Generation Z and Social Media.

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Carly Maling MAL16474012.
UAL WIMBLEDON COLLEGE OF ART

BA (HONS) PRINT AND TIME BASED MEDIA
TO WHAT EXTENT DOES SOCIAL

MEDIA BRAND CREATION LEAD
TO A FALSE SENSE OF SELF IN
GENERATION Z?
CARLY MALING
MAL16474012
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Table of Contents.
Page 3 - Introduction
Page 4 - Chapter 1, Social Media and Self Esteem.
Page 7 - Chapter 2 , Brand Creation.
Page 11 - Chapter 3, The False Self.
Page 18 - Chapter 4, Positive call out culture.
Page 22 - Conclusion
Page 23- Bibliography
Page 30 – Self Evaluation Form.

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Introduction.
The Self is an individual person as the object of his or her own reflection. It is
something that can be influenced by a variety of environmental factors but
ultimately it is the evaluative way we begin to accept ourselves (self-esteem). Self-
esteem can be thought of as dynamic due to the fluctuating ideals of our ‘’abilities,
appearance and personality’’ (oxford dictionary of english, 2017) in any one
moment. This can be thought of as the idea of self-image, which is split into two
ideas. The person you see and the person you want to be. The latter being defined
as the ideal-self or ego-ideal. The characteristics of the ideal-self will be different
for each person, as the qualities that define someone’s character are individual to
their own culture. According to Will Storr in the perfectible self, culture is different
to our own environment. ‘Our environmental influences are events that happen that
have some form of emotional effect. An example of this would be parents divorcing
or breaking up’. Whereas, the descriptive definition of culture is ‘’culture or
civilization...is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, laws,
morals, customs and any other capabilities and habits acquired by a man as a
member of society’’. (Smith p2-3). Meaning that for Generation Z, the people born
between the years 1995-2012. Technology and the internet are a part of their
culture. This generation, have become known as digital natives because, the
“internet forms the backbone of their educational, social and leisure” (Amichai-
Hamburger, p91) and arguably, one of the biggest contributors to this is social
media. Social media is an umbrella term for ‘websites and apps that let users create
or share content and to participate in social networking’ (oxford dictionary of
English, 2017) this includes: Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, Tumblr,
Tinder, Grindr, Pornhub and YouTube etc. Due to the advancements in technology,
generation Z have easy access to these platforms. Therefore, through artists, media
and thinkers such as: Amalia Ulman, Degrassi: next class, Sigmund Freud and
Jameela Jamil. I will be exploring further into social media, how it behaves and
what this means for Generation Z’s sense of self.
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Chapter 1. Social media and self-esteem.
Each social media platform has different features, but they all operate in a similar
way to Instagram. On Instagram feeds, users have been given the ability to: make
a status; edit photos and share short bursts of video. Users interact on Instagram
by liking and commenting on each other's content, which takes the form of an
image and a caption. Also, there is the ability to private message, which is where
its functions become more interesting. As account holders are given the option to
set an account to open or private. Meaning that they have the choice to let
strangers interact with them, which is different to some of its predecessors.
Instagram also has stories, a less permanent way of making a status. The images
are automatically deleted after one day (which is the same as snapchat).
Instagram's main interface brings the accounts that you have chosen to follow
together, providing a narrative made up of: selfies, memes and personal stories.
The reasons why people post the content they do are complex however, as social
media has become a part of Generation Z’s culture. I think that the posts made are
influenced by their offline environment because as a generation we are starting to
behave more like celebrity. From the mundane to special occasions, we post
everything we do, in real life, online and the general population become interested
in this. Even if they do not know who you are, which creates the illusion that you
are as important as a celebrity. This forces users to curate what they are posting so
that they can maintain a high level of popularity. Thus, some users may feel they
are as important in the offline world as they are online. Which creates a social
hierarchy, as not every online personality can be considered famous. Thus, a severe
lack of likes and follows could lead to offline identity issues.
In Freudian Theory, personality (identity) is split into three parts: the ID, the Ego
and the superego. The ID is deep within the unconscious mind and engages in
primary process thinking. An individual's selfish and wishful thoughts lie within the
ID, which operates on the pleasure principle, meaning that every impulse should be
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satisfied immediately without any regard to consequences. When these demands

are met, the individual will experience pleasure. However, the ID is impractical, so
the ego will create more realistic ways to obtain this sense of pleasure. This means
that, the ego will consider social conventions when deciding on how to achieve
pleasure. As the ego has no moral sense of right or wrong, it will be satisfied with
anyway it finds pleasure. The most ideal way would be without causing any
unpleasant feelings of anxiety and stress, etc. Due to its structure, the superego
will consider the values of society when controlling the egos unrealistic demands.
Therefore, this could be why there is an inner conflict created when thinking selfish
and wishful thoughts. For example, posting something controversial online that you
may not normally post.
Figure 1 - Illustration of Freuds unconcious mind. (Diller, 2011).

