Role of Social Media Usage in Subjective Well-Being and Social Comparison Among Girls

The Women’s Reservation Bill, enacted on 21 September 2023, mandated 33% seat reservations for women in the Lok Sabha (Parliament) and Vidhan Sabha (State legislative assemblies). This is a good sign for women’s empowerment in India. Digital literacy has also increased in recent years in women. Researchers have spent the last 20 years attempting to determine how social media use affects a person’s mental health, but social media platforms are growing quickly, rapidly making their places in the lives of adolescents at a fast pace. Consequently, there is a large disparity in the literature and social media now in use, and research is swiftly becoming out of date. Social media is a unique tool to facilitate the social needs of individuals. The desire to connect, share experiences, and expand social networks is inherent; however, when this desire transforms into a quest for universal approval, exhaustive comparison, and constant validation, it can have detrimental consequences. Although exposure to social media is important, it is essential to have proper instructions for its usage. Social media provides a diverse platform with various users and content; at the same time, it introduces challenges related to the overwhelming desire for social validation and social comparison. This chapter summarizes how social media usage impacts girls’ subjective well-being. It explores the tendency of social comparison among girls on social media. Platforms like Instagram, YouTube Shorts, TikTok, and Snapchat are very popular among girls, especially youth. This chapter explores the psychological implications of incessant comparison, exploring how the curated online lives of others can influence self-perception and contribute to variations in subjective well-being. It provides a review of existing literature relevant to the topic . Suggestions are given on the effectiveness of the use of social media among girls, along with a discussion of its contribution to women’s empowerment.