Contribution of Social Media in JHS’ Self-Esteem of

The Thomas Aquinas Institute of Learning

Danielle Azuela

Nicole Arejola

Adam Ken Arellano

Aamirah Heather Creencia

Patrick Guil Espiritu

Malvz Luke Loria

Princesa Margherita Sudayan

Introduction

Background of the Study

Instagram is a social networking platform that allows users to upload and share photos
and videos online. In the beginning, the primary focus was set to showcase images, specifically
those captured by mobile phones. It is now ranked fourth on the list of the most popular social
networking platforms in the world, with over 2.35 billion monthly active users. As a result of
this, Instagram has more than 500 million daily active users globally (Dean, 2023).

The app is considered to be the best social filter app as it contains many tools that
enhance photos within seconds. Users frequently upload images that align with the societal
beauty standards surrounding body sizes, hair and skin texture, and fashion choices. In a survey,
more than 1,000 girls aged 10-17 revealed that 1 in 2 girls state that toxic beauty advice on social
media causes low self-esteem (Dove, 2022). Furthermore, social comparison is linked to lower
self-esteem and higher social anxiety as stated by Laplante (2022).

Self-esteem is how one perceives themselves. How we perceive ourselves can be affected
by long standing beliefs and opinions about us. It affects our actions, mental state, relationships
with others, and our well-being. This can be based on how we evaluate physical qualities and
behaviors of ourselves. This can also be affected by the judgment and opinion of your peers and
you are presented with new things to evaluate. This affects your self-esteem by further
questioning yourself and whether you deem yourself honorable or not.

This is why acquiring healthy self-esteem serves great importance because it allows you
to maximize your capabilities and improve sociability. Being secure in yourself pushes you to
have a positive outlook on life, which gives you more opportunities to grow from feedback rather
than develop an insecurity.

The basic components of self-esteem include identity (knowing who and what you are),
belonging (knowing that you are accepted by people around you), security (knowing you are
safe), purpose (acknowledging your role in this world and what you want to achieve), and lastly,
competence (knowing your capabilities).

Statement of the Problem

In this modern age, social media services have become an important role in ordinary
people's lives. From work, school, entertainment, and competitions, we have used social media
in all aspects of our lives. However, social media has had a debatable name from researchers if
either its beneficial or not to our lives (specifically students), therefore, this study explores
whether social media apps such as Instagram have become either advantageous or detrimental to
the Junior High School Students of Thomas Aquinas Institute of Learning. The following
questions were sought:

● Did the use of instagram affect their perception of beauty?

● How do trends or societal beauty standards affect their self esteem?
● How does Instagram usage affect relationships?
● How does instagram affect the mental health of its users ?