Self-Verification and Self-Enhancement on Social Media

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Nowadays, people spend hours on social media and thus maintain their separate virtual life where they can interact with individuals whom they will never meet in reality. Yet, apart from communication and entertainment, individuals utilize social media platforms as tools for improving or maintaining their self-esteem. There are two primary motives for self-esteem which people tend to rely on, namely, self-verification and self-enhancement. After analyzing the posts of users on Instagram, it became evident self-enhancement serves as the primary motive for self-esteem.

Self-verification and self-enhancement both are motives for self-esteem, yet they are inherently not the same and correlate with different desires of people. Self-verification is a motive which enables people to wish to be perceived by others as they see themselves (Xu et al., 2017). In other words, self-verification is the desire to maintain a public image which is consistent with the individual’s personal views and beliefs which they hold. People can have both a positive and negative view of themselves; therefore, they can use self-verification to either demonstrate themselves as likable or dislikable.

Self-enhancement is another motive for self-esteem, which people usually use to make themselves look better in public. Self-enhancement refers to the desire of an individual to undertake efforts in order to reduce the significance of their negative self-views and increase the positivity of their conceptions of themselves (Zheng et al., 2020). Self-enhancement is also used by people for the purposes of self-promotion and even self-protection, which can help them avoid harm to their self-esteem.

Instagram is a social media platform where people can share their photos and videos, and as a result, it is utilized by numerous individuals as a means to improve their self-esteem. After observing the typical posts of users on Instagram, it becomes evident that self-enhancement is the most prevalent form of motive for self-esteem there. The reason behind this is the fact that Instagram provides people with a variety of tools which let them enhance their images. For instance, the selfie is a popular type of content on Instagram, and many users decide to utilize digital filters which remove different imperfections such as wrinkles and pimples from their faces. From the lens of self-presentation, such people wish to demonstrate themselves as being younger and more attractive to their audiences. Additionally, there are users who tend to post photos only where they are depicted in front of exotic cars and eating out in expensive restaurants, while in reality, they cannot afford it. From the perspective of self-presentation, such people wish to appear more affluent than they actually are.

The ultimate goal of people who engage in self-enhancement on Instagram is the achievement of an increase in their self-esteem. Essentially, people who present themselves better-looking and wealthier than they actually still get exposed to social factors such as recognition, support, and even admiration from their audience. Such responses contribute to the increase of their self-esteem and the development of their social self. Specifically, the admiring audience becomes the reference group for the self-enhancing Instagram user. Thus, the user begins to construct their self based on the feedback they receive from followers. Therefore, if the feedback is positive, it will increase the confidence of the person and even their social status. Yet the negative aspect of social media sites is that self-enhancement can cause depression and anxiety in people due to not being able to fit their perfect online image.

It is common for people using social media platforms such as Instagram to engage in self-enhancement in order to increase their self-esteem. Instagram offers numerous tools such as filters which enable people to adjust their images and show themselves looking better or wealthier than they actually are. Although social media can be considered positive for helping people to improve their self-esteem through admiration and support of their audience, the use of such platforms also can cause depression.

References

Xu, E., Huang, X., & Robinson, S. (2017). When self-view is at stake: Responses to ostracism through the lens of self-verification theory. 43(7), 2281–2302. Web.

Zheng, A., Duff, B., Vargas, P., & Yao, M. (2020). Self-presentation on social media: When self-enhancement confronts self-verification. Journal of Interactive Advertising, 20(3), 289–302. Web.

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