Self and Social Media: Cyberpsychology Study

This study examines the relationship between self-identity and social media use. It explores the impact of excessive social media use on psychological well-being and self-identity. The study also discusses the motivations behind sharing information on social media platforms.

SELF AND SOCIAL MEDIA
CYBERPSYCHOLOGY
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Week 4
1. What were your total scores for each subscale?
Answer: TOTAL SCORE TIME 1 Social Integration subscale: 36
TOTAL SCORE TIME 1 Emotional Connection subscale: 24
2. Reflect on whom you are based on the results, do you agree or not?
Answer: Yes, the results show my inclination towards social media accurately. I am very
much fond of social media, especially Facebook and always remain logged in there. If I
cannot access my FB account due to any reason, I feel utterly frustrated.
Week 5
3. What social media platforms do you use?
Answer: as stated earlier, I use Facebook. The link of the website is www.facebook.com.
4. For what purpose do you use each platform? If you don’t use any, why?
Answer: I mainly use the social media platform to get connected with friends, family
members including cousins. Also, I like to interact with new people and I think, FB provides
such an opportunity to meet and befriend new people.
Week 7
5. How would you characterize the quality and content of your social media use? To
answer this question, you may want to try referring to some of your posts/shares/etc.
Answer: I consider all my posts to be of high quality as they relate to motivational quotes.
Some of the pictures are shown in the appendices below.
6. What kinds of things do you share?
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Answer: I generally share motivational quotes as published in various FB pages. Such posts,
therefore, contain motivational words that may be liked by the persons looking for some
spiritualism or motivational factors in his or her personal lives.
7. How often and with whom?
Answer: Sharing those quotes in the form of posts generally happens daily. Since I always
stay logged in to the FB, I keep searching for posts that motivate me. It has also happened
that I have shared such posts twice or thrice in a day. I have a limited number of friends (less
than 100) in FB and I tag maximum 8 to 10 people in such posts. Such people are very close
to me as a person, human being and friend.
8. Why do you feel you need to share certain information?
Answer: I feel de-motivated at times and get motivation when I get to see those inspiring
quotes in the form of FB posts.
Week 9
9. How do your social media use to relate to how you view yourself?
Answer: I generally share motivational quotes as I consider myself to be a very de-motivated
person. I generally get motivated by reading those quotes. I think I need some kind of
impetus to boost my morale and keep me going and those posts help me in doing so, at least
to a certain extent.
10. What aspects do you think have contributed to your identity and sense of self, and why?
Answer: Excessive use of FB makes me an addicted person towards social media. Various
researchers have established the fact that the extreme use of social media may adversely
affect the physical and mental health of young people which, in turn, may negatively impact
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on their self-identity (Zivnuska et al. 2019). It has been observed that the youth population
those who use FB too much may suffer from psychological problems relat9ong to their own
identity crisis (Hawi & Samaha, 2019).
Week 12
11. What changes do you want to make (or have you made) to your social media use? Why?
Answer: I realize that I use social media too much. This is probably because of the fact that I
get addicted to the various posts and updates posted by my friends. However, most
importantly I have found the “like” feature to be extremely interesting. Since FB does not
have a "dislike" feature, whatever has been shared will have to be automatically liked by
others, unless the same is not reacted to, at all. In other words, the absence of "dislike" option
acts as an ego stimulator and I can cherish the feeling that I have posted something which has
been "liked" by my friends.
Week 13
12. What were your total scores for each subscale?
Answer: TOTAL SCORE TIME 2 Social Integration subscale: 24
TOTAL SCORE TIME 2 Emotional Connection subscale: 16
13. Have your results changed at all since the beginning of term?
Answer: Yes. Initially, my scores were 36 and 24 respectively for social integration and
emotional connection subscale irrespectively. Now, the same has been reduced to 24 and 16
respectively.
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14. Do you feel that you answered differently this time as a result of what you have learned
in this course, why or why not?
Answer: Yes. I answered differently than that of the initial time when I first took up the
survey. My initial responses were mostly reflecting my higher level of addiction towards FB
and therefore most of my answers were 6. However, now, I have become a bit conscious and
hence been able to restrict myself to give a rating of 4 for most of the questions.
15. Do you think you have changed as an individual as a result of taking this course?
Answer: Yes, certainly. To an extent, I have changed as an individual after taking up the
course. I have realized my inclination towards the excessive use of social media. However,
the test has helped me to identify the core reasons why I have been so much addicted to FB. I
do not want to get addicted to anything. I am neither a regular alcohol drinker nor a chain
smoker. I hate addiction. However, when I found that I have been addicted towards FB, such
acted as a revelation for me and I, therefore, decided to change the same.
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References:
Facebook (2019). Facebook – log in or sign up. [online] Facebook. Available at:
https://www.facebook.com/ [Accessed 7 Apr. 2019].
Hawi, N., & Samaha, M. (2019). Identifying commonalities and differences in personality
characteristics of the Internet and social media addiction profiles: traits, self-esteem, and self-
construal. Behaviour & Information Technology, 38(2), 110-119.
Zivnuska, S., Carlson, J. R., Carlson, D. S., Harris, R. B., & Harris, K. J. (2019). Social media
addiction and social media reactions: The implications for job performance. The Journal of
social psychology, 1-15.
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Appendices:
Appendix – 1: Survey 1
SURVEY 1
1. I feel disconnected from friends when I have not logged into social media
1 2 3 4 5 6
Strongly
disagree
Strongly
agree
Ans: 6
2. I would like it if everyone used social media to communicate
1 2 3 4 5 6
Strongly
disagree
Strongly
agree
Ans: 6
3. I would be disappointed if I could not use social media at all
1 2 3 4 5 6
Strongly
disagree
Strongly
agree
Ans: 6
4. I get upset when I can’t log on to social media
1 2 3 4 5 6
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Strongly
disagree
Strongly
agree
Ans: 6
5. I prefer to communicate with others mainly through social media
1 2 3 4 5 6
Strongly
disagree
Strongly
agree
Ans: 6
6. Social networking plays an important role in my social relationships
1 2 3 4 5 6
Strongly
disagree
Strongly
agree
Ans: 6
7. I enjoy checking my social media account(s)
1 2 3 4 5 6
Strongly
disagree
Strongly
agree
Ans: 6
8. I don’t like to use social media
1 2 3 4 5 6
Strongly Strongly
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disagree agree
Ans: 1
9. Using social media is part of my everyday routine
1 2 3 4 5 6
Strongly
disagree
Strongly
agree
Ans: 6
10. I respond to content that others share through social media
1 2 3 4 5 6
Strongly
disagree
Strongly
agree
Ans: 6
Scoring Instructions:
1. # 8 is reverse scored, so you'll need to change your score. If you answered 1 it becomes a
6, 2 becomes a 5, 3 becomes a 4, 4 becomes a 3, 5 becomes a 2, and 6 becomes a 1.
2. Add your scores for #1 through #6 to get a total. This is the Social Integration subscale.
This scale tells you how much you integrate social media use into your social routines.
Higher scores mean more integration of social media into your regular routines.
3. Add your scores for # 7 through #10 to get a total. This is the Emotional Connection
subscale. This scale tells you how emotionally connected or dependent you are on social
media use. Higher scores mean more connection or dependency.
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Page 10 of 17

