Browsing by Author "Granholm, Eva"

Today we can choose to be exposed to the physical appearance and life of others and in a completely different way than before. The onset of the Internet has brought the possibility to present oneself in the form of a selfie, which has become a part of everyday life for many adolescents. One might wonder how the hundreds of people being followed on social media influence an identity-seeking teenager, and what is it that drives young people to share pictures of themselves at all? The aim of this literature study is to provide an insight into the research currently available on the impact of selfies on the self-esteem of adolescents, as well as what is behind the decision to take a selfie and share it on social media. The results show that adolescents share pictures of themselves, for example, to get attention and impress others, document events, communicate with friends and entertain themselves. For all participants of the studies that were examined, it was important to show a desirable image of themselves online, whether it was genuine or not. Getting many likes, meaning a positive response on a picture, was a prerequisite for continuing to share selfies on various platforms online. Whether the response influenced the self-esteem of the participants varied among the adolescents. Based on this literature study, and the earlier research referenced, the self-esteem of adolescents with poor prior self-esteem was more strongly influenced by lack of positive response.