IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON THE IDENTITY CONSTRUCTION OF ADOLESCENTS

INTRODUCTION

Social media has become a crucial part of our lives and daily experiences, to the extent that it has offered humans globally reinforced relations. While we are blessed with a more comfortable life, social media not only requires every individual to develop an online identity (Dutot, 2020), but it also directly impacts the construction of their identity in the offline world. The primary developmental task in the transitional phase for adolescents is to construct personal identity, develop their core values, and commit to their self-defined beliefs (Eyal et al., 2020). To carry this task forward, adolescents must engage in disciplines like self-reflection and self-comparison with their peers on social media. However, engaging with social media leads to social media addiction, fear of missing out, and narcissism. According to the study conducted by Anderson and Jiang (2018), over 95% of the teens have access to their mobile phones, out of which, a little less than half of them are on their phone “almost constantly”. The paper reviews social media functions such as "likes" play a significant role in increasing adolescents' addiction towards social media use. However, failing to gain a certain number of likes and impressions leads to peer pressure, which forces adolescents to obtain a sexual identity online, which is considered more appealing and necessary to gain peers' attention on social media.

One's self-esteem plays a crucial role in adolescents' identity construction since negative feedback on their social media activities can directly affect their emotional wellbeing, causing depression, sadness, and loneliness. Similarly, the paper will bring forth the concept being social comparison and its significant impact on adolescents' identity construction. Comparing themselves to their ideals can make them feel inadequate, consequently leading to poor self-evaluation. Lastly, the paper argues about fame-valuation and the influence of parasocial relationships on teens, causing them to manifest daily fantasies of celebrities and their falsely portrayed lifestyles. While social media has positively reinforced relations that had been lost due to the geographical gap, it has had an equally disastrous impact on adolescents' identity construction on social media.

FEAR OF MISSING OUT, SOCIAL MEDIA ADDICTION, AND NARCISSISM

Social media has contributed to human existence by reinforcing relations globally. This technology benefits users with an enhanced connection between the youth, new and faster means of communication, and a more manageable life overall (Akanferi et al., 2014). However, disadvantages such as increasing dependency on social media, fear of missing out on online trends, and social media addiction have emerged massively (Dutot, 2020). According to Hofmann (2012), social media availability makes it more difficult to resist in comparison to alcohol and cigarettes. Dutot (2020) highlights that the reason behind people's participation in social media is the sense of belonging they obtain from it, having a shared identity, developing a personal identity, and getting recognized by peers on social media.

For this reason, the use of social media can directly impact the user's self-esteem levels. Gonzales and Hancock (2011) revealed in their study that people with low self-esteem seek to use social media often to increase their self-esteem and self-image. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the impact of fear of missing out, social media addiction, and narcissism in the construction of the user's identity.

Social media tools like Instagram stories and Facebook lives possess the power to exaggerate other users' experiences (Dutot, 2020). For this reason, individuals often feel excluded and beat themselves up internally. Hence, the fear of missing out serves to be a driver of dissatisfaction with one's life (Dutot, 2020). On the other hand, social media addiction has a balanced influence on the user's online identity. Spending time online can either satisfy an individual in the form of interaction with friends or dissatisfy them in the form of unfavorable comparison (Dutot, 2020). Lastly, social narcissism has a significant impact on the construction of one's identity. Users seek to get recognized on social media from their regular friends and other users on social media (Dutot, 2020), forcing the construction of the individuals' online identity merely to seek their peers' attention.

THE POWER OF LIKES

A vital factor for excessive use of social media or addiction is the reward the users attain from it in the form of "likes" (Martinez-Pecino & Garcia-Gavilán, 2019). The power of likes is massive as it engages adolescents and even adults in practices of seeking likes, such as; using hashtags, taking the help of filters, or even buying likes. These practices have only emerged with users' belief that gaining a certain number of likes on their pictures on social media is the token of inclusion and social approval (Martinez-Pecino & Garcia-Gavilán, 2019).

SEXUALIZED IDENTITY DUE TO PEER PRESSURE

A subset of an individual's identity on social media is their sexual identity that is socially constructed and reproduced through the use of social media (Mascheroni et al., 2015). Studies have emphasized the impact peer normativity and cultures have on youth's identity construction on social media (Livingstone, 2008).

Photos and selfies have both been a method of presenting oneself to others on social media, to the extent that gaining impressions such as likes, comments, and shares have become a symbol of acceptance and a label of online popularity (Mascheroni et al., 2015). Consequently, adolescents have developed a belief that a sexualized model of masculinity or femininity on social media is perceived as attractive and necessary to gain attention. Due to this social norm, boys and girls are subjected to pressure from peers to obtain an aesthetic model of adult masculinity or femininity (Mascheroni et al., 2015), hence being forced to look "perfect" on social media. A practical solution to this issue is for adolescents to add parents and family relatives to their social media accounts, which helps them evaluate the appropriateness of the content they post online.

ROLE OF SELF-ESTEEM IN IDENTITY CONSTRUCTION

Burrow and Rainone (2017) suggest that although receiving positive feedback on social media content positively corresponds with the construction of one's identity and their online wellbeing. It also reduces the adverse emotional effects social media usually has on adolescents. However, relying on affirmation from peers in order to feel better about oneself is a sign of contingent self-worth and weak self-esteem, which undermines one's wellbeing with time (Kernis et al., 2000).

