Self-Esteem as a Mediator between Social Media and Communication Skills: A Case Study of Undergraduate Students at St. Augustine University of Tanzania, Mwanza Campus

Abstract

This study seeks to investigate the extent to which selfesteem plays a mediating role between social media and communication skills among undergraduate students at St. Augustine University of Tanzania, Mwanza Campus. It aims to achieve this by (1)Identifying the extent of the use of social media by undergraduate students (2) Exploring the nature of information shared among undergraduate students in social media (3) Determine the extent of the interrelationship between use of social media and communication skills (4) Examine the extent of the interrelationship between social media and communication skills as moderated by self-esteem (5) Assess whether social class moderates the relationship between selfesteem and communication skills.In view of the background and literature review, it was found that students use and access various kinds of information on social media which influences their self-esteem. Also, self-esteem plays a role between social media and communication skills. It was also found that social class moderates both self-esteem and communication skills of social media users. The study concluded that social media has a profound influence on the self-esteem of online users. There is need by users to ensure that they use social media to boost their self-esteem and thus enhance their communication skills. There is also need to ensure that regardless of social class, self-esteem and communication skills should be improved at all times. Index Terms- Social media, self-esteem, undergraduate students, university, youth, communication