Written by Prarthana Harish
Social media has many positive effects, including helping you stay connected with friends and family, building relationships, spreading news, and even building businesses! But at the same time, social media also has some negative effects that can affect people's lives extremely badly. One way it negatively impacts peoples’ (especially teenagers’) lives is the effect it has on their body image.
Body image is the perspective you have of your body and how it compares to societal standards. Having a negative body image can lead to bad things such as disordered eating. A correlation between time spent on social media, negative body image, and disordered eating.
Some ways that social media can affect body image negatively are:
Comparing constantly
When you are on social media, you are constantly exposed to ‘ideal’ body types and features. This can make people set unrealistic expectations for themselves and their bodies and feel upset when they can’t meet these expectations. Some of these things can lead to disordered eating and extremely negative body image.
Editing/Edited images and filters
According to a 2017 poll, almost two-thirds of Americans edit their photos before posting them. People can create negative body image and unrealistic expectations for themselves through the process of editing photos. This is because people editing photos of themselves allows them to focus on their ‘flaws’ -- and eliminating them.
Filters can also create a distorted view of how people perceive themselves. This is due to the fact that filters present people in their best light, and eliminate small ‘imperfections’ without them even noticing. This creates a raised bar on what people think is the ‘best way to be’ is and can make people feel disappointed about the way they look when they take off these filters.
Interestingly, posting unedited photos seems to have the opposite effect and boost peoples’ confidence in themselves. A 2020 study found that women posting unedited selfies had an increase in self-confidence.
Fitness and ‘thin’ influencers
There are many accounts devoted to fitness and getting slimmer across social media. Some of these accounts are positive and can have good effects of self - confidence, but some of these accounts can cause people to compare themselves with other peoples’ bodies/ faces and feel upset about themselves not having the same ones. These accounts can also make people compare their lifestyles and habits with those of others and feel bad about not having/not being able to keep up the same habits that look like they might contribute to influencers ‘being thin’.
A large 2017 US study surveying college women in the US found that over a 1 month period, 10% of women created posts about body image, dieting, exercise, or weight, and 27.4% of women commented on posts about these things.
These accounts affect men just as much as they affect women. The certain body type idealized for men on social media can lead to body dysmorphia, overexercising, and disordered eating. A 2020 study found that posts showing men with this ‘ideal’ body type got the highest numbers of likes and comments. The study concluded that this fact can be harmful to mens’ body images and perspectives on how they ‘should’ look.
Stigma around seeking help for disordered eating and mental health issues -- especially for men
A lot of times, it is assumed that only women are affected by eating disorders. Because of this, the topic of men being affected by them is rarely talked about, even on social media. This is because sometimes people on social media can have a harmful image of what ‘being a man’ is and sometimes it can involve ‘not complaining. This can contribute to more men with disordered eating going undiagnosed and not receiving the help they need, especially in early stages.
But social media isn’t all negative for body image, and there’s a lot of body-positive content across social media that helps people appreciate and accept all types of bodies and features. A 2019 Australian study found that after looking at body-positive content, people were in better moods and had better perspectives of themselves.
Another way social media can help people build a better body image is connecting them with other people who have better perceptions of themselves and help build a body-accepting community.
So how can you have a better relationship with social media and limit these things affecting you?
Follow people that look like you
One thing that most people do while going through social media is complement other peoples’ unique features and think they are pretty. This can sometimes cause people to wish they had features like the people they are complimenting, but sometimes, people come across people that look similar to them/have similar features and find themselves complimenting and thinking they are nice-looking. When they realize they have the same/similar features, it stops them from comparing themselves to the person they are complimenting and in turn, makes them look at themselves in a better way.
Since social media is full of people presenting themselves in their best light, following people that look like you can help you stop comparisons and realize that you look like them too!
Take breaks from social media
Pay attention to how you feel after going through social media, and if it makes you feel worse and like you are being invaded with content, opinions, and other people - or even if it just makes you feel worse about yourself, then taking breaks is a great way to boost your mood and self-perception!
Find a community
Following body-positive accounts or even just people that look like you can help shift perspectives about ‘ideal’ features and body types. And it might also help you build meaningful connections with people online!
Unfollow accounts that don’t make you feel good
Paying attention to what accounts and images put you in a better mood and lift you up can help you start controlling the content you consume and replace content that makes you feel worse!
Overall, social media has many positive and negative effects, and you can choose to use social media to improve and feel good instead of consuming content that makes you feel worse.
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