Whose self-confidence?
Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2025 6:06 am
This is completely in line with what was also found in this study, namely that the profile picture plays a major role when it comes to making friends on the site. Young people who get a lot of reactions to their profile picture have more friends on the SNS than young people who get few reactions to their profile picture.
This can be explained by the fact that young people with many reactions know how to perfect their profile picture as a result of the feedback from others, making it more attractive. For example, they adjust their poses (sexy/cool) or use Photoshop to look 'as good as possible'. As a result, they receive many reactions from both strangers and acquaintances and new friends are made on the site.
Celebrity culture
Jong (2011) recently called today's adolescents in an article: "the product of the internet revolution and celebrity culture"; "I am in the picture, therefore I exist." She states that young people have an unerring sense of personal "branding", or: how they can best present themselves to the outside world via SNSs and that photos play a major role in this. This seems to be the case, judging by the results of my research. Astrid Poot of (youth) marketing and communication agency 'IJsfontein' also wrote an interesting article based on my research in which she zoomed in on the image-oriented nature of today's young people.
But because young people adjust their appearance on SNSs, you could wonder to what extent oman phone number list they really feel personally addressed by all the positive feedback. After all, the positive reactions are on edited or posed photos of themselves. Yet this does not seem to make a difference for self-confidence. For example, previous research by Stichting Mijn Kind Online showed that young people who edit their photos have a better self-image.
The awareness that young people have of the media probably makes them feel justified in 'improving' themselves online, because they use the same techniques that are also used in the media (magazines, etc.). Therefore, they probably still experience positive comments on edited versions of themselves as positive feedback on the self. This positive feedback therefore has a positive influence on self-confidence.
So real or not real, it seems to come down to whether and to what extent you have ‘mastered’ your online self-presentation. If so, prepare for massive online flattery, which might even make you feel a little bit like a celeb …
This can be explained by the fact that young people with many reactions know how to perfect their profile picture as a result of the feedback from others, making it more attractive. For example, they adjust their poses (sexy/cool) or use Photoshop to look 'as good as possible'. As a result, they receive many reactions from both strangers and acquaintances and new friends are made on the site.
Celebrity culture
Jong (2011) recently called today's adolescents in an article: "the product of the internet revolution and celebrity culture"; "I am in the picture, therefore I exist." She states that young people have an unerring sense of personal "branding", or: how they can best present themselves to the outside world via SNSs and that photos play a major role in this. This seems to be the case, judging by the results of my research. Astrid Poot of (youth) marketing and communication agency 'IJsfontein' also wrote an interesting article based on my research in which she zoomed in on the image-oriented nature of today's young people.
But because young people adjust their appearance on SNSs, you could wonder to what extent oman phone number list they really feel personally addressed by all the positive feedback. After all, the positive reactions are on edited or posed photos of themselves. Yet this does not seem to make a difference for self-confidence. For example, previous research by Stichting Mijn Kind Online showed that young people who edit their photos have a better self-image.
The awareness that young people have of the media probably makes them feel justified in 'improving' themselves online, because they use the same techniques that are also used in the media (magazines, etc.). Therefore, they probably still experience positive comments on edited versions of themselves as positive feedback on the self. This positive feedback therefore has a positive influence on self-confidence.
So real or not real, it seems to come down to whether and to what extent you have ‘mastered’ your online self-presentation. If so, prepare for massive online flattery, which might even make you feel a little bit like a celeb …