Due to visual communication like posting and commenting on photos and videos, social media has created appearance norms that most adolescents fall short of obtaining (Chua & Chang, 2016), creating a gap between a person's actual identity and the ideal self. This gap often results in more inadequate self-esteem and negative emotions like disappointment, sadness, and loneliness (Steinsbekk et al., 2021).

Engaging with peers' social profiles is predicted to decrease self-esteem during adolescence (Steinsbekk et al., 2021), which affects the development of appearance during the phase of identity construction of an individual. According to Myers and Crowther (2009), the reason behind this is that people tend to compare their own traits to those of their peers on social media for self-evaluation. This practice is at its peak during adolescence. When individuals engage in social comparisons and fall short of their perceptions, it often leads to body dissatisfaction and poor self-esteem (Steinsbekk et al., 2021). Self-oriented social media activities like; posting pictures and updating statuses, on the other hand, are predicted to have a positive impact on identity construction online (Steinsbekk et al., 2021). However, the impact of self-oriented activity significantly depends on the feedback received. A substantial part of the content we post online is faced with negative responses and comments (Valkenburg et al., 2017), which directly affects our online identity and practices.

ROLE OF SOCIAL COMPARISON IN IDENTITY CONSTRUCTION

Festinger (1954) suggests that social media impacts the social comparative and self-evaluative ability of individuals. People have a tendency to compare themselves with their peers on social media, which serves various functions like evaluating the self, fulfilling the need for affiliation, making decisions, regulating wellbeing and emotions, and being inspired to construct an ideal identity online (Vogel et al., 2014). Social comparison can be valuable in terms of inspiring people to evolve and become like their ideal comparison targets (Vogel et al., 2014). However, it has been seen to make social media users feel inadequate about themselves, experience depression and loneliness, and have poor self-evaluations (Marsh & Parker, 1984).

Rosenberg and Egbert (2011) reveal through their study that people tend to compare their real offline self to the idealized selves of peers they engage with on social media. These idealized selves online allow selective content on their social media profiles such that the pictures and status they post best represent themselves (Vogel et al., 2014). Therefore, it is safe to assume that other-generated content is more reliable than self-generated content since social media users can shape and alter their content and how their audience perceives them in a positive light (Vogel et al., 2014). Keeping in mind the deleterious effect social media causes one's online wellbeing and identity construction (Vogel et al., 2014), adolescents must be mindful of the implications of their use of social media.

FAME-VALUATION AND PARASOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS

Being associated with a famous person on social media has become a teen obsession (Uhls & Greenfield, 2012) and a concern to many scholars and parents. It leads to the development of identity traits like narcissism, materialism, and self-focused aspirations (Eyal et al., 2020). Uhls and Greenfield (2012) mention in their study that celebrities represent fame on social media and hence serve as role models for several adolescents. It provides them with a sense of intimacy as they follow their role models online, therefore creating what is known as a parasocial relationship with the celebrities (Eyal et al., 2020). Horton and Wohl (1956) define these parasocial relationships to be one-sided friendships that users on social media develop with mediated ideals they are exposed to.

The visuals represented in the celebrities' posts emphasize on professionalism through professional space and setting in a studio, being well-groomed, and wearing elegant clothing that rockets their appearance and lifestyle (Eyal et al., 2020). These aspects of visualization on social media tend to influence adolescents into fantasizing about fame and a wealthy lifestyle, therefore seeking to reform their identities to fit in with trending lifestyles (Eyal et al., 2020). Celebrities leave out the bad parts of their lifestyle and communicate only a controlled positive self-image when posting on social media (Marwick & Boyd, 2011). This allows teens to have a sneak-peek into celebrities' lives, which is particularly appealing to teens due to the substantial number of likes on their pictures (Eyal et al., 2020). Therefore, parasocial relationships fuel the need for fame within adolescents, followed by other attitudes like materialism and narcissism (Eyal et al., 2020).

CONCLUSION

It is safe to assume that while social media has positively reinforced relations that had been lost due to the geographical gap, it has had an equally disastrous impact on the identity construction of adolescents on social media. While we are blessed with a more comfortable life, social media requires every individual to develop an identity online, which directly impacts identity construction in the offline world. Engaging with social media leads to dependency on social media, social media addiction, fear of missing out on social media trends that one's peers follow, and narcissism. The paper evaluated social media functions such as likes that lead to increasing addiction to social media. However, failing to gain a certain number of likes and impressions leads to peer pressure, forcing adolescents to obtain a sexual identity online, which is considered more appealing and necessary to gain peers' attention on social media.

Further, the paper argues the role of adolescents' self-esteem in their identity construction due to the negative feedback they receive on their social media activities, which directly affect their emotional wellbeing causing depression, sadness, and loneliness. Similarly, the paper brought forth the concept being social comparison and how it has a significant impact on adolescents' identity construction, since comparing themselves to their ideals can make them feel inadequate, hence leading to poor self-evaluation. Lastly, the paper argued about fame-valuation and the influence of parasocial relationships on teens, causing them to manifest daily fantasies of celebrities and their falsely portrayed lifestyles.

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