Source + Beyond the Source Framework: Topic: Social Media and Self Esteem

To complete the activity, select two sources on the same topic (one from each section). We've included some talking points about each source that you may bring up in the discussion as you're reviewing the information with students.

Feel free to select alternate sources or topics tailored to your session -- the important thing is that both sources you use in the activity are on the same topic, but come from different publications. 

Options for Source #1

Social Media's Effects on Self-Esteem. Social Media Victims Law Center.

• links in article go to both peer-reviewed studies and other pages within the same website
• easy-to-read language, lists, graphics
• forms on the side and at the bottom to contact the organization - can think about the intended audience and purpose of this page
• Go to Who We Are page and learn that Social Media Victim Law Center is a firm that "works to hold social media companies legally accountable for the harm they inflict on vulnerable users."
• Even though it has a .org domain, this is a for-profit business in Seattle, WA.  Can discuss the meaning of domains in source evaluation
• can Google 'Social Media Victims Law Center' to find articles about work the firm has done

Wetzel, Corryn.  Negative Effects of Social Media May Impact Adolescent Girls and Boys at Different Ages.  Smithsonian Magazine.  29 March 2022. 

• article written for popular audience but with links to peer-reviewed studies
• author is a freelance science journalist, not a subject expert 
• can point out ads around the page and recommended content at the bottom
• discuss who is the intended audience, science journalism
• .com domain, can discuss what domains do and don't tell us about a source's credibility

Options for Source #2

Marengo, Davide, et al. "Examining the links between active Facebook use, received likes, self-esteem and happiness: A study using objective social media data." Telematics and Informatics 58 (2021): 101523. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2020.101523

• article published in the journal Telematics and Informatics
• according to journal website: Telematics and Informatics is an interdisciplinary journal publishing innovative theoretical and methodological research on the social, economic, geographic, political, and cultural impacts of digital technologies.
• authors' credentials shows they are all in psychology departments at universities in Italy, Germany, and United States - can discuss how various geographic locations can impact the information
• study looks at relationship between receiving Likes on Facebook and users' level of perceived self-esteem and increased happiness via self-esteem
• includes data, charts, and graphs
• reference list at the end of the article
• could discuss the intersection between technology and psychology i.e. this isn't a psychology journal but all the authors are in psychology
• can point out that even though it was published in 2021, studies can take years to complete and how this might change how you approach the material

Schivinski, Bruno, et al. "Exploring the role of social media use motives, psychological well-being, self-esteem, and affect in problematic social media use." Frontiers in Psychology 11 (2020): 617140. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.617140 

• From journal Frontiers in Psychology
• According to journal website: most cited journal in its field, peer-reviewed, open access
• authors are in a wide variety of academic disciplines (communication, marketing, psychology) and geographic locations (Australia, United Kingdom, Germany) can discuss the benefits of having multiple perspectives
• study surveys social media users to assess sociodemographic characteristics, patterns, and preferences of social media use, specifically problematic social media use (PSMU)
• includes data and charts, list of references, ethics statement for involving human participants 
• can point out that even though it was published in 2020, studies can take years to complete and how this might change how you approach the material

First source

Second source