Self Esteem Essay

Self-esteem is a global evaluative dimension of the self and determines if you are satisfied with certain aspects of your life. For example, your appearance, your personality, your abilities and your relationship with others. The media is a powerful source of tool to manipulate adolescents that portrays unrealistic images that affect the way they feel about themselves. I believe that the social media does affect the self-esteem of adolescent’s due to self-image.

Social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) offers infinite connections and the ability to express oneself to the world. But are these connections and images of self-based upon fact or fiction? Through selective self-presentation, people often present the “ideal self” instead of the “actual self” in the online environment to achieve the feeling of positive self-esteem. In “The Way We Live Now: I Tweet, Therefore I Am”, Peggy Orenstein writes of how her Twitter posts reflected an idealized version of her life. Two studies support the hypothesis that such editing can have a positive effect on personal self-esteem. “Mirror, Mirror on my Facebook Wall: Effects of Exposure to Facebook on Self-Esteem” by Amy Gonzales presents a study demonstrating

Social media is categorized under corporate media in which websites are used to advertise new trends through social networking sites that have many insecure teenagers. By looking at these images of other people, women often compare themselves to them. Girls love to look at pictures on Instagram, Tumblr and even Facebook of their friends and often compare themselves with them. Social media does not always impact one to change their self-image alone, however, the need to belong relates to the people whom women hang out with because those are the people who they feel accept them for who they are. Friends and social groups of these women look into social media for the ‘ideal woman’ they want to be and of course these women do not want to be the odd one out so they change themselves to be like their friends. To feel accepted, you compare your body image, looks, likes, hobbies, eating habits and so on to those that your friends feel are at the “moment trend.” Friends who constantly know what is in or

Self confidence is the foundation of success, achievement, and happiness. Unfortunately, the foundation of self confidence can become shaky and unstable if someone that you look up to as a role model hurts your self esteem and courage. One of the biggest role models in my life used to be my first club soccer coach. He seemed brilliant, passionate, and willing to work with my team. This man soon became the complete opposite of what I hoped he would be. I soon realized that he was a two faced liar and one of the most awful people I have ever met. Little did my ten year old self know he would be the downfall of my self confidence and he would slowly destroy any passion I had for the sport I loved all with only a few words.

The real question is, does it matter if someone has high or low self esteem? Does high self esteem lead to better relationships, work, and health? Is self esteem a reflection of success in those areas? If so, improving self esteem will be beneficial in life. The general pattern found in studies proved that high self esteem is a predictor of life success.

Millenials enjoy having a good self image, but more importantly, being accepted by society. These people use Facebook, and other social media sites, to look important and gain self-esteem by getting as many likes as possible on a photo. These photos posted could create an unrealistic portrait of that person, argues Soraya Mehdizadeh, but could this also be a way for people to express their identity, counters Alex Lambert? Soraya Mehdizadeh and Alex Lambert argue their reasons for why or why not social media may be narcissistic. It is a controversial subject because it can be hard to tell if this so called narcissism is a social norm now or if it is simply narcissism in itself. It is under psychological discussion because some psychologists argue it could be a disorder due to the fact that some people may be obsessed with social media and promoting a positive self image, so others think highly of them. Throughout the articles, the pros and cons of social media are weighted, and it seems that social media facilitates narcissisms because millenial’s are so prone to using it and older people only use it to keep connections with friends.

Social media influences a teenager's self-esteem because it can lower or boost their self-esteem. It can lower a teenager's self-esteem by having cyberbullies on the internet putting them down with their negative opinions of the teen which can also drive the teens to feel hurt, or discourgaed by letting others opinions get to them. Social media can boost a teenager’s self-esteem by having a lots of friends or followers, because they’ll feel cool and popular. It can also boost their self-esteem because if they post a selfie of themselves on social media and everybody is commenting on how pretty or how nice they look, they will feel

Therefore, there are three main solutions suggested to decrease the effect of Instagram that lower teenagers’ self-esteem is teenagers should try to refresh or change their appearances the way they like, find the true passion that gives them motivation and is satisfied in what they deserve in present

