Negative Effects On Social Media

Social media has a big influence on this generation when it comes to “body image.” Many women, or “models,” will post pictures of themselves showing off their body with thousands of likes and many comments saying “body goals” or “I wish I looked like that.” This

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

In the article “Net Girls: The Internet, Facebook, and Body Image Concern in Adolescent Girls” Marika Tiggemann, Ph.D. and Amy Slater, Ph.D. (Clin Psych) questioned whether there is a connection between internet use and adolescent body image concern. These researchers also focused their study on one specific social networking site, Facebook.

We see ‘ideal selfs’ on the television, so when we log into Facebook, or Twitter, we too create ‘ideal selfs’. If we look at media creating negative self-esteem, the main demographic it effects is women aged about 14-18. Girl Guiding, an organization created for promoting girl’s voices and opinions to be heard conducted a survey, called the Girl’s Attitude Survey. This survey included girls from 11- 21. In 2009, 36% of girls from 11-16 were unhappy with their looks. 1 in 6 girls said they were worried they would develop an eating disorder. They asked girls from 10-21 what aspect they would like to change about themselves. 33% of girls 16-21 wanted to be thinner, compared to 17% of girls 11-13. 66% of girls 16-21 have watched what they were eating, or cut down on their diet. In 2013, 87% of girls from 11-21 thought they were judged more on their appearance and looks than their ability. 80% of the same demographic believe that the media places too much discussion on the bodies and weight of girls and 71% of girls say they would like to lose weight. 31% of girls from 16-21 considered cosmetic surgery, and 47% of girls from 11-16 are unhappy about their looks. You can see that through the years, girls have become more body conscious, and mostly in a negative way.

When teens go online they are faced with edited photos of their idols, or even people they don’t know. Popular social media sites such as tumblr, instagram, twitter, and facebook all have photos of “perfect” girls. Teens log onto these sites are immediately immersed in photos of everything they want to be. Instagram provides the opportunity for girls to edit their photos in such a way that a person would hardly be able to tell who it is anymore. Adding lighting, blurring the background, getting the picture at just the right angle. Teen girls are practically becoming professional photoshoppers at this point. “Encouraging” pictures flood the feed on the social media sites. Examples are “Every time you say no to food, you say yes to thin”, “Skinny jeans. Skinny shorts. Skinny for life.” and “Every time you skip dinner, you wake up thinner” (Marin,

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

For many decades’ research have been developed around the issue of adolescent girls and the women on the desire of being thin (Bell&Dittmar, 2011). With all of the social networking sites of today adolescents are no stranger to the latest technology. According to journalism.org Snapchat has been the youngest “news users” 82% of its users are between the ages of 18-29 (Shearer & Gottfried, 2017). Social media has a different effect on body image on adolescent girls than mass media; in print media with magazines the thin-model and being thin is the main focus for adolescent girls and women (Martin & Gentry, 1997; Dohut & Tiggemann 2006, Goodman 2002, Veldhuis et. al 2014). With social media, individuals can {created a bond with new people made

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

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.

An eating disorder is any of a range of psychological disorders characterized by abnormal or disturbed eating habits such as anorexia or nervosa. Due to the high volume of time spent on social media from teenage girls encourages them that thin is beautiful and they would take any necessary approaches to live up to that standard. According to a research conducted from the University of Haifa 248 girls ages 12 to 19 found that the “more time girls spend on Facebook, the more they suffered conditions of bulimia, anorexia, physical dissatisfaction, negative approach to eating and more of an urge to be on a weight loss diet.” The media have a huge effect on young women because it is now a part of their everyday lives and it is hard to depart from it because of the easy accessibility that came from cellphones. “The internet and social media have brought us amazing things. The downside, specifically related to the clients with Facebook and Instagram, in particular, is it floods us with images that are very often unrealistic,” said Dr. Constance Quinn. The media can be used for positive things such as marketing, endorsing, and etc., but it does more harm for the young women who look to the internet for conformation of who they could possibly become. The media is a huge source of comparison between celebrities and their peers. “The effect of media on women’s body dissatisfaction, thin ideal internalization, and disorder eating appears to be stronger among young adults than children and adolescents. This may suggest that long-term exposure during childhood and adolescence lays the foundation for the negative effects of media during early childhood.” (National Eating Disorders Association) Spending an ample amount of time on the internet, social media, or watching TV encourage young women to become these “skinny and fit” women and that’s where the eating disorders come in place. Young women don’t correctly diet and also in the midst of dieting

Approximately 80% of U.S. women don’t like how they look. The number of women who feel confident in their body is dwindling quickly and is being fueled by edited pictures they are comparing themselves to on social media. In the article “How Social Media Is a Toxic Mirror” by Rachel Simmons in Time magazine she 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 information about body confidence and its negative effects on body image of teenage girls. I also discuss how logos and pathos strengthen the article and what would make it a stronger and more credible source for information on teen body image.

Social media can negatively impact some adolescent girls and young women's body image. This is because media shows unrealistic beauty standards through the use of photoshop and using underweight models. Social media can be negative in a multitude of ways, however, I think that the way people are portrayed online can cause young girls’ distress and feel like they are not good enough. Social media can have a negative impact on women's self-esteem and self-worth along with their body image and satisfaction with their body. I believe that social media can have a negative impact on young girls self-esteem and body image.

Today we live in a world where people, specifically the youth of society, are sharing their lives with an online audience. For most, receiving likes on photos, posts or comments can bring a sense of accomplishment and acceptance. Though some may think social media is beneficial, I believe it has a negative effect on our perceptions of body image. Now with the easy access to the internet, checking Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat has become a part of our daily routine. As a result, you are left with negative side effects that impact your life and how you perceive yourself. The constant viewing of ideal images of human perfection creates unrealistic goals and desires that lead to comparisons, making you feel dissatisfied with your appearance.

Social media allows people to share pictures and ideas with others across the world. Women and girls can use social media to earn approval for their appearance and compare themselves to others. Women during this time period that are so heavily impacted by the media can link their self-worth to their looks. I used scholarly articles all relating to how social media affects body image to decide what my view point was. After research, we can conclude that social media has a negative effect on a woman’s body image.

Moreover, social media is creating a huge impact on body image. When people use any social webpage, they feel the pressure to have the perfect pictures, to write what people want them to write, and to wear the appropriate clothes .In the article: “ How Does Social Media Affect Your Body Image?” there is a girl who says, "It 's only the 'standard beauty ' who gets the 'likes ' I feel like to be the hot girl, you have to be like that, or wear your shirt too low and your skirt too high."-Kirby, 18 (Source 1), she is obviously feeling the pressure of her peers. Some teenagers in order to be liked on the social pages they have to dress with provocative outfits, for example Vanessa says that, “To get positive attention on via Facebook, you have to over-sexualize yourself. And if you read the comments that go with the picture - the