The Relationship between Social Media Addiction and Self-Esteem among Turkish University Students

Abstract

Social media occupies more and more space in the daily lives of contemporary young adults. As online interactions have become more common than face-to-face interactions, social media has started to majorly impact individuals’ ways of living, communication, language, interests, and psychology. Even though social media and internet addiction are not defined as behavioral addictions among the DSM diagnostic criteria due to lack of scientific proof, its stages (conflict, relapse, etc.) reveal themselves as behavioral addictions like shopping or gambling addictions. The aim of this study is to indicate the psychological dimensions of social media addiction in young adults, to point out their significance, and to produce scientific proofs for the literature, which are needed. In processing the data, normality tests have been applied. Women are more addicted to social media for the purposes of mood modification and being occupied. Social media addiction levels increase alongside increases in the number of Instagram followers. In addition, fake account owners and stalkers are more addicted to social media than others. Meanwhile, a moderate, negative correlation exists between self-esteem levels and social media addiction. The correlation coefficient increases for users who have more than 500 followers in the categories of relapse and conflict.