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Social Media and Self-Esteem

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Social media and Self-esteem
Anh Phung
Abstract
In this day and age, social media has become an integral part of our lives. It has created a platform for people to share information instantly and communicate with people all around the world. Facebook is the most outstanding example of successful social media network. According to the first quarter 2015 earnings announcement by Facebook, the site has achieved 1.44 billion active users per month, and 65% of which are daily active users. Other social networking sites such as Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn are also a powerful means of communication. With such a large audience, social networking sites provide ample opportunities to acquire information, network, and connect with friends. Besides from the obvious benefits that social media brings to our lives, there are some other effects that it has on its users’ wellbeing. This paper examines how people’s tendency when using social networking sites affects their level of self-esteem.
Introduction
The introduction of social media has revolutionized the way people interact, since social interactions can now take place anywhere that has Internet coverage. Thanks to social media, people no longer need to meet face-to-face in order to know how another person is doing. Social networking sites serve as a place for users to share information about themselves, from the simplest things like what they have for dinner and who they hang out with, to more personal things like their thoughts and emotions. By simply logging into sites such as Facebook or Instagram, people can easily see updates of their friends and family. Similarly, even when people are a thousand miles away from their loved ones, they can still share their daily stories with others. Since social media has made it so easy for people to present themselves as well as learn about another person online, exposure to

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