The superego and the ego overlap, hence the superego controlling the ego.
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The Id is made up of two systems: the conscience and the ideal-self. The
conscience is ‘’a person's moral sense of right and wrong’’ (oxford dictionary of
english, 2017) Therefore, it is the conscience that gives the mind its moral sense.
Despite its functions, the ego is a person's sense of self-esteem. Therefore, high
self-esteem can be thought of as having a strong sense of self-image (big ego).
Whereas, low self-esteem can be considered as a poor idea of one's self-image
(small ego). Therefore, in context, the relationship between the ID, Ego and
Superego is the process of self-inquiry. This is because social media gets users to
think about themselves and how their identity fits in with the rest of the world,
which forces generation z to create a brand, based on which version of themselves
they want to show their world, when they are still figuring out who they are. This
has the potential to both inflate and deflate people's egos. As they are opening
themselves up to comments and criticism, from so many people, that changes with
each social media post made.
Therefore, hypothetically an act will be made on social media. For example, making
a post or reading a tweet. Which will make an individual start the process of self-
inquiry. As, users will feel the need to compare their own personal brand against
others. Which will lead to a false sense of self.
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Chapter 2 – Brand Creation.
Previously, I hypothesized that an online act can make someone start the process
of self-inquiry, which eventually leads to low self-esteem. I want to start exploring
this by discussing Amalia Ulman’s 2014 performative photography series, entitled
“Excellences and Perfections”. Ulman’s work is centered around three female
stereotypes, which she deems the key to gaining a large online following. According
to Ruigrok (2018) these tropes are: ‘the wellness goddess, the sugar baby and the
pastel aesthetic girl’. The wellness goddess portrays herself as extremely into
fitness. The sugar baby is interested in the attention of an older person, normally
with the benefit of material goods. Whilst the pastel girl is very young and cute.
Figure 2 –. The pastel girl, The sugar Baby and The wellness goddess.
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The selfies are bought together, on instagram. To represent the narrative of one
woman (herself). The choice to present these images on an online gallery is where
the context of Ulmans work relates to what Jameela Jamil was saying in the
channel 4, ways to change the world, podcast. Jamil speaks about how the media
portrays these unrealistic images with toxic narratives but Ulman begins to question
how we reward and value these images of women. The media isn’t restricted to
showing an audience the polished image. There is a plethora of images of women
made available to us. For example, gossip magazines feature segments of
celebrities who have let themselves go and articles about bad fashion choices at the
latest awards ceremony. So, all body types are getting put in the spotlight but as a
society, these sources have taught us that we need to strive for body perfection.
Thus, specifically, on social media we place value on the strategic selfie with good
lighting that makes the person look good. When we think someone looks good, we
reward that person with a like. This is shown through the amount of likes and
followers that Ulman gained. In a recent interview with Daze, Amalia Ulman
revealed that she posted the selfies on the account so that there was a drastic
change between each stereotype. She begins the series by portraying the pastel
aesthetic girl. This is obvious because of the colour scheme she has chosen for the
first series of images. She is in a light room wearing pastel colours. These tones
commonly convey innocence, meaning that this links directly with the stereotype
she is trying to convey. When Ulman makes the transition to the sugar baby, the
colours are darker. Suggesting a mood change. Her clothes have also changed,
Ulman is dressed less conservatively like she is trying to attract attention. Which
also fits into the sugar baby stereotype. However, the change between sugar baby
and wellness goddess can be considered subtler. As the only changes made were
her hair colour and body language. She sits in a yoga position, suggesting that she
has taken up yoga to be healthy. At first glance, this is not enough to make me
believe there is a change. Throughout the rest of this project, Ulman claimed: she
had moved to LA, broke up with her long-term boyfriend, started to take drugs, had
plastic surgery, self-destructed, apologized and found herself a new partner.
Arguably, this story alone does sound fictional but combined with the excessive
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images on her Instagram feed it is made believable because it is so familiar. As we

