Forced Candids, Charisma, and Confidence: The Impact of Instagram on College Women in Sororities Self-Esteem

Abstract

Social media has dominated mainstream culture and changed the social life of adolescents and young adults over the course of the last two decades. Instagram, developed in 2010, has become one of the most popular social media apps among this age group and has had an impact on the social culture of college students, but limited research has been done on exactly how that has impacted the well-being and identity formation of this population. Instagram especially has become a very popular site for college students affiliated with Greek life on campus, specifically for women in sororities, in terms of recruitment strategies and publicizing their social life. This thesis explores the impact of Instagram on college women, with a particular focus on women in sororities, through a survey completed by 41 students at the University of Oregon assessing their self-esteem, as well as their average Instagram usage and behaviors. Out of the 41 participants, seven women were interviewed and were able to give personal testimonies on their feelings and experiences with the app, as well as their experience in Greek life. Overall, no significant correlation was found between Instagram usage and self-esteem scores, for both college women in sororities and not. However, through interviews, there was a general pattern of feeling pressure around posting on Instagram and editing their lives and identity online in order to fit into a stereotypical sorority girl aesthetic. This study finds that the relationship between self-esteem and Instagram in college women is unclear but needs to be explored further, as the impact of the app itself is complex and cannot be quantitatively identified.