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Running Head: Position Essay-Social Media And Self-Esteem

Yufeng Liu Northeastern University Instructor: Brett Murphy Hunt Wk 9: Position Essay-First Draft March 21, 2021

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Running Head: Position Essay-Social Media And Self-Esteem

Social Media and Self Esteem The emergence of new technology in the modern world has led to the increased development of apps, websites, and other social media platforms that have predominantly affected how people communicate. It is a significant improvement that has excited the technological world of communication. The majority of youths today have made social media sites such as Facebook and Instagram avenues for socialization. Social media is a communication tool that relies heavily on the internet and allows

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people to share information and develop website materials. It is composed of several forms, including but not limited to blogs, social networking sites, photo sharing sites, and video sharing sites. Self-esteem refers to an individual positive or negative image of themselves. Healthy esteem individuals love and value their set goals and achievements. On the contrary, People with low self tend to be unhappy and mostly feel a lack of contentment in their life. Essentially, many factors influence a person's level of self-esteem. Researchers have majorly attributed social media usage to directly impacting self-esteem levels in both positive and negative dimensions. Intensified social media usage has rampantly resulted in youths developing low self-esteem. It is basically due to the tendency to use social media sites to boost their self-image and worth. Unfortunately, the reward has got far wrecking consequences of self-demoralization that badly jeopardize one's mental health (Wai & Osman, 2019). Despite social media being viewed as a significant milestone in the world of the internet and as a transformative tool for communication, serious concerns have arisen about its devastating effect on youths who constantly use it. It has caused jealousy, loneliness, and depression, which lowers one's self-esteem, making one vulnerable to cyberbullying (Timokhovich & Filenko, 2021).

Running Head: Position Essay-Social Media And Self-Esteem

One ripple effect and negativity associated with excessive social media usage among the youths is jealousy. Surprisingly most youth develop envy, often from contrasting their lives with their friends on social media such as Facebook ("Usage of Social Media by Youths and its Impact", 2020). Through reading posts and sharing's done online, one may become envious, especially if their life is not faring quite as perfect as other peoples. The perception that whenever a friend posts a glaring picture of himself/herself depicting success on social media may create a sensation that to his peers that he is doing better in life as compared to them. Such case scenarios elicit feelings of jealousy even though, in a real sense, the person posting the picture has no ill motives or doesn't intend to offend anyone (Frampton & Fox, 2018). Consumerism culture has deconstructed the inner fabric of self-worthiness among the youths, making them develop feelings of dissatisfaction if they lack the latest clothes, electronics, cars, to mention but a few. Some youths have found themselves in desperate situations when they can no longer compete with the latest trends leaving them deprived of morale and self-esteem. The number of images and occasions that people post on social media has triggered a deep sense of insecurities, especially in young people who love comparing their lives with those of their close friends ("Usage of Social Media by Youths and its Impact," 2020).

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Loneliness is also another negative aspect of social media usage. It refers to being alienated despite wanting or longing for companionship (Savci, 2016). Loneliness can highly be associated with low self-esteem in that Individual who has low confidence in themselves or have inferiority complex face isolation in their social life (Savci, 2016). If one feels that he/she is unworthy before others, the effects are usually constants drifting away from people and spending most of the time alone. Social media usage has drastically contributed to this isolation. Selfesteem significantly tends to be compromised when individuals post fake or exaggerated

Running Head: Position Essay-Social Media And Self-Esteem

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lifestyles on various online platforms. Also, posting images or ideas online and not receiving replies can significantly jeopardize one's self-confidence (Savci, 2016). People equate, for example, the number of replies on a Facebook post to the impressions it creates among followers. Contrasting the replies on one's post to that of a friend will make one feel He/she is being ignored, especially if the friend has more Impressions and reactions. The ultimate effect is feeling a great sense of isolation and rejection. If one is not cautious with filtering and understanding this kind of information, the effects on one's self-esteem can be dramatically damaged, leading to intense loneliness (Savci, 2016). Depression is a severe health problem that has become rampant among youths. The American Psychological Association defines depression as a severe medical illness that negatively determines one's feelings, actions, and thinking. One develops feelings of lack of interest in activities that seemed interesting to them. The overall effect is decreased average functioning ability of the body and decreased zeal in performing various tasks. Among the causative agents of depression in youths has been linked to excessive social media usage. Various researchers have identified a situation referred to as a "Facebook depression." It occurs when individuals spend most of their time on social media platforms such as Facebook, which eventually translates to depression (Waqas et al., 2018). Ideally, the essence of joining Facebook is to enhance frequent engagement from peers and the outside world. Unfortunately, this hasn't been the case for some youths, which has led to the escalation of the effects of depression in their lives. The ability to have overall approval and develop feelings of association with friends are critical elements in every human social life. However, when acceptance and connectedness fail to happen, the ripple effects are dissatisfaction, which eventually lenders a person depressed. Compared to offline depression, individuals who face online depression face isolation and are

Running Head: Position Essay-Social Media And Self-Esteem

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triggered to seek help from risky sites that intensify substance abuse and enhance self-destructive behaviors in the name of seeking refuge (Waqas et al., 2018). With the prevalence use of modern technology, cases of cyberbullying have been on the rise. It has led to far worse situations among victims, including depression and suicidal thoughts that significantly impair one's mentality. According to dictionary.com, cyberbullying is defined as the use of electronic devices to insult a person essentially by sending intimidating messages to

them. In most cases, victims of cyberbullying find themselves not able to defend themselves in any way since the experience is quite overwhelming (Ariyadasa, 2019). Agents of cyberbullying can mask their identity to vent all manner of insults to the victims. Recent studies have shown that victims of cyberbullying often suffer from low self-esteem and other mental-related problems. The maximum effect is that victims develop depression as a result of feeling unworthy in society. Cases of individuals being judged based on their physical appearance have worn out several personalities and reduced their morale in life. For instance, some individuals with disabilities have always found it difficult to air their opinions in public or even post pictures on various online platforms for fear of negative criticism. Keyboard warriors are very good at exposing the most hurting side of a person on social media platforms which drastically tarnishes a person's character. Such behavioral trends should stop and perpetrators prosecuted (Ariyadasa, 2019). Modern technology and the invention of social media have made most things more manageable. It is, therefore, easier to think that youths are not being negatively affected by excessive usage of social media. It is not true as so many young people are suffering silently, and until they start showing signs, then the negative impact of social media usage is felt....