are used to seeing this with celebrities.
Due to the popularity of “Excellences and Perfections” (Ulman, 2014). I make

parallels between Ulman’s work and that of Instagram Influencers who are the
people who get paid to release high end content for brands on the platform.
Instagram Influencers have a tick next to their username. This proves that their
personal brand is both credible and authentic. Commonly, someone will receive a
tick because of the number of followers they have or their fame status. Amalia
Ulman, Kaycee rice, Dwayne ‘the rock’ Johnson, Brendon Urie, Matt Steffanina and
Sean Lew are all different types of online influencers. Influencers are people who
often have partnerships with commercial brands that relate to their Instagram
audience. Thus, they will either get paid or receive goods in return for high-quality
content advertisement on their profile. For Example, the rock regularly partners
with ‘Under Armour’, a sports clothing label. As he is a method actor who goes to
the gym almost every day. Whereas, Kaycee Rice often partners with ‘Brighter
White’ as she is a female dancer who is interested in health, beauty and wellbeing.
Thus, they will produce completely different ads, that will not relate to each other's
Instagram theme. Influencers will also want to both attract more followers, whilst
maintaining the number of followers that they already have. Showing how it is
important to stick to a theme if you want to be considered important online.
High quality, interesting content. Low quality content.
Figure 3 – High and low quality content.

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“Excellences and Perfections” (Ulman, 2014) is a good example of this because,

Ulman chose the female stereotypes because they attract the most followers. In
particular, “the wellness goddess” (Ruigrok, 2018) has 800 million monthly profile
users and by the end of this project, Ulman had gained 88,906 followers. This has
now grown to 157,000, almost doubling in the space of four years. In an article on
new museums website, it is said that Ulman thought about the use of location, sets
and props. Whilst this seems trivial, these things are also important to Instagram
influencers. As the better an account looks aesthetically, the more attention the
account will receive. This is because, a lot of content gets posted under the same
type of hashtag (another way of gaining likes and followers) Thus, the content
needs to stand out to get attention. However, what happens when you gain too
much attention?
However, the core of this work is about the relationship between online and
offline identity. Creating this persona and presenting it publicly online,
opened Ulman up to a lot of personal criticism. According to an interview
with Amalia Ulman, in the publication daze, people started to hate Ulman for
what she was using social media for. She wasn’t understood as a person and
when she revealed that this was for her art practice, her close friends didn’t
understand what she was doing thus Ulman began to doubt herself and her
self-esteem would have lowered. Making this an example of how social
media users perform online. As when Ulman was planning this artwork, she
was in a bus crash. So, I think that this is a result of Ulman wanting to make
herself believe that her personal life will get better. As she wasn’t initially
telling people that her narrative was fictional. Although, despite the
popularity of Ulmans Instagram account, it was fake news. Which poses the
question, who can we believe on social media?
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Chapter 3 – The False Self.
Throughout this essay, I have been exploring how Generation Z may use social
media. Through Amalia Ulman, I have found that this generation use social media
to create a personal brand that reflects a part of themselves. This is because, social
media has become a way of documenting a narrative to boost popularity. It is hard
to ignore the personal bias that comes to posting content on social media because,
the decisions behind posting content are heavily influenced by what happens in the
offline world. This is supported in the essay, ‘is everybody hanging out without me?
Comparing ourselves to others and the importance of being liked’ in the Happiness
effect by Donna Frietas. There is a case study conducted into a girl called Margaret.
Who has stepped away from social media because, she is aware that she compares
her offline life to her peers when she sees their posts online. ‘Facebook makes it
really easy’. (Freitas, p17-20) `You just click on other people's posts, see
everything that your Facebook friends are doing. As people post good, not bad`
(Freitas, p17-20). Margaret sees a timeline of posts by people who are perceived to
be happier than she is, thus `she falls into the trap of comparing her happiness
against others`(Freitas, p17-20) Thus, she creates scenarios that she wants to
happen online. For example, messages and likes, that may make herself feel more
popular than she thinks she currently is. Then Margaret begins to feel less
important, when she does not receive those messages or likes. Therefore; whilst a
post being made to social media, that is created or read, does provoke the process
of self-inquiry. The cycle starts in the offline world. So, in this chapter I want to
further investigate the relationship between online and offline.
In the digital age, the self is seen as fragmented. Sociologists Bree Mcewan and
Jennifer Mease extend Tracy and Trethewey's crystalized self-metaphor theory to
suggest that, `the self is not a static entity, but rather it is fluid and based in social
interaction and human beings will perform according to which social pressures and
audiences that are most salient at the time` (Cunnigham et al, p88 ). The types of
social pressures and audiences will vary but they will typically include: friends,
family, work, relationships and events etc. Therefore, Generation Z will perform to
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the ideals that these pressures create as 'what matters most of all is what others
are doing and managing to fit yourself into the mold of what other people idealize
as opposed to who you are (Freitas, pp.17-20). For example, pop culture has made
being a nerd more acceptable within this generation. By tv shows such as the Big
Bang Theory, the Goldberg's and the IT crowd becoming mainstream. Thus,
Generation Z may adapt their personality to appear the same as a nerd to be
popular. This may take the form of changing the content shared on social media.
Despite, not behaving like this otherwise. However; as the self is fluid, their
personality traits may change again when something more popular appears. This
concept is like changing a favorite song. One may like a song because it is catchy,
but then eventually one grows bored of this song and changes it. Which is the same
as Generation Z deleting their Instagram feed and starting again.
Furthermore; as this generation have learnt to navigate their life through social
media, it means that social media users are consuming a narrative of information
as well as adding to the narrative. It is mentioned in chapter 1 that this consumed
narrative is made up of: selfies, memes and personal stories. So, how does this
contribute towards a false sense of self?
(Figure 4 – How it really is.

