Instagram and its relationship between self-esteem and depression amongst young adults

Abstract

Instagram is suggested to be the most damaging form of social media particularly within young adults. Thus, the current study seeks to investigate the possible negative consequences that Instagram may have on young adults aged between eighteen to twenty-five. A total of one-hundred and twenty-nine participants took part in a survey that was created in Google docs. The survey contained questions that measured participant’s levels of self-esteem, loneliness and depression amongst Instagram intensity. Participants were informed of the nature of the study, confidentiality and their right to withdraw at any time. The research was particularly interested in the correlations between the level of usage, gender differences, amount of likes and the number of followers with the respecting variables. Results from the data analyses suggested that there was no statistical significance. It was also hypothesized that there would be a relationship between the number of hours spent online and loneliness, results highlighted that there was in-fact a statistical significance.