A STUDY ON SOCIAL MEDIA USE AND SELF-ESTEEM AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS

Abstract

Social media platforms have become ubiquitous in the lives of college students, influencing various aspects of their social interactions, academic experiences, and personal identities. This study aimed to explore the relationship between social media use and self-esteem among college students, utilizing a sample of 120 participants. The research employed The Social Networking Usage Questionnaire by Gupta & Bashir (2018) to assess social media engagement and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) to measure self-esteem levels. The findings indicated that while participants reported moderate levels of social media use (Mean = 83.5, SD = 8.12) and self-esteem (Mean = 28.8, SD = 3.95), there was a weak positive correlation (r = 0.029) between the two variables, which was not statistically significant (p = 0.753). This suggests that variations in social media use did not significantly predict variations in self-esteem levels among college students in this study. The results of the study revealed several key findings:

• Social Media Use (SMU): On average, college students engaged moderately with social media platforms, with a mean score of 83.5 on the Social Networking Usage Questionnaire. The standard deviation of 8.12 indicates variability in social media use across the sample.

• Self-Esteem (RSES): Participants reported moderate levels of self-esteem, with a mean score of 28.8 on the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. The standard deviation of 3.95 suggests some variation in self-esteem levels among the study participants.

• Correlation Analysis: The correlation coefficient (r) between social media use and self-esteem was 0.029, indicating a very weak positive relationship. However, the p-value associated with this correlation was 0.753, indicating that this relationship was not statistically significant. This implies that changes in social media use did not reliably predict changes in self-esteem levels among college students in the study.