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“Body image in the modern world is strongly influenced by messages from the
media” (Amichai-Hamburger) and on ways to change the world, a podcast made by
channel 4, Jameela Jamil spoke about the issues that surround social media and
body image. She states how growing up in the nineties was a really toxic time to be
a young girl because of the unrealistic beauty standards that were being shown to
her and other women. `hip bones were a badge of honour and heroin chic was used
non-ironically by high end magazines. We were conditioned to think that we weren’t
pretty unless we had no fat on our bodies`(Jamil et al, 2018). However, in the
nineties one would have to actively seek out the toxicity. `you had to buy the
expensive magazine or go online to find thinspiration pages’ (Jamil et al, 2018)
Whereas now, `you don’t have to be looking for it. You open your phone it’s in your
hand and this toxicity pours out through adverts and other people's feeds`(Jamil et
al, 2018. and these same standards are being presented online to Generation Z.
Jamil describes seeing an Instagram post containing a group selfie of the
Kardashians, with numbers written across it. At first glance she thought it was
something trivial like net worth, but it turned out to be the Kardashians weight. She
then goes onto state how the post invites followers to comment on their own
weight, so the comment section contains young women making remarks towards
their own appearance `oh no I’m this one's height but I weigh this much, I’m too
fat`. (Jamil et al, 2018)
Figure 5 – Kardashian Selfie

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This post has made a large group of people, place value on the standards set by the
Kardashians, who are reality tv stars. Reality tv has enabled a generation of people
to believe that being a member of the general public is as important as someone
who is famous for a reason. Which causes young women to stand back and judge
themselves as others would. They objectify themselves by taking selfies. Due to
smartphones, they can easily photoshop their faces and make themselves look
perfect before they send those images out. It makes this generation feel an even
greater pressure to appear perfect. Thus; generation z will look at this group selfie
and start to compare themselves against the Kardashians. These people may not
want to be like the Kardashians but because of their popularity, young women will
place high value on their looks. Which is what this generation may want to achieve
through interventions to their content.
On the ITV website, there is a report of the Tonight: teenage lives online
news segment. Which is where it is suggested that “One of the main problems
is the content, what they are seeing and what, for example girls are seeing, are
people who are slimmer than they are, people who are having a better time than
they are, people who have more friends on line than they do and it seems to distort
a natural social comparison process” (Sigman, 2014). This is causing Generation Z
to stand back and judge themselves as others would. They objectify themselves by
taking selfies and due to access to tools like photoshop, they can manipulate their
faces and make themselves look perfect before they send those images out. Which
adds even more pressure on this generation to appear perfect.
This is further illustrated in #bootycall, an episode of the fictional Netflix series