Communication barriers are not the only issue that has been brought on by social media. Extensive social media use has also been known to affect a person’s self-esteem. Some individuals suffer from a low self-esteem and limit themselves to social media in hopes to create a different image of them. According to Charles Cooley, “The thing that moves us to pride or shame is not the mere mechanical reflection of ourselves, but an imputed sentiment, the imagined effect of this reflection upon another's mind" (Morine, 2009). For some teens and young adults, social media may help them open up and achieve a higher self-esteem. On the other hand, social media on other teens and young adults may have a completely opposite effect. In an article titled, Is Facebook Making Your Child Depressed, it is stated that social media websites such as Facebook “can create a skewed reality that makes teens feel alienated” (PR, 2012). When a person, that is not completely happy with their life, goes onto social media and reads all about other people enjoying a multitude of activities and enjoying their lives this could

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (2013), every year approximately 1,825 college students die from alcohol related events. Additionally, over 599,000 college students are injured due to under aged drinking. Finally, its estimated 97,000 students a year are victims of sexual assault as a result of alcohol related situations. These statistics do not lie; under aged alcohol consumption is extremely dangerous and very prominent on college campuses. Here at the University of Illinois, every student is required to attend programming to increase awareness of the dangers of binge drinking. However, adolescent aged individuals are complex and these preventions have not made a great impact. I believe adolescents are

Recent research has documented how technology, and social networking sites (SNS; e.g., Facebook, Instagram) in particular, have given rise to a growing obsession with impression management and self-presentation online. Whether it’s searching for the perfect Instagram photo filter or carefully crafting a humblebrag Facebook status about a recent publication, users frequently engage in selective self-presentation strategies to portray an ‘ideal self’ through social media (Chou & Edge, 2012; Manago, Graham, Greenfield, & Salimkhan, 2008). In turn, we seek out social approval and positive feedback in the form of comments and likes.

Insecurity drills a hole into a person’s heart, minimizes their integrity, and accumulates as plaque build up, hindering any kind of future growth. Just as any human being’s growth is stifled by the insecurity within them, the United States as a whole suffers the same from its own tremendous amount of insecurity. This lack of acknowledgement of self-worth causes a ghastly chain reaction; people tend to pursue the wrong ideals, become corrupt, and inevitably lead themselves to their own demise. Insecurity is a route to destruction, and America is speeding down that road to dissolution.

People’s self-esteem either high or low is shaped by their life experiences. I believe a person’s self-esteem begins to take shape at an early age, with their parents being a major influence. Kind, positive, knowledgeable and caring parents help children create a positive self-image. Parents who do not feel good about themselves or others, sometimes take it out on their childern by belittling them or discouraging them. This leads the child down a path of self-doubt and eventually given the right circumstances a lower self-esteem.

Instagram impacts user’s self-image and self-esteem. Young girls and boys are being shot down by users not liking their image, commenting, or even sharing one’s post. Americans check Instagram multiple times a day, because they are looking to see how many likes, or comments they get. If these users’ do not get a certain amount of likes that exceeds their expectations they think, “I’m I pretty enough?”, “is the picture taken well?”, or “does anyone like me?”. This breaks down young Americans emotional health and well-being. Americans today that use Instagram are commenting publicly about how their self-esteem was jeopardized because of this form of social media. For example, Michelle Linker states “I feel anxiety over how many likes I get after I post a picture. If I get two likes, I feel like, what’s wrong with me? Some people judge Instagram by deleting photos that don’t get enough likes” (Gajanan). This quote is an example of how Instagram effects user’s emotionally. Some users even check their “like” count multiple times a day once uploaded for

Self-acceptance is an extremely prevalent issue that numerous people struggle with. It is one of the hardest to surmount, for it is something I still struggle with to this day. Overall, my journey is a working progress as it will perpetuate to have its downfalls to test me. Like many of my generation, social media has played an excessively paramount role in our lives, both negatively and positively. Sources of harmless entertainment have also unintentionally encouraged self-judgment. Be that as it may, my perspective has been widely opened unexpectedly through a speaker’s presentation as she showed us how to recognize our self-worth. Confidence and self-esteem are hard to acquire for some, but it should not be a quantity you divest yourself of. Self-acceptance of all insecurities and doubts is paramount since every individual has a unique beauty that should be cherished in order to pursue a life full of love and jubilance.