Influence of Social Media Use on Self-Esteem of Grade 11 Students

A Technical Report

Abstract
Social Media has been a big help to build a connection to anyone. Social media is
defined as “forms of electronic communication (such as Websites for social networking and
microblogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas,
personal messages, and other content (such as videos). 1 Despite the positive aspects it
provided, different issues still arose about the harmfulness that social media may give to many
people. Upward social comparison occurs when comparing oneself to superior others who have
positive characteristics, while downward social comparison means comparing oneself with
inferior others with negative characteristics [ CITATION Woo891 \l 13321 ]. One of the problems is
the effect of social media on the self-esteem of the teenagers. The purpose of this study is to
know if social media has a significant effect in the self-esteem of students. In order to test the
hypothesis, 41 Grade 11 Students from Cherished Moments School were surveyed by the use
of questionnaires. The survey contains two different sets: one to assess their social media use
and the second to measure their self-esteem. Correlation and regression were applied to the
data with the help of Center for Disease Control and Prevention statistics to test the relationship
between social media and self-esteem.2 The results of the research showed that two variables
were found to be not significant against self-esteem scores including if the participants were
bothered if they did not receive as many likes and the amount of likes they usually receive on
their posts. The conclusion of this study is that the relationship does not exist between social
media use and self-esteem.

Introduction
[ CITATION Mer04 \l 13321 ], one of the great things about the internet is that it opens the
door for everyone to communicate. It is essentially a social hub where users can network.
Furthermore, social media becomes an outlet of feelings, emotions, and rants of some of the
users. It makes the people more connected and share their interest to others. Despite the
positive effects it gives to people, social media is still being questioned by its effect on the
mental health of individuals. Numerous studies have also shown that social media use causes
individuals to create negative social comparisons with the people they follow or are friends with
on social media websites, which leads to negative effects on self-report. pointed out that there
is an urgent need to examine the intensity of Facebook use. Facebook addiction is defined as
excessive involvement in Facebook activities and is a frequent cause of problems in everyday
social functioning [ CITATION Gri16 \l 13321 ]. By looking at happy photos of other Facebook
users, people tended to formulate the opinion that others are always happy and living good lives
in contrast to their own [ CITATION Cho122 \l 13321 ].
The study aims to answer the following questions in order to fully understand the study
being conducted:
1. What factors of social media are responsible for lowering/raising self-esteem of
individuals?
2. What is the general view of students on their self-esteem?
3. What social media platform affects the students the most? 

1
Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (2004, January 13). Social Media. The Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Retrieved
from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/social%20media#h1. Accessed on December 12, 2020
2
Borchard, T. (2018). Why Are So Many Teens Depressed? Psych Central. Retrieved from
https://psychcentral.com/blog/why-are-so-many-teens-depressed/. Accessed on December 12, 2020
 . The result will help the students to be informed regarding the effects of social media to
their self-esteem. Aspiring researchers may also use the study to help them to build a solid
foundation of their research. 

Methodology:
The approach is case study in order to gain concrete, contextual, in-depth knowledge
about a specific real-world subject. The study concentrates on the effects of social media on
self-esteem among adolescents, the approach requires detailed analysis specifically on the
mentioned phenomenon and its specific context, among adolescents. The study focuses on
Grade 11 Students of Cherished Moments school specifically on their behavioral attitude
concerning self-esteem and social Media. To collect the data needed, the researchers use a
questionnaire pertaining to social media use, generated by[ CITATION Sha17 \l 13321 ], and a
survey that measures their self-esteem, generated by the Center for Disease Control and
Prevention. The survey is composed of 10 questions where the participants have checked their
agreement with each statement using the scale: Strongly Agree, Somewhat Agree, Somewhat
Agree, and Strongly Disagree. On the other hand, the questionnaire comprises questions mainly
about their social media usage.
After collecting the data, the researchers scored the surveys using the key from the CDC
survey. Questions from the social media survey requires the participants to either encircle or
provide answers according to what is asked. The survey consists of ten statements and gathers
a total score of thirty points which will describe the self-esteem according to the range of self-
esteem score. In addition, the researchers classify the answers of the respondents and look for
the relation of social media use and self-esteem. Using the tallied and classified data, the
researchers will create graphical representations to describe the percentage and frequency of
each answer and classification. From these, interpretations will be made, and generalization will
soon follow after.

Results and Discussion

   

Summary Report

Table 1. Self-Esteem

Time Spent on Social N Mean Std. Deviation

Media

Half an hour 1 24 0

1-3 hours 8 17.375 1.5980

3-5 hours 14 17.1429 3.5270

More than 5 hours 17 14.875 6.0429

 Total 40 18.348 8.006

The table shows the data gathered by the respondents. According to the summary
report, the respondents who spend half an hour in social media have a mean score of 24 for
self-esteem; respondents who spend one to three hours daily on social media have a mean
score of 17.375 for self-esteem; respondents who spend three to five hours on social media
have a mean score of 15.875 for self-esteem; respondents who spend more than five hours
daily on social media have a mean score of 14.875 for self-esteem.

Table 2. Correlations

  Time Spent on Social Self-

Media Esteem

Time Spent on Pearson 1 -0.337**

SM Correlation

Sig. (Two-Tailed)   .000

N 40 40

Self-Esteem Pearson   1
Correlation

Sig. (Two-Tailed) .000  

N 40 40

After the descriptive analysis, correlational analysis is applied to the gathered data
mentioned in Table 1 to find out whether there is any relationship between social media use and
self-esteem. The results of the correlational test are summarized in Table 2.
From the result of the correlational test, there is a negative relationship between the two
variables. Also, there is a statistically significant correlation between social media use and self-
esteem. With the data used in correlation, the t-computed is 2.4 and the t-value is 2.023 (two-
tailed). As a result, the null hypothesis is accepted.

Conclusion:
Most of the respondents spend more than 5 hours a day scrolling through their social
media. As a result, based on the survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
their answers when summed up in having low self-esteem. There is evidence that the chances
of students developing low self-esteem are reliant on the student’s social media usage. The
evidence proposed that the self-esteem of the respondent can rely on social media usage.
When it comes to general perception, respondents on their self-esteem are moderately
low. According to [ CITATION Mat20 \l 13321 ], pending more time on social media or being
addicted to social media can result in more social comparison orientation thus resulting in lower
levels of self-esteem . Based on the results, Facebook is the most used social media platform
above all. Therefore, the study assumed that facebook affects the respondents’ self-esteem the
most. 

Recommendation:
The whole world is at our fingertips all thanks to social media however, it also brings
negative impact to an individual specifically to mental health. Therefore, users must limit social
media use to protect themselves and observe if there is something wrong that is happening
while using the platforms. For the guardians, checking on children should be done day by day
for social media do not have filters and it may lead to danger in the long run. Similar to self-
esteem, society must pay attention and help to boost the confidence of an individual. Students
should be guided about self-esteem, self-recognition, self-actualization and self-confidence.
Campaigns must be held to raise awareness in people regarding the negative repercussions of
social networking sites [CITATION Ahm17 \l 13321 ].
For further research, it might be interesting to look upon other social media’s impact
concerning psychological effects such as depression and anxiety. 

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