Effect of Using Instagram on Self-perception
Instagram, Self-perception, Self-esteem, Subjective Well-Being, Social Comparison.
Social media like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter have become increasingly popular with the advent and cheapening of mobile data usage technologies, such as smartphones. It is common that the use of this type of virtual platform to be part of people's daily life and even become something indispensable for maintaining social ties. Brazil is the second country in the world that most uses Instagram, with 70 million Brazilians users. This new environment, although online, has effects on users' real lives and, in addition, it is a specific environment, with specifics characteristics that can be studied at the light of evolutionary psychology. Therefore, it is necessary to try to understand how to execute social comparison processes within this virtual platform and how these processes affect the self-esteem and subjective well-being of its users. In view of this, this work has as main objective to investigate the effect of using Instagram on individuals' self-perception. Research involving the use of social networks is important, as it investigates how human social relationships have changed over time and can elucidate the impacts that recent changes can have on individuals' self-assessment and their well-being.