Negative Effects Of Social Media On Women's Body Image

Social media creates an ideal body image in an adolescent’s mind that affects them in various ways. Having an ideal body image can lower self-esteem in some adolescents’ creating eating disorders, and this idea of getting plastic surgery as they get older. Social media is steadily increasing and has heavily influenced adolescent’s to be more aware of their body figure. As a result, many adolescent’s have developed low self-esteem due to the fact that social media continues promoting fit women and creating the idea that women need to be thin to be loved or accepted by society; this can cause harm to adolescent’s because they feel the need to fit in to society.

Research shows that over 80 percent of 10-year-old girls fear becoming “fat” (NYC). Young girls are not satisfied by their body image and it is causing many issues. Even though young girls may subject themselves to body image issues, social media destroys girl’s self-worth because of the fashion industry and prolonged time and use on social media.

As this generation has easy access to social media, culminating to 95.9% of girls having access to the internet, it is no wonder that these girls have easy access to view these “ideal” images. There is a cause and effect, which can be seen through sites like Facebook and Instagram, as users are more prone to body obsession than non-users. Second, no one is immune to these beauty ideals, even the women who started it all. The women who post these photos, have internal problems as well, such as eating disorders and unhealthy fitness habits. These “role models” are achieving these beauty ideals in unhealthy ways, which is not a positive message to send to viewers. Third, we have massive studies and data to show the damages of social media, but it is the individual stories that people can

“ Over fifty percent of 9 and 10 year-old girls feel better about themselves if they are on a diet(3), even though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that only 18 percent of adolescents are really overweight. About 80 percent of girls in this age group say that they have dieted in an attempt to lose weight.”--Mirror Mirror Eating Disorder Help. Unrealistic body images on social media can lead to eating disorders, low self-esteem, and depression in adolescents.

As technology editing tools have become even more prevalent, many feel the need to excessively use photoshop before they share an image online. In a pervasive world where images of unrealistic standards fuel the media on how one should look, social media has one of the most significant impacts on body dissatisfaction. Throughout the last decade, social media has become one of the most common and favored ways for people to communicate, connect, and share. Thus, there have been many debates and discussions on whether the media has a positive or a negative impact on the way an individual perceives him or herself. As the rapid growth of smartphone usage among adolescents and adults has increased, social media has become an essential part of one’s daily life. In today's society, when most adolescents and adults turn on their smartphones, often times, the first thing they will refer to is a social media site. It has become a place where they are exposed to news, images, and expectations. Often times, these images, ideals, and expectations are ingrained in their brain and bombarded with what is considered to be beautiful. Moreover, these unrealistic standards will often lead to a form of comparison, influencing them to take extreme measures. Although social media serves as a platform where people can connect, communicate, and share, it has a negative impact on one’s body image, because it can lead to a lack of self confidence and severe

Approximately 14 million U.S. teenage girls don’t like how they look. The number of women who feel confident in their bodies is dwindling quickly and is being fueled by edited pictures they are comparing themselves to on social media. The Time magazine article “How Social Media Is a Toxic Mirror” by Rachel Simmons tells of the risk for everyone to feel self-conscious about their bodies. However, those most at risk are teenage girls who spend a significant amount of time on any form of social media. In response to the article, I agree with the negative effects social media has on the body image of teenage girls because I have seen girls trying to change their bodies. I also see the effects logos and pathos have on the strength of the article and what would make it a stronger and more credible source for information on teen body image.

“When close to 2,000 women in the United States were surveyed in the years 2010-2011, only 12.2% were found to be satisfied with their body sizes” (Whyte, Newman, Voss 822). There are many negative effects on women starting at younger and younger ages because of the body image that is portrayed in the media. Being exposed to the media at a young age makes girls more vulnerable to what they see and hear which makes this a long-term problem. Seeing models, women believe these pictures to be “ideal” and compare themselves to that. They can even compare themselves to their peers which could lead to bullying. Some girls do not realize that the models are not portrayed as a real, average women. Their

Media is everywhere, and what the sources contain effect people from all walks of life but the issue of body image is one thing that seems to stay in constant attention. Psychologists found there was a strong association linking social media use to body image concerns, dieting, body surveillance, a drive for thinness, and self-objectication in adolescents. One study found that female college students who spend their time posting, commenting on, and comparing themselves to photos on Facebook were more likely to link their self-worth to their looks (How Social Media Is a Toxic Mirror by Rachel Simmons). Even though girls report more body image disturbance then boys, it has been shown that both genders are equally

Teenage girls as they are developing, just building their confidence. If users are young they are only being shown that thin and makeup makes you beautiful. Believing that if they don’t look like women on social media then they are “ugly”. On average teenage girls, use social media more than teenage boys. Wanting to show off their lives and comparing themselves to other users. Social media has been a factor that influences teenagers in their everyday life. In the article, Does Social Media Impact on Body Image? According to Roxby, “Magazines and television are often blamed for portraying an ideal body image that causes people to question their looks and lose confidence in themselves”. Teenage girls can be more easily convinced that they are different and not beautiful. Those users put forward your best self, and that can be a bit dangerous, because they naturally compare themselves to others. Social media has a huge effect on young people’s body confidence. At times, these young people want to look so much like the girls on social media that they go as far

M. (2014). Social Media Effects on Young Women’s Body Image Concerns: Theoretical Perspectives and an Agenda for Research. Sex Roles, 71(11-12), 363-377.

