Tillfälligt avbrott från Instagram som metod för att undersöka appens påverkan på användares självkänsla

Sammanfattning: Ever since the breakthrough of social media it has become progressively more interesting to investigate whether or not it only exists for our pleasure or if it comes with negative side-effects. Instagram is, as of now, the fourth biggest social media which makes it one of the most established social medias whom most internet-users value. Instagram is an application for posting, and interacting, with pictures and videos by friends or even strangers. This may seem like harmless amusement, but it can also have a negative effect on the user's self-esteem. This study aims to examine whether a short term break from the social media platform Instagram can have a positive effect on an individual's self-esteem or not. The study that is conducted is a field study, where data is collected from the same frame of interpretation where the results have been concluded and discussed. Every participant took a break of one week from Instagram, where the app was deleted completely. Prior to the week the participants got to fill out a form regarding their self-esteem. The same form was also filled out after the break to be able to compare self-esteem between the two. The form, and thus the measure tool for self-esteem, was built on Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale. The result showed an increase in self-esteem after the break from Instagram. The result differed slightly between participants but on average everyone's self-esteem bettered. Further investigation revealed some patterns, for instance, a difference between men and women can be shown where women's self-esteem increased more than men's. Even if everyone's self-esteem on average increased, a conclusion can be drawn that self-esteem can be affected by many variables apart from the break from Instagram.