Degrassi Next Class. As, the character Shay begins to manipulate her own selfies.
Lola: looks like someone has a new crush
Shay: what I do not?
Frankie: ‘good, there’s no point....’
L: Oh, right cos you got dumped... and forget about it she’s right. You have no
chance.
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S: What? Why not? Not that I want a chance but why?
L: Because tiny likes butts, and you have the butt of a four-year-old boy.
F: Ew and how do you even know that?
L: He only likes photos that feature butts *she scrolls through all of the different
social media platforms she has* all the celebs he tweets about have dope butts. Its
butts, butts, butts with that guy.
F: Stop saying butts
L: It’s really no surprise, Shay butts are the new boobs. Finally. *then she walks
away with a lot of confidence* (Degrassi: Next class, 2017, 2.56 - 2.94 )
In this moment, because Lola told Shay she looks like a four-year-old boy. That is
who Shay sees herself as. Which causes Shay to feel negative towards her
appearance, as it is stereotypical in her culture to have a big butt. Thus, her body
doesn’t compare to her culture's ideals, thus provoking lower self-esteem. This is
portrayed in the next scene, Shay is shown taking selfies in the school bathroom
mirror. Her body language is awkward because she is trying to get her bottom into
the frame. This is when Frankie walks in on Shay, laughing.
Frankie: you let Lola get to you
Shay: I do look like a four-year-old boy
F: I have zero butt, but you don’t see me freaking out
S: that’s because you’re white (Degrassi: Next Class, 2017, 7.56 - 7.65)
Frankie then gets Shay to hand over her mobile phone. Which is when Shay gets
introduced to image manipulation. Frankie easily makes Shays butt look bigger with
a few touches on the screen. Which makes Shay momentarily feel happier about
herself. However, in a later scene. It is made apparent that Lola posts the
photoshopped selfie online without Shays consent. This provokes an argument
between Lola and Shay, Shay wants to get Lola to take it down due to the fear of
Tiny seeing the image. We “stereotype selfies to what society has attached it too”
(Freitas,2017). For example, seeing someone pouting in a selfie depicts `an
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unintelligent, stereotypical white girl. ` (Frietas, 2017) Thus; in this scenario, as

Shay is an intelligent young woman, she assumes that editing an image of herself
for Tiny’s attention is dumb. Which is shown later in the episode, when he then
turns up at the pool party the characters are attending. Shay jumps into the pool to
hide her bottom. “i am so hashtag screwed, what if he only likes me because of
that dumb photo?! As soon as he sees me, it’ll be obvious I have zero junk in my
trunk” (Degrassi: Next Class, 2017, 9.70)
The next day, Shay is shown walking into a chemistry lesson with cotton batting
down the back of her jeans. Which was her attempt to physically create a bigger
bottom. However, when Frankie and Lola notice this, they decide to rapidly go
behind Shay to make it look like Shay does not have cotton batting in her pants.
Which is where the writers dramatize the situation. Shay is lab partners with Tiny.
He asks her to get some science equipment but now she is aware of how the
stuffing looks, she does not want him to notice this. So, she walks backwards
around the classroom. Eventually crashing into someone with the chemical Bromine
which is hazardous. Shay then strips in front of the whole class, to avoid chemical
burns, revealing the fact that she was stuffing her jeans.
Figure 6 – Degrassi Next Class Film stills, !3.56 and 15.45

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Whilst this scenario is heavily dramatized, Degrassi next class was influenced by
the situations that Generation Z may be faced with that can contribute towards a
false sense of self. Lola was the one who put the manipulated image online. This
caused Shay to change the way she portrays herself and start stuffing her Jeans for
Tiny because she was made to think that is what he likes. Therefore, in this
scenario; the pressure to appear perfect may be presented online but the reality is,
that these attitudes are initially created offline, but how does this relate to the idea
of a false sense of self?
Online and offline attitudes are bought together on social media. Which Generation
Z create, as well as consume. Leading to the construction of a two-tiered narrative,
that consists of a lot of different information. When this generation create content,
they want to feel as important as the content they are consuming. Which causes
personal brand creation, where people select the part of themselves to perform
online. Which changes along with the current trends. Furthermore, this generates a
false sense of self because social media users are not being authentic, as this
generation are curating lives. This is because they are under a lot of social pressure
to appear perfect in every aspect of their lives. Thus, this generation will start to
believe the perfection ideals they find online and start to adopt similar thoughts and
behaviors in real life.
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Chapter 4 – Positive Call-out Culture.
In the previous chapters, I have discussed the false sense of self. How it is the
bringing together of negative online and offline attitudes that inevitably leads to a
curated social media account, that depicts a part of themselves. In this chapter, I
want to look at the other perspective and the people who are being positive on
social media.
Call-out culture is publicly giving feedback on problematic behavior. Social media

