Social representations about Instagram: A qualitative study with emerging adults with different psychological well-being and body self-esteem

Background: There is a relationship between the use of Instagram and various influences and interactions with the well-being and mental health of this age group. Objective: To reconstruct the social representations of the Instagram social network among emerging adults with different levels of psychological well-being and body esteem. Method: Natural semantic networks and semi-structured interviews were conducted with N=12 emerging adults (19 - 27 years old) divided into two groups based on their body self-esteem and psychological well-being levels. Data analysis relied on natural semantic network analysis and theoretical coding. Results: The concept of "harassment" is revealed as the central core of the social representation of Instagram in the group with low body self-esteem and low psychological well-being, unlike the group with high body esteem and high psychological well-being where the central core was the "social network" itself. Conclusions: Two different social representations of Instagram were found in the studied groups. These results could contribute to filling the knowledge gap about the collective subjective meanings of emerging adults, impacting the better understanding of the diverse relationships they establish with this and other social networks.