IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Science (IOSR-JHSS) Volume 23, Issue 3, Ver. 4 (March. 2018) PP 70-79 e-ISSN: 2279-0837, p-ISSN: 2279-0845. www.iosrjournals.org DOI: 10.9790/0837-2303047079 www.iosrjournals.org 70 | Page Age and Gender Differences in Face book Intensity and Self Esteem Dr. Komal Chandiramani 1 and Dr. Daisy Sharma 2 1 (Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Keshav Mahavidyalaya, University of Delhi, India) 2 (Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Keshav Mahavidyalaya, University of Delhi, India) Corresponding Author: Dr. Daisy Sharma Abstract: Facebook have become increasingly popular and almost an integral part of everyday life. An excessive use of facebook leads to greater psychological distress and in turn reduces self esteem on one hand but can offer benefits to users experiencing low self esteem on the other. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether there are differences between different age and gender groups of adults when they are compared simultaneously on measures of facebook intensity and self esteem. A purposive cum convenience sampling technique was used to collect a sample of 70 males and females of 18-25 years of age in New Delhi. The participants were administered Facebook Intensity Scale ((Ellison, Steinfield & Lampe, 2007) and Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1989). Descriptive statistics (means and standard deviations) were used to analyze the data. Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients were used to specify the relationship between the variables. A two-way MANOVA was conducted to determine whether significant main and interaction effects exist on the dependent variables i.e. Facebook Intensity and Self Esteem. Results indicated significant main effects concluding that young adults are more prone to facebook use and hence lower self esteem as compared to older adults. Also females use facebook more than males but this may not lead to essential differences in their level of self esteem. The research was concluded by briefly foregrounding some of the study‟s limitations and future directions. Keywords: Age, Facebook Intensity, Gender, Self esteem --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date of Submission: 28-02-2018 Date of acceptance: 19-03-2018 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. INTRODUCTION With the advent of Internet a decade ago, online social networking sites, such as Facebook have become increasingly popular and almost an integral part of everyday life. Since its launch in February 2004, Facebook has become one of the most popular websites in the world (Andreassen,2015) and a part of 84% of an individual‟s daily routine (Denti et.al., 2012). Young adults (between 18 and 25 years old) constitute the biggest age group (accounting for approximately 30%) of the total user population (Kim & Davis, 2008; Lee, Sim, Tan & Trevor, 2006) The two most important online activities of a facebook user are media sharing and self-disclosure through facebook posts. Research has revealed that over four billion pieces of content are uploaded by facebook users including 250 million photos (Wilson, Gosling, & Graham, 2012). Facebook also has various that expose different kinds of personal information like relationship status; religious and political views etc. (Ellison, Steinfield & Lampe, 2007). Previous research have stated that exposure to facebook may have positive relationship to social connection which changes an individual personality (Lee, Sim, Tan & Trevor, 2006) but may lead to feelings of inadequacy and deprivation. People feel that others have better lives than themselves (Chen & Lee, 2013). They become curious to see what other friends are doing, how they look and behave (Joinson, 2008). It was reported that, by looking a happy photos of others, people tend to believe that others are always happy and live good lives in contrast to their own (Chou & Edge, 2012). Griffiths, Kuss, and Demetrovics (2014) pointed out that there is an urgent need to examine the intensity of facebook use. Facebook addiction is defined as excessive involvement in Facebook activities and is a frequent cause of problems in everyday social functioning (Elphinston & Noller, 2011). An excessive use of facebook leads to greater psychological distress and in turn reduces self esteem (Chen & Lee, 2013). Self-esteem reflects an overall in the individual sense of self-worth or personal value. Various researchers have defined the construct differently. Rosenberg (1989) described self-esteem as the totality of an individual's thoughts and feelings with reference to him/her as an object. Branden (1969) defined it as an experience of being competent to cope with the basic challenges of life and being worthy of happiness. It