Social Media And Its Impact On Society

Modern people live media-saturated lives, even children as young as 6 years old, have had some type of media exposure. Extensive exposure to media outlets can lead to body image issues. Body image is defined as, the subjective picture or mental image of one's own body (Smolak 2003). Body image is formed as people compare themselves to others. Because, people are exposed to countless media images; these images become the basis for such comparisons. These mental comparisons, have a strong influence on an individual’s personal perception of beauty. Media outlets create images and pressures about what our bodies should look like; however, sometimes these images have been manipulated, creating an unrealistic expectation of beauty. When an individual believes that their body is substandard, they can become depressed, suffer from low self-esteem, or develop eating disorders.

Throughout the recent decades, people have been obsessing more and more over their bodies and physical appearances. In the mainstream media, people described as “attractive” are the ones with thin figures, long hair, and perfect complexions (Media’s Influence on Beauty). If one is pleasing to the eye, one is accepted in society. However, the standards that social media is placing on body image today is becoming a big controversy. The media is responsible for creating the epitome of beauty and the perfect body image. “Images portrayed by the media tend to make people strive to be someone else's idea of perfect while subconsciously ignoring their own goals” (The Media and Body Image). People are suffering

“Enhancing Your Body Image” (2015) discusses the impact popular culture has on women strive to have Twiggy’s body and men hope to be the tough guy like Clint Eastwood (p.340). People are willing to alter their appearance physically; for example, people try to lose weight or change their personality by playing sports or instruments to find the sense of belonging. Society has a fascination of trying to belong within a social group.

Social Media has completely shaped the way people view others based on their body image.

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

Social media has become a part of everyone’s life. The media gives people the opportunity to communicate with families, friends and it also provides the opportunity to meet new people. Furthermore, the media gives you the opportunity to share your most intimate inner thoughts, your picture, and your activity. Nevertheless, the media has had an enormous impact on the way people do the things, and it influences how we shop and is changing the way we look.

Over the span of several decades the media has evolved in great ways. What constitutes as media would be social media websites, magazines, televisions shows, films and anything that spreads news around, it is also our source of entertainment. There is “old” media which is media that had been around for awhile such as magazines, movies and television. There is also “new” media which consists of the internet in general, cell phones, computer and video games.14 With the growing number of technology, comes the spread of propaganda through media, both negative and positive, like body image. The term “body image” was first used by a psychoanalyst by the name of Paul Ferdinand Schilder (1886-1940)4 the meaning of body image is that it

Recently in media, there has been a focus on the hyper-sexualization of the female body, as well as very specific body images which have been presented as the perfect body in society. Both of these issues enforce ideas of unrealistic, and even unhealthy beauty standards among teens, and even adults in today’s society. Though it may not be the sole cause of society’s body image issues, media has certainly had a very clear impact on these issues. Media today has a profound impact on the perception of the human body and how it should be as a result of increased use of modification softwares to distort society’s image of the human body, the use of social media to give

In today’s world, people spend more and more time behind a screen on a device that is constantly streaming media. Though it seems like it may have no effect, Social media, social interactions and environment can play a huge role in peoples’ self-esteem and body-image. Peoples’ self-image is negatively affected by social and environmental factors because they create unrealistic body images that are widely advertised by social media, they shape our schemas, and these social interactions therefore push people to do things to fix their bodies.

Social media are the main form of mass media being used by the youth of today, and researchers in the U.S. and Australia have commenced studying how these may be affecting body image concerns. However, the processes underlying how social media may influence young people’s body image appear to be no different from underlying other forms of mass media. Research is needed to more fully evaluate youth’s experiences of online appearance culture and how this may foster both negative and positive peer interactions (Williams and Ricciardelli 389).

Young men and women across America are active in social media, they read magazines, and watch television shows. These are all forms of social media. Imagine reading a magazine with a beautiful woman’s face on the front or a muscular man posing for an advertisement. When we see these things we often get jealous of the model’s appearance, depressed in our own image, or motivated to do things to physically change our bodies. In this newfound world of social media, we have the tendency to feel more pressure from the world around us. From a TV show picturing skinny models to social networking featuring altered body parts or even the dolls many children play with at play time. We are pressured to be an ideal shape and size at every corner we turn. A few ways social media effects body image in society are pushing unattainable ideas of beauty, encouraging the alteration of body parts, and by influencing judgement of people who aren’t perfect.

While many people put off and ignore the issue of social media and its downfalls, others say that people should think about how our lives are being affected by this advancement in technology, including, lack of human contact and precious time being lost due to consumption with social media. Social media is currently a highly controversial topic in which numerous people have mixed feelings. Society has typically viewed new advancements in technology as beneficial and a sign of success within their country. But, has it solely caused successful outcomes, or are there downfalls to these advancements?

Since we as a society are currently living in the age known as the Technological Revolution, chances are that in some form or fashion you are aware of and have been exposed to social media. Well, imagine a world where the use of social media became more structured and used to improve education as opposed to just being used for keeping in touch with friends and family, sharing pictures, and seeing how many likes you can get per post. According to the Business Insider Intelligence Report of 2014, social media is now the top Internet activity in the world, Americans’ specifically “spend more time on social media than any other major Internet activity, including email” (Business Insider). Considering this information, it is obvious that social media plays a vital role and impacts the lives of our nation on a daily basis. Some argue that its impact can be negative and a distraction to the educational experience of the younger generation. Regardless of your personal opinion, what if educators were to work with the use of social media for educational purposes. Since it is highly used, it would not only gain the learner’s interest but also would reach more people at large. Therefore, we should learn to better utilize social media in a more constructive educational manner.

Specific Purpose: The purpose of this speech is to bring light to the relationship that social media influence and body image have with one another by informing with 3 effects.

The term ‘social media’ has become a broad-term to describe a large number of online systems that serve as a platform for the generation, and distribution of user-generated content. Social media creates a virtual social space, where a large number of users come together and interact with one another. These interactions can be either structured, such as responses that are moderated on blogs, semi-structured, such as a discussion between an extended network on Facebook, or unstructured, such as the anarchial functioning of Twitter.