users are using the platform to say what they think about the negative content that
they witness online. The most relevant example of this, is Jameela Jamils reaction
to Avons naked proof product. Avon released a new product called smooth moves
naked proof, which is a cream that reduces cellulite. Therefore, they produced new
marketing materials. Which would have been acceptable, without the slogan
‘dimples are cute on your face, not on your thighs’. Apparently, the company were
trying to be fun with their choice of slogan. However; it promotes a negative
attitude by saying cellulite is ugly, when it is a natural part of being a woman. Thus,
Jameela Jamil commented on this directly to Avon. Forcing the company, to publicly
apologize and remove their marketing material from their online and offline
advertising sources. Avon alone are not responsible for these body image
standards, but it is an example of the poor choices that companies are making. As,
they do not seem to think about the effect that these messages will have on an
audience. Alternatively, ‘calling out’ a company publicly may seem like a negative
reaction. Yet, these are the acts that cause Generation Z to think that they need to
change to be perfect. Therefore, Jamil, having the ability to get this content
removed is an example of how others can make the predominantly toxic narrative,
more positive.
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Figure 7 – naked proof campaign
This generation are constantly confronted with similar content, so these are the
types of online scenarios that has led to the curation of positive brands. That are
‘calling out’ other brands for making a generation of people for not being
comfortable with who they are. Kaycee Rice and BBC Body Positive are examples
of this. Kaycee Rice is a sixteen-year-old, Instagram influencer who uses her online
popularity for change. She has created the brand weirdo, that means “to be
outgoing, a little awkward at times, but not afraid to be who you are. It means
someone who is kind-hearted, spreads positivity and expresses themselves. Being a
weirdo doesn’t mean you are weird, it just means that you embrace the fact you
are different.” (Rice, 2019). Rice is changing the toxic online narrative by
encouraging her audience, generation z, to embrace who they already are.
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Figure 8 – Kaycee Rice
Whereas, BBC Body Positive concentrates on similar ideals in a different way. The
BBC have chosen to ‘champion self-acceptance' (BBC BodyPositive, 2018) in
everyone. They post content on Instagram, on both their stories and on their grid.
Meaning that the BBC get the attention of the majority of their 9848 followers.
Which is important because they are addressing a wider variety of content about
body image issues, meaning that they can connect with more people to fulfill their
goal. The content found on this page is mostly question and answer videos,
informative prompts or gif challenges that get people to be more mindful of
themselves. For example, filling out some questions with image answers.
Figure 9 – BBC body positive content.

