Abstract

In the modern world, social media platforms have become essential to students' lives. Peer participation, communication, and self-expression are made possible by these platforms. Social media's common use raises concerns about its effect on students' self-esteem. The moderating effect of self-esteem was also studied, as was the mediation effect of self-image congruency. This information was gathered from 302 Korean children utilizing an online survey platform, according to Burnasheva and Yuh (2020). Strong, positive correlations between social media use, self-image congruity, and explicit online consumption were found via structural equation analyses, with self- image congruity also serving as a mediator between social media use and visible online consumption among Korean millennials. This study examined the impact of social media on student self-esteem. Factors in social media that affected university students' self-esteem were investigated based on daily social media usage. Data was gathered through an online survey. The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale was used to assess self-esteem (Zainuddin and Ravichandran et al., 2022). The effect of social media on students' self-esteem is an issue in many aspects. While it can provide possibilities for good self-expression, support, and learning, it also has the potential to generate negative self-comparisons, cyberbullying, and unrealistic expectations. Students, educators, and parents must promote digital literacy, appropriate online practices, and open dialogues about the influence of social media on self-esteem to reduce the negative impacts. Maintaining good self-esteem in today's digital environment requires striking a balance between online and offline life.