Problematic Use of Social Networking Sites: The Role of Self-Esteem

Social networking sites (SNSs) are a flourishing component of the Internet, with enormous potential for growth. The distinctive social-oriented features of social networking platforms provide a pleasant social interaction experience for users. This pleasant experience tends to encourage individuals to continue using these platforms excessively without their knowledge, and thus results in problematic use behaviors and negative outcomes in different aspects of life. In view of the increased attention to the issues of problematic use of social networking sites and their relation to psychological well-being variables, the main objective of this paper is to investigate how self-esteem affects the development of problematic Internet use in the context of social networking sites. The authors integrated self-esteem as a hypothesized antecedent into the model of generalized problematic Internet use and empirically tested the model with 200 Facebook users. Structural equation modeling analysis confirmed that low self-esteem predisposes individuals to develop a preference for online social interaction (POSI). This preference and the use of social networking sites to regulate mood in turn predict deficient self-regulation and result in negative outcomes. The paper concludes with a discussion of practical and theoretical implications.