THE IMPACT OF FACEBOOK ON YOUTH’S SELF-ESTEEM

Abstract

Purpose-This study explored the possible implications social networking sites, such as Facebook have on the youth s self-esteem. Facebook has become a part of daily living for many people. The growing excessive use of Facebook by the young prompted the researcher to conduct this study to find out whether participants experience a rise or decline in their self-esteem while utilizing Facebook. Methodology-The study was conducted using questionnaire filled by 400 respondents. These respondents belonged to four different universities of Karachi; Bahria University, Greenwich University, Institute of Business Management (CBM) and SZABIST aging 16 to 25. The data collected was analyzed using Correlation test. Findings-The analysis clearly stated that Facebook has a positive but a weak or a moderate impact on the self-esteem of the youth. This interprets that the intensity of Facebook use and the type of activities people engage in on Facebook result in a slight but a definite increase in the self-esteem of the user. Practical Implications- The outcomes of this research might help in studying the psychological behavior of consumers when they shop online on such social networking sites such as Facebook and would also help coiporations operate their Facebook pages more efficiently keeping in mind consumer behavior on Facebook.