The Effects Of Social Media On Body Image

Throughout the years, the definition of beauty constantly changes. In our society today many children are told to be true to themselves, to be unique, to be who they are, etc.; But on the other hand social media and the celebrities on there are a constant reminder that there is a certain type of beautiful. The juxtaposition between being yourself and being what is “beautiful” has consistent grey areas and blurred lines making it almost impossible to keep up with what’s “beautiful”. The media, whether intentional or not, portrays this certain body image that you have to be in order to qualify as beautiful.

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.

There are countless sources that show research on how girls’ body image is destroyed over time on social media. By middle school, 40-70 percent of students do not like how two or more of their body parts look (NYC). Over 70 percent of students out of highschool admit that they feel worse about their bodies after looking at their social media (Klein). It has also been found the body image hits “rock

“ 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.

The effects that social media outlets such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram have on their viewers are widely varied, but in my opinion the most impactful message that viewers take away from their social media use is the proposed definition of what is “beautiful”. People are highly moldable beings who soak up what they are surrounded by, so it makes sense that a message implying that they can “improve” themselves by losing weight, applying makeup, or focusing more on what they wear would have such a direct impact on the way they view themselves as a whole. Studies have shown that frequent users of social

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.

Only 9% of women are confident with their body image. Body image has its pros and cons, it is a very controversial topic. Also, everyone has a different perspective about body image, all based on experience. Young girls are more scared of becoming fat than losing a parent, which shouldn’t be true. After all, social media affects the way we see body image, good and bad. Either, raising or even lowering self esteem and confidence on body image. Body image is controversial because it has pros and cons.

What impact does social media have in our lives? Does it affect us in a way that’s damaging to our health? I believe that social media is promoting society’s standards of ‘perfection’ that causes others to feel bad about themselves, and may lead to harmful thoughts/actions such as low self-esteem and eating disorders. In this generation, we have new technology that’s so advanced that almost everyone has a smartphone, with access to social media.

Social media has become one of the most popular sources of communication for the upcoming generation. For young people growing up in today’s society, social media outlets such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter have provided pictures and news that have become the first thing that their eyes see in the morning and the last thing that they see before bed. These pictures have provided unrealistic standards as to what is considered beautiful in today’s society. As young people refer to these images as a form of comparison, it has created harmful circumstances. These influences on the lives of young people have forced them to take extreme measures and in some cases, has been the cause of death. Social media in today’s society has proven to

There is no denying that social media: Instagram and Tumblr, has a significant influence on all of us. The current effects of social media have increased dramatically among young women aged between 15 and 25. As stated in the study by (Grabe, Ward, & Hyde, 2008) that the high exposure to social media portraying the thin-ideal body may be linked to body image disturbance in young women. They used a meta-analysis examined experimental and correlation studies testing the links between media exposure to young women's body dissatisfaction and the unconscious behavior towards having a thin ideal body. The results by (Grabe, Ward, & Hyde, 2008) support the claim that high exposure to social media images depicting the thin-ideal body is related to

Many studies analyze the effects of social media has on our body-image. They consist of the relationship that mass media has on how we perceive our bodies and how body dissatisfaction occurs consequently. Correlational studies have been conducted that support the idea that many women worry about their body image because they do not fit the stereotypical body portrayed through media. Studies by Vonderan and Kinnally (2012) show that television and media exposure seem to have very significant correlations to internalization of the thin ideal, still their impact was overshadowed by other factors. These factors will be discussed in the next section. The strongest media factor related to internalization of the thin ideal and it contribution to the

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.

Unfortunately for young women, they must live up to the ideals of what society expects. One way society implicates itself and its standards onto women is through social media. Social media affects women’s body image of themselves through unrealistic and phony pictures. Our textbook clarifies that “It is estimated that the average woman is exposed to thousands of advertisements a day…” (Shaw 222). Through advertisements, videos, and various other forms of social media that all have the underlying message of what society expects women to represent, which is an object of impossible attainment. Shaw states in the textbook, “Corporate powers, advertising, and the fashion, cosmetics, and entertainment industries all help create standards for us…” (Shaw 222). All of these aspects of social media confronting and condemning women’s body image, leads to unreasonable expectations for women to uphold.

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

“Experts believe that today, more than ten million women and girls suffer from anorexia, bulimia, or related illnesses, with the onset of such problems occurring in patients of younger and younger ages." (Ballaro, 2017, p.) When I was 13 years of age, I started to have a very negative self image. I hated what I looked like, and this eventually lead me to having an eating disorder. I would go online and do research on different diets and how to get a thigh gap and how to lose a large amount of weight in the shortest amount of time. I would also go on social media and find pictures of underweight girls as ‘motivation’ to help me stay focused on losing too much weight. We are greatly influenced by the unrealistic expectations of how we should look from social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat. Even though other factors may play a part in having a low body image, social media negatively affects body image because what is popular on social media, such as pictures of thin models, can be harmful to a person's body satisfaction.