I am the curator of my own past: How The Young Malaysian Users Make Sense of Their Behaviour on Social Media Sites

This study explores how young Malaysian social media users, particularly Generation Z, make sense of their behaviour on social media through the lens of the sensemaking framework. Social media, especially through mobile devices, has become integral to daily life, raising concerns about privacy, mental health, and identity formation. By applying both deductive and inductive thematic analysis to semi-structured interviews with 11 respondents, comprising university students from Malaysia, the research identifies key themes such as privacy management, the influence of cultural and personal values, the compartmentalization of professional and personal identities, and the struggle to balance online and offline activities. The study also highlights how users engage in memory preservation, using social media as a tool to selectively document life events. Notably, the study presents two key findings. First, participants do not merely use social media as an autobiographical diary but actively curate their digital past by selectively preserving or deleting content, indicating a conscious approach to memory management. Second, all participants reported feeling they spend too much time on social media, regardless of the actual time spent, pointing to a shared perception of imbalance in their lives. This cognitive dissonance reflects the addictive nature of social media and its impact on real-life connections and personal responsibilities. These findings offer deeper insights into the complexities of social media use, revealing a sophisticated understanding of online behaviour among Generation Z in Malaysia.