Associations of Instagram and TikTok Use with Appearance-Based Social Comparison, Body Satisfaction, and Self-Esteem: A Daily Diary Study

Instagram and TikTok are among the world’s most popular social media sites, yet questions remain about how their use is associated with appearance-based social comparison, body satisfaction, and self-esteem. Specifically, we know little about the temporal ordering of these phenomena, the role of TikTok vis-à-vis Instagram, and how passive use (browsing without interacting) and active use (interacting with other users) differentially contribute to these outcomes. To address this gap, we collected daily diary data over 10 days from 383 undergraduate students at a Canadian university. Our preregistered analyses revealed that participants who spent more time on Instagram and TikTok were higher in appearance-based social comparison, and in turn, lower in body satisfaction and self-esteem. Ancillary analyses revealed a similar pattern – both active and passive use of Instagram were associated with greater social comparison, and in turn, lower body satisfaction and self-esteem. Furthermore, passive use of Instagram also predicted lower next-day body satisfaction via an increase in appearance-based social comparison. Overall, these results suggested that engaging in appearance-based social comparison on TikTok and Instagram might jeopardize users’ body satisfaction and self-esteem.