Högskolan i Skövde

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether there is a correlation between how an individual uses social media and the amount of time spent on social media and the individual's mental illness and self-esteem. Theory and previous research discusses social validation and self-presentation on social networking sites and social media's influence on the individual in the form of mental illness and negative self-esteem. GHQ-12 (General Health Questionnaire) was used to detect mental illness in the respondents and Rosenberg Self- Esteem Scale was used to investigate individuals' perceived self-esteem. In addition, questions regarding the use of social media and the amount of time spent on social media were used, developed by Balakrishnan and Shamim (2013). A web survey was presented in the Facebook group "students at the University of Skövde". The respondents consist of current and former students at the University of Skövde between the ages 18-30, the number of respondents were 108 individuals. The results of the survey show that there is no correlation between how an individual use social media or the number of hours spent on social media and their mental illness and self-esteem.