Appendix – 2: Survey 2
SURVEY 2
1. I feel disconnected from friends when I have not logged into social media
1 2 3 4 5 6
Strongly
disagree
Strongly
agree
Ans: 4
2. I would like it if everyone used social media to communicate
1 2 3 4 5 6
Strongly
disagree
Strongly
agree
Ans: 4
3. I would be disappointed if I could not use social media at all
1 2 3 4 5 6
Strongly
disagree
Strongly
agree
Ans: 4
4. I get upset when I can’t log on to social media
1 2 3 4 5 6
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Strongly
disagree
Strongly
agree
Ans: 4
5. I prefer to communicate with others mainly through social media
1 2 3 4 5 6
Strongly
disagree
Strongly
agree
Ans: 4
6. Social networking plays an important role in my social relationships
1 2 3 4 5 6
Strongly
disagree
Strongly
agree
Ans: 4
7. I enjoy checking my social media account(s)
1 2 3 4 5 6
Strongly
disagree
Strongly
agree
Ans: 5
8. I don’t like to use social media
1 2 3 4 5 6
Strongly Strongly
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disagree agree
Ans: 4
9. Using social media is part of my everyday routine
1 2 3 4 5 6
Strongly
disagree
Strongly
agree
Ans: 4
10. I respond to content that others share through social media
1 2 3 4 5 6
Strongly
disagree
Strongly
agree
Ans: 4
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Appendices 3: FB Posts
(Source: Facebook., 2019)
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(Source: Facebook., 2019)
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(Source: Facebook., 2019)
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(Source: Facebook., 2019)
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