Negative Effects of Social Media
Women try to lose weight to seek the acceptance of their appearance from others, which is never a successful approach on weight loss, and sends women further down the spiral. Women associate being thin, with being perfect.3 This is known as pursuing a “thin-ideal”, which has recently become out of control due to technology. There have been countless studies done confirming how movie, television shows, Pinterest, Tumblr, Facebook, and Instagram all contribute to women pursuing a body that is not realistic. This is another case of the comparison game, where college females, every day, compare themselves to the women they see on social media sights and want to look like them. These beauty standards, largely proliferated through the media, have drastic impacts on young women and their body images.15 The more girls are exposed to thin-ideal kinds of media, the more they are dissatisfied with their bodies and with themselves overall.15 Thus, social media is of great concern and the major cause of negative body image among college women ages 18-25.
Social media has given rise to the trends of thinspiration, the thigh gap, and fad diets on how to lose weight fast, as a result infiltrating and distorting the true image and meaning of beauty. These social media sights are loaded guns at teenage women’s fingertips. It provides them with the images they want to look like and as soon as collegiate women find themselves looking at other women with unrealistic body types, the trigger is pulled, shooting down their body confidence. Magazine covers are also guilty of perpetuating the thin ideal because the covers are flooded with titles ranging from, “Lose 5lbs FAST” to “Get Carrie Underwood’s Secret to Her Legs.”
Social media has given rise to the trends of thinspiration, the thigh gap, and fad diets on how to lose weight fast, as a result infiltrating and distorting the true image and meaning of beauty. These social media sights are loaded guns at teenage women’s fingertips. It provides them with the images they want to look like and as soon as collegiate women find themselves looking at other women with unrealistic body types, the trigger is pulled, shooting down their body confidence. Magazine covers are also guilty of perpetuating the thin ideal because the covers are flooded with titles ranging from, “Lose 5lbs FAST” to “Get Carrie Underwood’s Secret to Her Legs.”
College aged women are influenced most by these thin ideals because they are the generation with the greatest use of social media sights. On average studies show women actively use the big three social media networks more than their male counterparts: women make up 64 percent of Facebook users, 58 percent of Twitter users and a whopping 82 percent of Pinterest users.16 While social media has many benefits, such as the connections it gives us, by abusing the images on social media, negative body image is escalating as a result. What is concerning is now younger and younger generations of women are seeing these images of unrealistic body types on television and Facebook, thus leading to the statistic seen in the figure; 69% of American elementary school girls who say that the pictures they see in magazines influence their concept of the ideal body shape.17 Not only are the affects of social media on negative body image detrimental to collegiate women, now the effects are spreading to younger generations.
While you can never prevent what is posted on social media, you can teach a better understanding of the images social media sites are portraying. The majorities of the models used in ad campaigns are photo shopped and have unrealistic body types for a healthy, fully functional woman. Social media sites that expose the thin ideal of beauty are known to be one of the top causes of body dissatisfaction.13While the ways to combat negative body image and the perusal of the thin ideal are unknown; one of the benefits on an educational class would be to bring awareness to the issue. Many college women are not aware the images they are exposing themselves to on a daily basis through social media sites are affecting the way they see themselves. Many college women are not aware every time they compare their body to somebody else’s body; they are suffering from negative body image. Many college women are not aware that restricting their diet and even thinking about purging is a sign of EDNOS, a new developing form of disordered eating. Lastly, many college women are not aware they have the same worries and insecurities about their body as countless other college women.
While you can never prevent what is posted on social media, you can teach a better understanding of the images social media sites are portraying. The majorities of the models used in ad campaigns are photo shopped and have unrealistic body types for a healthy, fully functional woman. Social media sites that expose the thin ideal of beauty are known to be one of the top causes of body dissatisfaction.13While the ways to combat negative body image and the perusal of the thin ideal are unknown; one of the benefits on an educational class would be to bring awareness to the issue. Many college women are not aware the images they are exposing themselves to on a daily basis through social media sites are affecting the way they see themselves. Many college women are not aware every time they compare their body to somebody else’s body; they are suffering from negative body image. Many college women are not aware that restricting their diet and even thinking about purging is a sign of EDNOS, a new developing form of disordered eating. Lastly, many college women are not aware they have the same worries and insecurities about their body as countless other college women.