The Negative Effects Of Social Media And 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.

Throughout history, body image has been determined by various factors, one of them being the media. In the article “How Social Media Is a Toxic Mirror,” written by Rachel Simmons, she shares the story of a woman who admits to being afraid of leaving her apartment without putting on makeup. “I don’t get to choose how I’m going to leave my apartment today,” one young woman told me, “If I could, my body would look different. But I cant choose which picture makes my arms look thinner” (Simmons). One word: Fear. The woman fears the opinion of others. She second guesses herself before she steps foot outside her apartment building. It displays the lack of confidence she has towards herself as an individual and the control the media has over her. The author goes on to discuss how teenagers look up to social media by obsessing over how many likes

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

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

Along with the unrealistic body images on social media it drags along obsession with dieting, food, and appearance in young adolescents creating eating disorders. “Adolescents diagnosed with serious eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia often report that their symptoms can be linked to the bullying they received from their age peers as well as the unrealistic media images presented as an ideal for them to follow.”(www.phycologytoday.com) The unrealistic body ideal that they feel they need to follow has a big impact on the way teens look at what they are eating, and their weight and shape which can lead to serious eating disorders. “Adolescent females who are unable to conform to the ideal being put forward by movie, television find themselves taking extreme measures to be more like their role models.” (www.phycologytoday.com) Teens feel that it is important to become like their role models that they see on social media and go to extreme measures to become the ideal weight and shape

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.

The ideal body image that is seen by society is being tall, thin, muscular, and fit. It is commonly seen across various media platforms, making it more popular. The group of people that are targeted ranges from teenagers to adults who engaged in social networking websites (Fardouly and et, al.). The increase in media consumption has proven that it leads to body dissatisfaction among consumers. A statistic from Body Image shows, “Similarly, 90% of 16-24 year olds in the United Kingdom (Office for National Statistics, 2013), and 90% of 18-29 year olds in the United States (Pew Research, 2013a), use social networking websites” (Fardouly and et, al.). The amount of exposure to social media is relatively high in a particular age. These social networking websites have images that are constantly

Authors Jakobsons, Simmons, and Kellas all agree on one basic idea, social media can affect teen’s mental health. Jakobsons and Kellas both argue that this age of visual platforms makes teens feel inadequate, compared to others. Comparisons can bring pressure to look perfect, resulting in a higher risk of anxiety and depression. Though Simmon’s dispute revolves more towards the negative body image teens can develop when looking at their feed, she also agrees on the ties it has with mental illness. However, unlike Jakobsons and Kellas, Simmons feels that teens should not be so easily bought in with the images they see on their screens, but should look with the same critical eye as seen through with movies and magazines. On the other hand, Kellas brings in the fact that social media, has made teens feel below average in beauty, intelligence and worth. Authors Jakobsons and Simmons both acknowledge that in order to help with the negative effects of social media parents should talk to their children about feeling confident and letting them know they are perfect the way they are.

To begin with, the issue about body image, how it is displayed in the media, and people’s decisions about their physical and mental health because of it has been an ongoing issue for decades. The age group mostly affected are adolescent girls. Body image is the main factor to adolescent girls’ definition of their self because they have been brought up to believe that appearance is very important for self-evaluation and for the evaluation of other people. Because of this, many adolescent girls have caused great numbers of harm to their bodies. Not only are adolescent girls affected, but boys as well. Scientists and researchers have conducted many studies to show how the media’s portrayal of body image has negatively affected young adolescents. “Harrison (2001) found that exposure to thin-ideal TV was associated with a rise in eating disorder symptoms in adolescent girls; this effect was partially mediated through increasing perceived discrepancies between actual and ideal body shape. Stice, Schupak-Neuberg, Shaw, and Stein (1994) found that, among young college women, greater media exposure was linked directly with more eating disorder symptoms and indirectly— through stronger internalization of the ideal-body stereotype—with greater body dissatisfaction.” (Clay). The argument that Daniel Clay has made here is that because of the exposure to these

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 is used as a platform to popularize trends, leading to people trying to fit in. In the article Negative effects social media causes on body image by Katelyn Gaffney says “There is always some new trend to follow because of social media, which is forever changing. Showing what is “In” currently according to social media. Society is always shown something new in looks, fashion, and appearance in doing this women are always on their toes to fit the new standards caused by media. One month it could be large breast, and in a snap the new “In” could be completely flat chested. Today the biggest fad is being very curvy with a small waist. Before we could know it social media could change that to being extremely skinny with minimalistic

That ideal body image that these Medias create can be very hard to develop. Philippa Roxby, a health reporter from BBC News, she visited different schools and talked to 12- and 13-year-olds about their social media and how easily images could be altered, and have added effects to improve themselves. She explains, “’I ask them to shut their eyes and put their hand up if they have ever enhanced an image on Facebook.’ They usually all put up their hands. One girl said every image she uploaded had been altered” (Roxby). By allowing teenagers at a young age create their social media accounts, it can cause them to access a point where they are not content with the way they look. If people access social media at too young of an age if can build them to lose

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

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

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