Social media is incredible, in more ways than one—it allows people to connect and communicate with each other, to share their stories, to stay up to date and in the know, and the list goes on. However, while social media is responsible for fostering countless positive experiences, it is also responsible for fostering an overwhelmingly toxic and unhealthy environment, specifically concerning body image issues and self-esteem.
Whenever a user logs onto social media, Instagram in particular, it is highly likely that they are inundated with photos of other people. These Instagram photos could feature people cooking, eating, traveling, shopping, hanging out with friends...anything, really. While this content can be presented as fun and harmless on the surface, it can also lead someone to think negatively of themselves and their bodies, diminishing their self-esteem. Whether the photos featured on Instagram are of fully-clothed, half-naked, fully-naked, real, or edited human beings, there are still going to be users who view these pictures and immediately start comparing themselves to the body they see in the post. In fact, “a study conducted by Florida House Experience, a health institution, uncovered that both women and men compare their bodies with those in the media…it found that 87% of women and 65% of men compare their bodies to images they consume on social and traditional media. In that comparison, a stunning 50% of women and 37% of men compare their bodies unfavorably” (Link Between Social Media & Body Image, 2020).
The results of this study do not surprise me, as I too have experienced, and still do experience, body image and self-esteem issues due to social media use. I often find myself overanalyzing photos that are on my feed, especially photos of female celebrities and influencers. I end up comparing their faces, bodies, and lifestyles to mine, which more often than not, ends in disappointment and dissatisfaction with my own face, body, and life. The fact that I and countless other people compare ourselves to edited, unrealistic pictures is not only unhealthy, but it is unfair. Celebrities and influencers must be more responsible with their posts, notifying their audience and followers when an image is edited; they should not perpetuate or encourage the idea of a false and impossible standard of beauty, especially at the detriment of those who follow and look up to them.
As a result of these beauty and body standards, women, especially young women, are disproportionately affected. “A study performed by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute found that ‘approximately 40% of 9 and 10-year-old girls are already trying to lose weight,’” largely due to social media and its influencers (Doria, 2020). Furthermore, there has been a huge increase in eating disorders and the use of photo editing apps since the rise of social media has taken off. Body image issues do not only manifest on a physical level through disordered eating and edited photos but, “this body dissatisfaction can affect other areas of mental health as well, leading to lower self-esteem and even depression…a study conducted by Woods and Scott found that young adults with increased use of social media, experienced poorer sleep quality, lower self-esteem and higher levels of anxiety and depression” (Doria, 2020).
To keep a long story short, social media has wonderful benefits and allows human beings to connect and communicate in a way in which we have never been able to before; however, social media is also capable of harming and deteriorating our mental health, in ways which have never been experienced before. Social media platforms must work harder to hold their users accountable for the content they post and its influencers must post honest, realistic, and unedited photos. The social media community is an extraordinary one to be a part of, but it has a long way to go—we all must do better, so we can feel better.