Abstract:
elf-concept among adolescents is dynamic because of
the struggle to find true identity while maintaining social
acceptability. Social media may be seen as a social laboratory
providing freedom to experiment with different presentations of
self. The study examined the relationship between selected social
networking sites (WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram) and the
adolescents’ self-concept in public mixed day secondary schools
in Kajiado County, Kajiado North Sub-county Kenya. An
embedded mixed methods research design was employed to
enable the researcher establish the relationship between the
selected Social Networking Sites and self-concept among
adolescents. Simple random sampling was employed to the
selected 4 schools for this study. Probability sampling technique
was used to select a sample of 265 respondents from the 4
selected secondary schools as sample size for the study. Data was
collected using questionnaires and analyzed using descriptive
and inferential statistics. Findings indicated that Facebook was
the most preferred social media site among the adolescents. The
self-concept level among the adolescents was at a moderate level
indicating that the adolescents are aware of their self. The study
found a negative weak correlation between WhatsApp and selfconcept among adolescent; a negative weak correlation between
Facebook and self-concept among adolescents and a negative
weak correlation between Instagram and self-concept among
adolescents. Self-concept among the selected respondents was not
significantly affected by the selected social media applications.
The study recommends harnessing of social media platforms as a
socializing tool among adolescents since no significant correlation
was found between social media and self-concept of adolescents
despite the existing ban of use of mobile phones among this
population in Kenya.
