Survey Of Literature About Social Medias

Social media is an online service where people are able to talk and make social connections with other people via the internet. Due to the nature of social media sites and the various opportunities offered, the use of such applications has become a leading social behavior in society (Kircaburun, Alhabash, Tosuntas, & Griffiths, 2018). Research has found that this social behavior paired with excessive usage on social media platforms has been associated with behavioral addictions and notable influences on personality (Hawi & Samaha, 2019). This study aims to address neurotic introverted college students’ excessive social media usage and the impact this has on their levels of self-esteem and anxiousness. Specifically, this paper will focus on the impact of two popular social media applications, Instagram and Snapchat.

Among the similarities between social media sites, each platform differs having its own specific features, motives, and gratifications (Kircaburun & Griffiths, 2018). Instagram is one of the fastest-growing social media sites, currently having one billion active users worldwide due to its popularity among youth and adolescents (Instagram, 2019). Instagram is a simple to use application that allows users to upload various types of media content on their page or story, receive comments and likes, follow other profiles, and gain followers. The features offered by Instagram can often lead to excessive use via the persistent urge to share content by obsessively checking status updates for the uploaded media and/or constantly stalking others’ profiles (Balakrishnan & Griffiths, 2017; Kircaburun & Griffiths, 2018).

Snapchat is an instant messaging application used by over 180 million people daily that allows users to send snaps; which are photos or videos (Snapchat, 2020). Snapchat gives users the opportunity to create unlimited snaps with filters, stickers, and text, upload to stories for a 24-hour period and determine how long a photo can be viewed once it has been sent. Previous literature addressing Snapchat usage has reported that these offered features motivate users to use the application because of entertainment, convenience, self-expression, interactivity, and navigability purposes (Kircaburun et al., 2018).

The Big-Five personality traits have been thoroughly addressed in research in relation to social media usage and addiction. Notably, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness are negatively correlated with problematic internet use and addiction (Wilson & Fornasier, 2010). Neuroticism and introversion have shown a significant correlation to internet addictions, which includes social media sites (Amichai-Hamburger, Wainapel, & Fox, 2002). Abbasi & Drouin (2019) suggest that individuals who score high in neuroticism and introversion experience negative effects and social anxiety, therefore, they often prefer online communications such as the use of social media applications. Those high in neuroticism are likely to turn to social media for social and personal purposes as a result of experiencing negative emotions and interactions (Andreassen, Torsheim, & Pallesen, 2014).

Other studies have reported that personality and self-licking are relatively correlated. Self-esteem is reported to be an important factor that is negatively associated with excessive social media use and addiction (Andreassen et al., 2014). Ramsdal (2008) found that students with higher self-esteem are less neurotic but more conscientious, agreeable, and extroverted. (FIX)

Current literature has addressed the problematic uses of social media and the motives of social media usage in relation to personality. A majority of these studies have examined personality characteristics as multivariable using the Big-Five Personality inventory in order to investigate a relationship between personality and problematic social media use (e.g. addiction) in relation to self-esteem (Kircaburun et al., 2018; Kircarburun & Griffiths, 2018). Furthermore, other studies have assessed the relationship between personality and social isolation (Whaite, Shensa, Sidani, Colditz, & Primack, 2018). Whaite et al. (2018) concluded that social media usage in those who scored higher in extraversion and agreeableness showed a relationship with a lower likelihood of social isolation, conversely, neuroticism was associated with a higher likelihood.

However, the current literature does not focus specifically on assessing specific personality characteristics in relation to excessive social media usage and its correspondence to levels of self-esteem and social anxiety. There is limited research that addresses this in regard to individuals who score higher in neuroticism or introversion that assesses if there is a relationship between these personality characteristics and excessive use of Instagram and Snapchat. Furthermore, the research fails to address the effects of personality and excessive social media use on levels of self-esteem and anxiousness. Research has not thoroughly addressed this gap in the literature in the context of these personality characteristics and these specific social media applications.

College students rely on using social media in their everyday lives in order to update their statuses, share daily content, socialize with friends, and so on (Lau, 2017). It is reasonable to assume that some students may use social media excessively. This study is designed to see if college students’ personality has a significant effect on excessive social media usage. Based on previous literature it is hypothesized that students who score higher in neuroticism or introversion will use Instagram and Snapchat excessively and correspondingly have lower rates of self-esteem and higher rates of anxiousness as compared to students who score lower.