Social Networking Usage and Appearance Related Social Media Consciousness among Emerging Adults

Abstract

The usage of social media is currently widespread among emerging adults specifically photo based sites. The purpose of the study is to evaluate emerging adults’ use of social networking sites and awareness of appearance-related social media issues at a time when they have the freedom to decide on how to present themselves to their peers and choose when to use social networking sites with no parental supervision. These developmental tasks may make them more vulnerable to the harmful effects of appearance concerns on social networking sites, given that much research focused on the female population, our study attempts to understand these behaviors and their impact on the male population as well. The sample for the study consists of 109 individuals (53 male and 56 female Emerging adults) from different institutions across India, ranging in age from 18 to 29. The Social Networking Usage Questionnaire and Appearance related social media consciousness Scale were used to collect the data. Findings suggest that no significant difference in gender for both ARSMC and social networking usage. Overall, these findings contribute to our understanding of the relationship between social media use and appearance-related social media consciousness among emerging adults, suggesting that while social media usage and ASMC are moderately correlated, gender does not significantly influence these variables.