Social Media And Its Effects On Society Essay

We live in an era ruled by social media, primarily when it comes to teenagers, social media is used for everything. From communicating with family and friends to being used as a news outlet, and even advertisement for business and companies. This article is titled “Social Media: What's Not to Like,” written by Alison Pearce Stevens. The topic of this essay is the effect social media can have on teenagers. Social media, on one hand, can be used as a great way to share with the world and boost teens’ self-esteem. On the other hand, social media can be used as a place for bullying, body shaming and can cause depression or even suicide in teens.

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.

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

Media messages play a significant role in forming gender norms and body satisfaction. Social media is one of the causes for the negative body image in teens. Some teens struggle with self-esteem and body image when they begin puberty because their body goes through many changes, they want to be accepted by their friends.

Having social media in today's generation has become one of the most popular sources of communication. Social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter have a huge impact on young teens. Since social media is a way to network with people and friends, provide entertainment, sharing opinion or comments, etc., most often times it is the first and last thing the younger generation would see right before bed or when they wake up. For example, Instagram is a way to share photos about oneself or about anything. Most people would post "trendy" picture of what a perfect body might be or what is perceived as beautiful. But what teenagers might not know is not everything you see on social media is true. Pictures may be deceptive. These pictures have provided unrealistic standards as to what is considered beautiful in today’s society. By establishing unattainable standards of beauty and bodily perfection, the media drive ordinary people to dissatisfaction with their body images like what movie I will be talking about in this essay, “The DUFF.” The dissatisfaction can results in resorts to drastic measures, and even disorders of behavior, as people try to achieve these unreachable goals.

Due to the increase in popularity of social media, today’s generation is bombarded with unrealistic standards when it comes to beauty. When young people today first turn on their cellphones, more often than not, they refer to a social media site. Whether it’s the ever-popular Instagram, where people can post pictures and followers can “like” to show their approval or post comments. Or, whether it’s Twitter, where people can post witty or inspiring or informational things for their followers to see and can be retweeted or favourited. Or they could click on the little blue Facebook icon, where all of the above can happen. These are some of the most popular social media outlets today because young people are

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

Often times, many people believe that social media can have a positive effect on one’s body image. For instance, social media can be a place to connect, motivate, build self-esteem and boost one’s confidence level. There are social networking sites that allow people to share photos, special moments, and motivational quotes with everyone in their circle. This is conspicuous in the article, "Social Media and Body Image Concerns: Further Considerations and Broader Perspectives" when the authors point out, “…given that the Internet includes both realistic and unrealistic images, in the longer term some of them images may lead to less body concerns and provide a supportive and naturalistic environment for young girls.” (Williams and Ricciardelli

After debating whether social media has a positive or negative effect on teens, it has been concluded that social media has a negative impact on the developing teenager. Social media can be a great tool at times, by being a means to communicate with friends, classmates, and family members; It can also help spread your ideas, hobbies and life experiences. But after reading the article Studies Offer Mixed Messages On Social Media’s Effects On Young People, By The Baltimore Sun, it explains how social media has a negative effect on teens by causing them to compete (to have a better social media feed), change their body to fit into society (the ideal body shape) and the way it can makes someone feel.

Those on social media sites such as Twitter often represent the younger demographic of adolescence; a time where adolescents are experiencing development in their bodies and develop an awareness to their body image in accordance social standards (Ghaznavi, 2015). Therefore, those on social media sites such as Twitter are often at

Many studies support the negative effects of screen media on adolescents. One of these studies was by researchers at American University. This study “found a link between social media use and negative body image…”(McDaniels). A survey conducted in London, by the Royal Society for Public Health, showed that young people who frequently use Instagram and Snapchat are likely to have body-image issues. These issues come about from the frequent viewing of heavily edited images on these social media apps. Pictures of people on these apps are edited as to make the photographed person look flawless, this leads the young brain to set unobtainable goals for itself. These unobtainable goals eventually lead to body-image and body confidence issues and in some cases other psychological problems as well, for example, depression. It is also mentioned in the same article that studies have shown that social media takes a mental and physical toll on some young people. “ It has

During adolescence, young people are usually concerned with how their body looks and social media makes things even worse with the display of unrealistic bodies. With these images being

This study shows that social media can not only affect women now but also in their adolescent stages regarding their ideal body image and their connection to the influence of the media. This study is divided into five different parts, from the modifications done to models to the different kinds of marketing strategies used in advertisements to portray certain expectations. The second part, discusses how the media is an important part of our culture, and how

Social media sites have become an excellent platform for interacting with others and have the potential to change how we communicate. Some examples of these sites are Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Youtube and Reddit. You, the younger generation have grown up with newer technologies and these sites at your fingertips. Social media has several benefits to ourselves and society, but it also has harmful effects. As a young member of society, you should be educated on the dangers of social media and be aware of your own social media habits. Social media sites have become an issue in recent years as they are a platform for unhealthy habits including obsessive behaviors and becoming distracted from real life events. Teens also face issues with body image when using social media, causing mental health issues. The lack of privacy in social media and the effects of your digital footprint is also a large issue in social media. Cyberbullying can happen to anyone online, making it a clear concern for users of social media. Many say that the future depends on the younger generation, so educating yourself on the possible effects of social media is crucial.

The media influences body images. Having the perfect body image is posted everywhere from the television networks to magazines. Social media such Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, have a significant role in an adolescent's life. Anyone in the social network can post videos such as makeup tutorials, ads, dieting supplements. One example of how adolescent react to celebrities is when Kylie Jenner posted on social media on how she gets her big lips.Using a cup and putting it around your mouth, leaving it like that for about five minutes. Saying after, your lips are