/people I follow post on social media.
-.347* .017
Posts from my friends/people I follow have motivated me
to change my lifestyle.
-.327* .025
I find myself comparing my life to others on social media. -.460** .001
It bothers me when I do not get enough likes or
comments on my most recent post.
-.479** .001
* Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).
** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

Discussion
The present study focused on examining the possibility of a relationship between self-
esteem and social media behaviors. The results were able to back up the researchers hypothesis
that people with lower self-esteem would be more likely to engage in negative behaviors while
social media platforms are utilized. However, the length of the usage of social media on a daily
basis does not have an impact on self-esteem.
The lower the Self-Esteem Score, the more likely the person will delete posts they have
published on social media platforms that did not receive the desired response. This social media
behavior had the highest correlation with self-esteem out of all the behaviors. The variable
pattern can also be seen with those with low self-esteem who are bothered by the lack of likes
and/or comments received on their posts which was the second highest correlated social media
behavior. This may implicate the importance of self-presentation and self-efficiency. People who
feel competent in presenting themselves will take the opportunity to do so in social networks and
moreover, are comfortable in taking risks by presenting themselves more informally and
referring to themselves more elaborately (Kramer and Winter, 2008). Those who lack this self-
attribution in their self-esteem could rely on likes and the positive comments by other users to
make them feel comfortable or more validated with the content they have posted. This notion
also
People who have compared their life to others on social media or felt jealous or envious
emotions in regards to content, like accomplishments or life events, posted by friends or people
they follow also were shown to have lower self-esteem. This behavior can be more detrimental to
ones self-esteem as it could lead to frustration, exhaustion and cause damage to the individuals
life satisfaction if experienced over a long period of time (Krasnova, Wenninger, Widjaja and
Buxmann, 2013).
It was unexpected by the researchers to find that a positive social media behavior also
had a significant relationship to lower self-esteem. According to the results, users with lower
self-esteem were more likely to have been motivated to change or alter their lifestyle by the
influence of another persons social media post. It is possible that people with low self-esteem
will be more eager and motivated to engage in social media activities that are likely to raise self-
esteem according to theories by Steele (1988), Leary (1995) and Schlenker (1980) (as cited in
Kramer and Winter, 2008). Thus, the use of social media in this sense can actually be helpful to
those who would like to improve their self-esteem and well-being.
The present study only shows the relationships with a small sample size and a condensed
age group. To avoid limitations, further research on self-esteem and social media behaviors
could be done involving more participants with a wider range of age to better represent our
information-rich society.

References

Greenwood, D.N. (2013). Fame, facebook, and twitter: How attitudes about fame predict
frequency and nature of social media use. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 2(4),
222-236. doi: 10.1037/ppm0000013

Kramer, N.C., & Winter, S. (2008). Impression management 2.0: The relationship of self-esteem,
extraversion, self-efficacy, and self-presentation within social networking sites. Journal
of Media Psychology, 20(3), 106-116. doi: 10.1027/1864- 1105.20.3.106

Krasnova, H., Wenninger, H., Widjaja, T., & Buxmann, P. (2013). Envy on facebook: A hidden
threat to users life satisfaction?. 11th international conference on wirtschadftsinformatik.
1-15. Retrieved from http://warhol.wiwi.hu-
berlin.de/~hkrasnova/Ongoing_Research_files/WI 2013 Final Submission Krasnova.pdf

Manikandan, G. (2013). Social media and mobile internet usage: Relational study on teens and
young adults. International Journal of Logistics & Supply Chain Management
Perspectives, 2(4), 607-615.

Rosenberg, Morris. (1989). Society and the adolescent self-image. Revised edition. Middletown,
CT: Wesleyan University Press.

Valkenburg, P.M., Peter, J., & Shouten, A.P. (2006). Friend networking sites and their
relationship to adolescents well-being and social self-esteem. Cyber Psychology &
Behavior, 9(5), 584-590.

Wylie, R. C. (1979). The self-concept. Vol. 2. W. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.

Appendix
Social Media Survey
________________________________________
Page One

Informed Consent

You are being offered the opportunity to participate in a research study. The investigators will
answer any questions you might have about this form and the study. In this study, your age,
gender, and other facts about you will be asked. Only the investigator will see these details. You
will not need to sign your name to this short questionnaire as it will be completely anonymous.

Your participation is voluntary and you are free to withdraw your consent and discontinue
participation in this study at any time. You may print this page for your records.

If there are any questions regarding the following survey, please contact Melissa McCormack at
mmccormack@mmm.edu or Professor Linda Solomon at lsolomon@mmm.edu.

________________________________________
(Page 2)

1) What is your gender?*
( ) Male
( ) Female
( ) Other (Please Specify): _________________________________________________

2) What is your age?*
_________________________________________________

Evaluate the following statements to your best knowledge.

3) "I feel that I am a person of worth, at least on an equal plane with others."*
( ) Strongly Disagree ( ) Disagree ( ) Neutral ( ) Agree ( ) Strongly Agree

4) "I feel that I have a number of good qualities."*

5) "All in all, I am inclined to feel that I am a failure."*

6) "I am able to do things as well as most other people."*

7) "I feel I do not have much to be proud of."*

8) "I take a positive attitude toward myself."*

9) "On the whole, I am satisfied with myself."*

10) "I wish I could have more respect for myself."*

11) "I certainly feel usless at times."*

12) "At times, I think I am no good at all."*

________________________________________
(Page 3)

13) What social media websites are you registered to? (Check all that apply)*
[ ] Facebook
[ ] Twitter
[ ] Instagram
[ ] LinkedIn
[ ] Pinterest
[ ] Other (Please specify): _________________________________________________

14) On an average, how many hours a day do you generally view or use social media?*
_________________________________________________

Evaluate the following statements to your best knowledge.

15) "The attention I get from publishing posts on social media websites makes me feel good."*

16) "I have deleted posts I have made because they did not recieve the response I wanted."*


17) "I have found myself feeling jealous of what my friends/people I follow post on social
media."*


18) "Posts from my friends/people I follow have motivated me to change my lifestyle."*


19) "I find myself comparing my life to others on social media."*


20) "It bothers me when I do not get enough 'likes' or comments on my most recent post."*


________________________________________
Thank You!

Thank you for taking our survey. Your response is very important to us.

Evaluating Selfies, Likes and Status Updates: Self-Esteem and Its Impact On Social Media Behaviors

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