Social media plays an important role in the life of today’s adolescents. In the attempt to contribute to the understanding of the impact they have on adolescents’ subjective well-being, in this study we decided to examine two distinct types of Instagram use, with Instagram being an example of an image-based social media. More precisely, the aim of the study was to determine the relationship between both active and passive Instagram use with general self-esteem and explore whether benign and malicious envy and need for relatedness function as mediators of these relationships. Six hundred eleven high school students from the City of Zagreb participated in the online survey. The participants filled out items regarding active and passive use of Instagram, the Benign and Malicious Envy Scale, the Need for Relatedness subscale, which is a part of the Basic Psychological Needs Scale and the General Self-esteem subscale, which is a part of the Marsh's Self Description Questionnaire II. The results indicate the absence of a significant relationship between passive Instagram use and general self-esteem. Neither benign nor malicious envy do not function as mediators of this relationship. However, need for relatedness mediates the relationship between active Instagram use and general self-esteem: adolescents who engage more frequently in active Instagram use tend to have higher levels of need for relatedness satisfaction, which in turn manifests in their higher levels of general self-esteem. Contrary to the public perception, the results of this study indicate that social media can have a positive impact in the life of adolescents, but when making such claims, it is crucial to consider the type of activities behind their usage. However, considering the limitations of this study, further studies are needed in order to fully clarify the relationship between social media use and adolescents’ well-being.