The Association between Social Media Use and Age, Sex, Self-esteem and Self-consciousness in University Students

Introduction: Over the last decade, s ocial media usage has become a progressively common leisure activity. Even though social media use is not problematic to most people, some users seem to be involved in it addictively and/or compulsively. Aims The study sought to examine the association between social media use and age, sex, self-esteem and self-consciousness in university students. Methods The study adopted a correlational design. Forty-six (N = 46) students of different nationalities in the United Kingdom university population completed the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS), Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) and Self-consciousness Scale-Revised (SCSR) through an online questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS, with results presented through frequencies, percentages, mean, standard deviation and multiply regression model. Statistical significance was set at 0.05, with 95% confidence intervals assessed. Results The study found that variables such as Self-Esteem ( p  < .02) and Self-Consciousness ( p  < .01) had a significant association with Social Media Use. The other covariates were not statistically significant. Conclusion Spending a lot of time on social media can impact university students’ self-esteem and self-consciousness.