The influence of social media self-presentation on the tertiary institutions students’ self-esteem in Cross River State
Department of Mass Communication, University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria.
Research Article
Comprehensive Research and Reviews Journal, 2022, 01(01), 011–024.
Article DOI: 10.57219/crrj.2022.1.1.0003
Publication history:
Received on 18 July 2022; revised on 25 August 2022; accepted on 28 August 2022
Abstract:
This research study assessed the influence of social media self-presentation on the self-esteem of tertiary institution students in Cross River State. The following variables were measured: Commonly used social media platforms for self-presentation, various ways the social media are employed for self-presentation; images of self they seek to project using social media, how audience feedback affect their self-esteem and their level of satisfaction on positive feedback from deceptive self-presentation. The study was built onself-presentation theory. The study adopted mixed method, using quantitative (survey) and qualitative (focus group discussion) approaches as its research designs. The work adopted structured questionnaire and FGD guide as instrument for data collection. A total of 400 respondents were chosen via a multi-stage sampling procedure while 8 participants were purposively selected for the focus group discussion. Data from the questionnaire were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) and Focus Group Discussion (FGD) were thematically analyse using Explanation building method. At the end of the study, it was found that despite tertiary institution students in Cross River State involvement in manipulating their self-presentation by editing and posting information, pictures or video that doesn’t reflect reality in order to attract positive feedback still have this sense of low self-judgments knowing that the self they seek to present doesn’t reflect their true identity. It is therefore recommended that there should be an increased media education among students of tertiary institutions as it affects the use and effects of social media; improvement in students’ knowledge about the social media; Social media contents to be digested with caution and monitoring, regulation and guidance of the contents consumed by the Student users and soon.
Keywords:
Social Media; Self-preservation; Self-esteem; Students; Tertiary; Institutions
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