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Whilst Kaycee Rice’s brand is predominantly an ethos, a large portion of this brand
falls into fashion clothing. Thus, the message behind the weirdo brand has the
ability to be ignored as her audience may only buy into the brand because Rice
created it. Instead of spreading the positive message that she has created. Also,
this attitude is made to be thought about and only a small percentage of the weirdo
brands followers will fully implement these ideas into their lives. Therefore, BBC
body positive is a better brand. This is because, the British Broadcasting
Corporation are actively getting their audience to answer questions and post them
back out to their personal social media accounts. Which means that, the BBC are
successful in breaking up the online narrative. As when the content gets re-posted,
more people may want to do it themselves. This shows how easy it is to circulate
this positive message, unlike the weirdo brand. As, weirdo now has two meanings
so this generation will need to know who Kaycee Rice is to fully know what the
weirdo concept is. This relates to how social media brands need to have a very
large online following to be popular. Therefore, if the British Broadcasting
corporation was not well known would the BBC body positive account be so
successful in breaking up the negative online environment?
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Conclusion.
There are four chapters in this essay: ‘Social Media and Self-esteem’, ‘Brand
Creation’, ‘The False Self’ and ‘Positive Call-out Culture’. Which come together to
discuss the question: ‘To what extent does social media brand creation lead to a
false sense of self?’. In the first chapter, I hypothesized how: An act will be made
on social media that will make an individual start the process of self-inquiry, which
will lead to a false sense of self. By combining my own opinion and theories from
thinkers such as Freud, Jameela Jamil, Donna Frietas and Bree Mcewan. I am led to
believe that Generation Z’s sense of self, is largely influenced by the pressure to
add to the online narrative. The media bombards their feeds with content that can
make social media users feel inferior about themselves, causing Generation Z to
feel pressure to curate themselves into an online brand to feel more popular. Which
confuses this generations sense of self because they are selecting parts of
themselves to put online. This means that social media is becoming less authentic,
as users are wanting to be as popular online as they are offline. Thus; social media
users are more aware of the content that they are posting online, bringing a greater
pressure for perfection. Which leads this generation to show themselves off online
and for this generation, this commonly takes the form of a selfie. Selfies are placing
an importance on physical looks and in context of this essay, I believe that posting
a selfie can say that you are competing with the media's idea of the perfect body.
As posting a selfie online, opens you up to comments from anyone and the case
studies found in tonight teenage lives online, prove that these comments can have
a negative effect on the self. Therefore, my hypothesis is accurate. When this
generation make a post on social media, they think about how they will be
perceived against the medias pre-set ideals and this inevitably leads to a false
sense of self (brand creation). However, there are also positive brands being
created such as BBC Body positive to try and destroy the toxic narrative but it is
not enough. Social media is something that is constantly being up-dated and
constantly made available due to having access to a smartphone. Which brings me
to the conclusion that social media brand creation does lead to a false sense of self
due to the relentless nature of social media and how it crosses over into the offline
world.
23
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26
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E24 Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXzO0z6fmhI (Accessed:
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27
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pick-two-of-three/.(accessed 29th January)
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memes/11779/she-refuses-to-accept-that-a-womans-value-is-determined-by-a-
number-on-the-scale/4. (accessed 29th January)
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6fb32b-c34d-4ac0-a0d0-dc6b3c80327f-74336977%2C%2C
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brochure/. (Accessed 29th January)
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29
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rogers.html. (accessed 7th september)
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perfections/20141014150552/http://instagram.com/amaliaulman. (accessed 17th
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30
Self-Evaluation Form
The intention of this form is twofold: to give you an opportunity to reflect upon your work
for your Stage 3 Contextual Practice research project and to give us feedback on the value
of the Major Contextual Project as a learning experience.
You should fill it out after you have completed your Major Contextual Project. Use additional
pages if necessary. The form is NOT assessed with a separate grade, so please be as honest
as possible. Please upload this form with your MCP.
Name: Carly Maling Course/Pathway: BA (Hons) Print

and Time Based Media
1. Summarise your aims for the project.
My aims of this project were to research into the effect of social media brand
creation on Generation Z and find out whether this led to a false sense of self.
2. How confident are you that the final Major Contextual Project achieves these aims
and communicates your ideas to others?
I am 80% confident in this.
3. How has the Major Contextual Project changed your original understanding (what
have you learned)?
I have learnt a few things: Generation Z and millennials are often very confused with
eachother. I am still unsure of the boundaries between these generations because it
is different in every article I have read. Amalia Ulman is the artist for this theme, I
31
was initially reluctant to include her but her work just fits. Self-esteem theories are
complicated.
However, I think the most important thing that I have learnt is that call-out culture
can be seen in a positive light. Instead of putting people and companies down, call-
out culture is holding people accountable for their actions. Which this generation of
people are good at and there are people outside of this generation that are helping
to break out of this toxic narrative, so social media is not completely depressing!
4. With hindsight how would you approach the Major Contextual Project if starting
again? (Please comment on: time management, use of tutorials, any problems you
encountered and how you dealt with them, as well as on the subject).
My time management and use of tutorials were good, I got my dissertation done a
week before the deadline! I honestly didn’t encounter many problems with the
process, it was more writing an extended essay with dyslexia and dyspraxia. I had to
just write things out and make connections before I would come to type them up. It
took me a long time to understand how much work I had to put in from draft to the
finished piece but I got there. Most of this project seemed to fall into place. Despite
this positivity, my bibliography and referencing was a mess. Next time, I would
reference as I go!
5. What advice would you give second year students about to embark on their Major
Contextual Project?
Even if you are dyslexic or dyspraxic, don’t get scared from the essay it is
manageable as long as you put the work in!
Start straight away, I did and I finished early.
Prioritize between MCP and Studio Practice. The more work you put in over
the summer and Christmas, the more time there is to do studio work. If this
is not your thing, set a day aside each week to focus on it. Especially on the
run up to deadline.
Reference as you go!

