5th USBED CONFERENCE, İstanbul, Türkiye, 17 - 18 Ekim 2025, ss.57-72, (Tam Metin Bildiri)
Social media platforms have become an integral part of people's daily lives. It is believed that various attitudes that emerge from social media use will impact self-esteem and, indirectly, academic self-confidence. The research was quantitative and conducted using the correlational survey model. The study population comprises a secondary school affiliated with the MoNE in the Sancaktepe district. The sample consists of 230 students in 7th and 8th grades selected from this population by a simple random sampling method. The Social Media Attitude Scale (SMAS), Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RBSES), and Academic Self-Confidence Scale (ASCS) scales were used as data collection instruments. According to the findings, social media attitude and academic self-confidence effectively boost self-esteem. Only the social competence sub-dimension score of the social media attitude scale sub-dimensions increased at a low level. In the model, there is a weak relationship where an increase in social media attitude represents low self-esteem while the other variable is held constant. There is a weak relationship in which increased academic self-confidence represents high self-esteem. The total score of academic selfconfidence and social media attitude differs in favor of 7th graders. Marital status and mothers' educational status affect adolescents' self-esteem. Keywords: Education, social media, self-esteem, academic self-confidence, adolescence.