With its technological development, the Internet has grown into our everyday life, as well as the relationships we establish and build along the way. The feeling that internet communication is already in the cradle for young people: young people lead the way in using the internet as a communication channel, but older adults are also following this trend. The positive paradigm is that social networks represent a space for the expression of identity, the strengthening and development of social relationships and help in the development of social skills. In this diploma thesis, based on our own research (using the CAWI method), we wanted to define the connection of social networks, their frequency and purpose of use with the self-image of their users, and to examine whether there are differences in these categories between younger and older users, and ultimately to find out what is the self-image of young and old people, and whether the self-image of social network users changes with age. Through the chosen methodological approach, based on questionnaires of self-esteem (according to Rosenberg) and self-image (according to Sorensen), we tested three working hypotheses that look for statistically significant differences in self-image and the frequency (and purpose) of using social networks between young and older adults. the results show that frequent users (regardless of the age group they belong to) have, on average, a lower self-esteem than occasional or less frequent users of social networks. The analysis also showed that among young people (18 and 30 years old) and older adults (over 50 years old) who use virtual social networks more often, young people rate their self-esteem lower than those who use social networks less often. Social media includes mutual communication and idealized media images users in this context tend to engage in a process of social comparison. At the same time, theorists note that young people take social media less critically and do not distance themselves from it effectively enough. Accordingly, addictions or other behaviours may appear, which have a long-term negative impact on young people and their self-image.

Internet se je s svojim tehnološkim razvojem razrasel v naš vsakdan kot tudi odnose, ki jih ob tem vzpostavljamo in gradimo. Občutek, da je internetna komunikacija mladim že položena v zibko, ni povsem izvit iz trte: v uporabi interneta kot komunikacijskega kanala prednjačijo mladi, vendar temu trendu sledijo tudi starejši odrasli. Pozitivna paradigma je, da družbena omrežja predstavljajo prostor za izražanje identitete, krepitev in razvoj družbenih odnosov ter pomagajo pri razvoju socialnih veščin. V tej diplomski nalogi smo na podlagi lastne raziskave (po metodi CAWI) želeli opredeliti povezanost družbenih omrežij, njihove pogostosti in namena uporabe s samopodobo njihovih uporabnikov ter preučiti, ali obstajajo razlike v teh kategorijah med mlajšimi in starejšimi uporabniki, navsezadnje pa še ugotoviti, kakšna je samopodoba mladih in starejših ter ali se samopodoba uporabnikov družbenih omrežij spreminja s starostjo. Skozi izbran metodološki pristop, ki temelji na vprašalniku samospoštovanja (po Rosenberg) in samopodobe (po Sorensen), smo preverjali tri delovne hipoteze, ki iščejo statistično značilne razlike v samopodobi ter pogostosti (in namenom) uporabe družbenih omrežij med mlado in starejšo odraslo populacijo. Kot kažejo rezultati, imajo pogosti uporabniki (ne glede na starostno skupino, ki ji pripadajo) v povprečju nižjo samooceno samopodobe kot občasni ali redkejši uporabniki družbenih omrežij. Analiza je še pokazala, da med mladimi (18 in 30 let) ter starejšimi odraslimi (nad 50 let), ki pogosteje uporabljajo virtualna družbena omrežja, mladi svojo samopodobo ocenjujejo nižje kot tisti, ki družbena omrežja uporabljajo redkeje. Družbeni mediji obsegajo medsebojno komunikacijo in idealizirane medijske podobe, zato se uporabniki v tem kontekstu nagibajo k procesu družbene primerjave. Teoretiki ob tem ugotavljajo, da mladi družbene medije jemljejo premalo kritično in se od njih ne distancirajo dovolj učinkovito. Temu primerno se lahko pojavijo odvisnosti ali druga vedenja, ki dolgoročno negativno vplivajo na mlade in njihovo samopodobo.