The results of this study were concise and clear. This study showed a positive correlation between internet exposure and body image concerns among adolescent girls. A staggering 95.9% of adolescents had access to the internet in their home and 43.4% had internet connections in their rooms. The average time spent on the internet was 2 hours per day. The majority of the activities done on the internet was related to thin beauty ideals. Moreover, Facebook, which is a well know social networking site, produced negative body image concerns among adolescents. An overwhelming majority of 75.1% of adolescent girls spent an hour and a half on Facebook. On the other hand, MySpace only had 46.3% with an average time spent of 34.4 minutes a day.

As a result of the pressures to obtain the image portrayed in the media, we start to develop low self esteem and body related issues. For instance, the models and movie stars on television all influence our mindset believe or not. We see their clear skin, thin physics and idealize them. Some become obsessed with the idea of “perfection” and start to alter their own appearance to reach it. Eating disorders have dramatically increased over the years due to the media’s effect on people’s minds. Examples of negative teen body image are everywhere. There are several forms of media; such as television, print, broadcast, radio, talk, and the internet. Social network sites such as Instagram, Facebook, and even YouTube are all outlets teenagers go to

Media’s effect on what beauty should be appears strongly with women reporting “greater feelings of inadequacy regardless of their real body weight”. In movies and on television the heroes always have the impossible ideal body. On the other hand, overweight people are usually portrayed as a joke or as unattractive in movies and on television (Vitelli, Media Exposure and the ‘Perfect’ Body). There was a study done on 391 middle school students, where they all took a survey. They were all asked who their favorite same-sex character from a movie or a television show was. The majority of responses fell on the thin side (Vitelli, Media Exposure and the ‘Perfect’ Body). Fashion magazines promote lip injections being the new trend for women in their 20’s (Raydon, 3). And for advertising, they claim that a thin, pretty girl is going to sell better on the cover of a magazine. Since they claim that “thinness sells” they continue to use this method for advertising (Dittmar and Howard 478). Psychologists found strong evidence linking social media use to body image dissatisfaction, dieting, body surveillance, drive for thinness, and self objection in adolescents. The most vulnerable users of social media are those that spend the most time on it. One study found that girls who spend the majority of time on Facebook are more likely to link their worth to their self image

Social media plays an immense role in the way that stereotypes about attractiveness is conveyed in regards to body image. As Gerbner and Gross wrote in 1976, the cultivation theory states that high frequency viewers of television are more susceptible to media messages and the belief that they are real and valid. The subjection to social media can cause an idealistic view amongst young girls and women alike. Among the mechanisms of human agency none is more central or pervasive than beliefs of personal efficacy (Bandura, 1997). This belief that these body types are achievable can lead to females being dissatisfied within their own skin. The result of the discontent can potentially lead to eating disorders. Body dissatisfaction occurs when views of the body are negative and involves a perceived discrepancy between a person 's assessment of their actual and ideal body (Cash and Szymanski, 1995 and Grogan, 2008). It is estimated that approximately 50% of adolescent girls report being unhappy with their bodies (Bearman, Presnell, & Martinez, 2006). Surveys have revealed that the exposure to social media can cause body dissatisfaction, eating disorder symptoms’ and the concept that thin is “beautiful” amongst young girls and women (Botta 1999; Harrison and Hefner 2006; and Stice et al. 1994). With media influence, the question is the strength of the effect, studies indicate the effects are small in scale; they are likely to operate in accordance with particular differences in

In today’s society, the public is exposed to technology at even younger ages than ever before. Everywhere you go these days you see kids even as little as three holding their parent’s phones or even their own, watching videos or playing games. But as said in the article Does Social media impact on body image by Philippa Roxby, as kids start becoming teenagers their technological uses advance and they start to rely on social media sites for new sources of communication, and their main channel to the outside world. Based on studies conducted by psychologists they have come up with a conclusion that social media has a direct relationship to body image concerns. I believe that in today’s society we should focus on promoting self-confidence as most of the adolescents have a very low assurance of their own bodies. Although a study conducted in the article The Upside of Selfies: Social media isn’t all bad for kids by Kelly Wallace says that a survey which resulted in 52% of the teens saying that social media positively influences them. Even though social media platforms have some beneficial aspects such as they make people want to go on diets, exercise, and eating healthy, the teenagers don’t really look/understand the negative aspects of it. The impacts that are carried with social media are mostly negative such as fancying teenagers to lose confidence in themselves and has become a toxic mirror to them. The visual platforms impact