In Han and Yang’s (2023) article, they surveyed and examined relational closeness for social media use and self-esteem. They concluded that individuals who have a high intensity of social media usage, in which content can be shared and comments with online friends, resulted in higher self-esteem due to higher social support perception, and the effects are vice versa to produce an individual with lower self-esteem. The survey also reported that lower self-esteem is compounded by social media platforms which allow users to share content with those who are not their online friends. I concur with the article because many reports found that users with weak relational closeness in real life cannot self-regulate their emotions well, and it may lead them into a depressive state, as they encounter further social difficulties in building relationships online. This may include depression derived from increased use of social media platforms like Facebook (Dhir et al., 2018).
The more time an individual spends on social media platforms, the more social comparison there will be, which contributes to unrealistic ideas and compounds lower self-esteem in individuals without social support networks. In more severe cases, a person might question their own self-worth (Jan et al., 2017). Individuals might seek validation through likes and comments, which could make them vulnerable to cyberbullying and expose them to feelings of inadequacy and increased anxiety, resulting in lower self-esteem (Giumetti & Kowalski, 2022).
However, there are limitations to this article, due to the range of participants being mainly college students and social media platforms being limited to WeChat, TikTok, QQ and Bilibili (Han & Yang, 2023). The report limitation is constrained by the number of participants (550) compared to user numbers such as WeChat, which now has around 1.268 billion users in 2021 (Tencent, 2022). There are also cultural differences between Western society and Asian countries, and the larger social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, were not included in this survey (Han & Yang, 2023). Nevertheless, findings from the article were consistent with other reports.
In the 21st century, accessing the internet has become necessary, either for work, education, leisure or seeking information. As a future librarian, I believe my role is to support students to become resilient and understand how to evaluate online resources to support their learning and build healthier social networks.
References:
Dhir, A., Yossatorn, Y., Kaur, P., & Chen, S. (2018). Online social media fatigue and psychological wellbeing—A study of compulsive use, fear of missing out, fatigue, anxiety and depression. International Journal of Information Management, 40, 141-152. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2018.01.012
Giumetti, G. W., & Kowalski, R. M. (2022). Cyberbullying via social media and well-being. Current Opinion in Psychology, 45, 101314. https://doi.org/10.1080/02673843.2019.1669059
Han, Y., & Yang, F. (2023). Will Using Social Media Benefit or Harm Users’ Self-Esteem? It Depends on Perceived Relational-Closeness. Social Media + Society, 9(4). https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051231203680
Jan, M., Soomro, S., & Ahmad, N. (2017). Impact of social media on self-esteem. European Scientific Journal, 13(23), 329-341. https://doi.org/10.19044/esj.2017.v13n23p329
Tencent. (2022). In 2021, the number of monthly active users of WeChat has reached 1.268.2 billion. https://new.qq.com/rain/a/20211112A00MG400
Wallup. (n.d.). [Photograph of social, medial, computer wallpaper]. https://wallup.net/social-media-computer-internet-typography-text-poster-16/
I believe all librarians face the same challenges as Jenkinson (2002) describes how silent self-censorship leads to the deselection of books. The book by Sylvia Olsen, No Time To Say Goodbye: Children’s Stories of Kemper Island Residential School, depicts scenes of sexual abuse, and Jenkinson (2002) uses this text as an example to show how librarians may be challenged by the community on decisions such as the purchase of books containing (graphic scenes/ethical or controversial issues). As a future librarian, this challenge of determining how we go about selection or deselection, the policies employed, and the guidelines that we should follow is inevitable. In accordance with Shupala (2006), I agree that schools should adopt a complaint policy to protect librarians and schools when faced with complaints or challenges from parents or the wider community, and without support from the staff and principal, finding ways to respond to the challenge of selection and censorship is not possible. In most cases, complaints can be resolved through clear messaging and explanations to parents regarding why certain books in contention have been purchased. However, some schools choose to restrict access to controversial books or require parental consent, which is counterintuitive to “the concept of intellectual freedom” (Australian School Library Association, 2018). Jenkinson (2002) provides no answer to this challenge at the end of the article. Challenges in any shape or form will always exist for all librarians.
I believe all teachers have the best intention of embedding information literacy into their programs to meet the needs of the curriculum. Due to the increased curriculum requirements and administrative tasks of teachers, there is limited time to review and evaluate the effectiveness of the embedded information literacy programs. Especially in a small rural school, where there is only one teacher per stage or multiple stages, this will be left up to the individual teacher to ensure that information literacy is embedded effectively in the curriculum. I view teacher librarians’ (TL) roles as crucial for the success of meeting the information literacy component of the curriculum because they are experts in this field and act as a guard to cyber safety. They know the importance of using information appropriately. This is the TL’s primary role in ensuring teachers understand how to teach and embed information literacy in their program in a meaningful way and that students will be information competent. I agree with Bonanno (2011, p.5) that school libraries are still the vocal point for the school community.
I believe the characteristics of digital information make it more effective for Teacher Librarians to communicate with students, parents, and classroom teachers. Teacher Librarians will now be viewed as the experts in this field and provide guidance to the school communities on how they can support students to become capable and responsible digital citizens.