Increasing usage of technologies and internet contributes to an introduction of online social networking sites or social media such as Facebook. Facebook has become a platform for self-presentation, especially among the youth. This qualitative study was carried out to study description of self-esteem and visual self-presentation among Chinese undergraduate students in a public university in Malaysia. Altogether ten Chinese students from the university were recruited through purposive sampling and interviewed. This study found that high self-esteem students expressed that they are not addicted to Facebook, accept more real-life/known friends and would not “un-tag” unflattering photographs, while low self-esteem students are addicted to Facebook, accept more strangers on Facebook and would “un-tag”, hide or even delete the unflattering photographs on their Facebook. This study also discovered that management of students’ visual self-presentation on Facebook could be divided into two categories, i.e. selective visual self-presentation and authentic visual self-presentation. In short, this study gave a big pictures on characteristics of self-esteem, types of visual self-presentation, and reasons for using different types of visual self-presentation besides raising awareness of Facebook addiction among university students.
Blachnio, A. P. (2016). Association between Facebook addiction, self-esteem and life. Computers in Human Behavior, 55, 701-705.
doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.10.026
Brown, V. (2017). Cyberbullying: Words can hurt too. The Star Online. https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2017/10/19/cyberbullying-words-can-hurt-too/
Chua, T. H., & Chang, L. (2016). Follow me and like my beautiful selfies: Singapore teenage girls’ engagement in self-presentation and peer comparison on social media. Computers in Human Behavior, 55, 190-197.
doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.09.011
Gil-Or, O., Levi-Belz, Y., & Turel, O. (2015). The “Facebook-self”: characteristics and psychological predictors of false self-presentation on Facebook. Frontiers in Psychology, 6(99), 1-10. doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00099
Girl's True Self Revealed. (2017). SOHU News. https://www.sohu.com/a/193500598_267097
Gonzales, A. L., & Hancock J. T. (2011). Mirror, Mirror on my Facebook Wall: Effects of Exposure to Facebook on Self-Esteem. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 14(1-2), 79-83. doi:10.1089/cyber.2009.0411
Husnita, H. Y., Tan, K. H., & Saadiyah D. (2016) Online self-presentation and impression management (SPIM) among Malaysian tertiary level students on Facebook. Evolution in Language Studies. 36-55.
Kim, Y., & Baek, Y. M. (2014). When is Selective Self-Presentation Effective? An Investigation of the Moderation Effects. Cyberpsychology, Behaviour, and Social Networking, 17(11), 697-701. doi:10.1089/cyber.2014.0321
McDonough, M. (2014). Catfishing - Fake Online Profiles and Their Effects on Others. Everwood Day Camp. http://everwooddaycamp.com/catfishing-fake-online-profiles-effects-others/
Michikyan, M., Dennis, J., & Subrahmayam, K. (2014). Can You Guess Who I Am? Real, Ideal and False Self-Presentation on Facebook Among Emerging Adults. Emerging Adulthood, 3(1), 55-64. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/2167696814532442
Pillay, S. (2017). Suicide on the rise among Malaysian youth. New Straits Time. https://www.nst.com.my/news/exclusive/2017/05/243354/suicide-rise-among-malaysian-youth
Ranzini, G., Lutz, C., & Gouderjaan, M. (2016). Swipe Right: An Exploration of Self-Presentation and Impression Management on Tinder.
https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/publications/248333
Shaari, A. H., Kamaluddin, M. R., Paizi@Fauzi, W. F., & Mohd, M. (2019). Online-Dating Romance Scam in Malaysia: An analysis of online conversations between scammers and victims. GEMA Online® Journal of Language Studies, 19(1), 97-115. http://doi.org/10.17576/gema-2019-1901-06
Tazghini, S., & Siedlecki, K. L. (2013). A Mixed-Method to Examining Facebook Use and Its Relationship to Self-Esteem. Computers in Human Behavior, 29, 827-832. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2012.11.010
Vijaindren, A. (2017). Love scam: Spinning a web of deceit. New Straits Time. https://www.nst.com.my/news/exclusive/2017/06/247760/love-scam-spinning-web-deceit
Walther, J. B. (1996). Computer-mediated communication: Impersonal, interpersonal, and hyperpersonal interaction. Communication Research, 23(3), 3-43.
doi:10.1177/009365096023001001
In-Text Citation: (Hui & Fee, 2021)
To Cite this Article: Hui, M. T. W., & Fee, L. Y. (2021). Self-Esteem and Visual Self-Presentation on Facebook Among Chinese Undergraduate Students in A Public University in Malaysia. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 11(19), 138–147.
Copyright: © 2021 The Author(s)
Published by Knowledge Words Publications (www.kwpublications.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode