Relationships between Social Networking Sites Use and Self-Esteem: The Moderating Role of Gender

Abstract

With the prevalence of the internet, there is growing attention on the impacts of social networking sites use among adolescents. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between different types of online activities (i.e., information searching, social interaction and entertainment) and self-esteem. It examined whether the relationships vary across gender. One hundred and ninety-three students (57.5% males; Mage = 13.33, SDage = 1.58) participated in the present study. Unexpectedly, the associations between online activities and self-esteem were not significant (p > 0.05). Path analysis showed gender moderated the relationships between social interaction activities and self-esteem. Females reported higher levels of engagement in social interaction activities and self-esteem than their male counterparts. The present study shows the importance of assessing different types of online activities as a predictor for understanding the impact of social media use among adolescents.