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Carly Maling MAL16474012.

UAL WIMBLEDON COLLEGE OF ART

TO WHAT EXTENT DOES SOCIAL

Page 4 - Chapter 1, Social Media and Self Esteem.

Page 7 - Chapter 2 , Brand Creation.

Page 11 - Chapter 3, The False Self.

Page 18 - Chapter 4, Positive call out culture.

Page 23- Bibliography

Page 30 – Self Evaluation Form.

Chapter 1. Social media and self-esteem.

satisfied immediately without any regard to consequences. When these demands

Figure 1 - Illustration of Freuds unconcious mind. (Diller, 2011).

Chapter 2 – Brand Creation.

images on her Instagram feed it is made believable because it is so familiar. As we

Due to the popularity of “Excellences and Perfections” (Ulman, 2014). I make

High quality, interesting content. Low quality content.

Figure 3 – High and low quality content.

“Excellences and Perfections” (Ulman, 2014) is a good example of this because,

Chapter 3 – The False Self.

(Figure 4 – How it really is.

Figure 5 – Kardashian Selfie

This is further illustrated in #bootycall, an episode of the fictional Netflix series

Lola: looks like someone has a new crush

Shay: what I do not?

Frankie: ‘good, there’s no point....’

S: What? Why not? Not that I want a chance but why?

F: Ew and how do you even know that?

F: Stop saying butts

Frankie: you let Lola get to you

Shay: I do look like a four-year-old boy

F: I have zero butt, but you don’t see me freaking out

unintelligent, stereotypical white girl. ` (Frietas, 2017) Thus; in this scenario, as

Figure 6 – Degrassi Next Class Film stills, !3.56 and 15.45

Chapter 4 – Positive Call-out Culture.

Call-out culture is publicly giving feedback on problematic behavior. Social media

Figure 7 – naked proof campaign

Figure 8 – Kaycee Rice

Figure 9 – BBC body positive content.

ET bureau (2017) 98% of Gen Z now own a smartphone Avaliable at:

Fuentes, J (2018 ) Privelige Avaliable at:

ITV (2014) tonight teenage lives online Avaliable at:

Pollack, B (2011) The social revolution. Available at:

Winter, (2014) We're all selfie-obsessed! Over 17 million self-portraits uploaded to

Wohl, A (2010) newtons laws of emotion Avaliable at:

Amichai-Hamburger, Y (2017) Internet psychology. Oxon and New York: routledge

Argyle, M. (2008). Social encounters: Contributions to social interaction. Aldine

Bonney, E et al (2016) A-level sociology. CGP.

Coopersmith, S. (1967). The antecedents of self-esteem. San Francisco: Freeman.

Cunningham, C (2014) Social networking and impression management. Lanham,

Freud, S (1991) On narcissism, an introduction. London: Yale university press for

Frietas, D (2017) The happiness effect. USA: Sheridan books

Hayden C et al, (2015) A-level year 1 and As psychology. CGP.

Hayden C et al, (2015) A-level year 2 psychology. CGP

Oxford dictionary of english (2010, 2017) Oxford university press.

Papacharissi, Z (2011) A networked self. Usa and UK: routledge

Smith, P (2001) Cultural theory an introduction. UK: Blackwell publishers

Prensky, M (2001) 'Digital natives vs Digital immigrants', On the horizon 9 (5)

Seidman, G (2013) ‘Self-presentation and belonging on Facebook: How personality

Channel 4 news (2018) WAYS TO CHANGE THE WORLD: A NEW PODCAST S1 •

Frontline Generation Like (2014) PBS, 18 February

In real life (2016) Directed by Beeban Kidron (documentary). London: Dogwoof

realityhigh (2017) Directed by Fernando Librija [Film]. netflix.

University of Wisconsin (no date) Freuds Personality Iceberg Avaliable at:

Ulman, A (2014) Avaliable at: http://webenact.rhizome.org/excellences-and-

Sarcasm_only(2019) no title Avaliable at: