In our society today social media is responsible for communication with one's peers, as well as forming new relationships. Social media is made up of a lot of networks that people use to connect with one another. For example, the social media website such as Twitter or Facebook are a form of communication that allows one to constantly be connected with their friends and family. Although these social media sites can be a great tool for keeping in touch, social media has known to have immensely changed the way that people communicate with one another. Most people in our generation spend a great amount of time on some form of social media account, however spending a lot of time on social media can eventually lead to becoming addicted. Once you become addicted, social media can cause a lot of psychological effects. In a study University students were tested to see if they were addicted to social media. At the conclusion of the study the results showed that people who had a social media membership were more likely to experience serious negative effects that effected their well-being. (Simsek and Sali 239-256).
Since social media is such a prevalent form of communication in our generation a lot of research has been done in testing to see if there are negative effects of using social media. Researchers found that the more time one spent on social media, the more depressed they became because they were constantly comparing their lives to others. (Perez) Therefore showing how the wide spread use of social media is directly affecting the self-concept of people in our generation. Since people are constantly referencing a person's picture perfect life that is portrayed through one's social media account, it makes people feel bad about themselves since their lives aren't as exciting as another person's. .
In a study that was conducted to determine how social media was affecting our self-esteem, they came to the conclusion that positive feedback on the profiles increased adolescents' social self-esteem, and negative feedback decreased their self-esteem.
