Teenagers and young people comparing themselves and
their bodies to images they see in the media is nothing new. However, nowadays,
it is much easier with Instagram, an app filled with beautiful images that
anyone can access at any time. Just a few swipes and one finds themselves in a
world where everything is perfect, everyone is attractive, and the grass is (because
of filters literally) greener. Social media websites and applications are very
popular amongst teenagers. Seven in ten people aged 13-17 years old check
social media more than once a day (Common Sense Media, 2018). Instagram is one
of the most popular ones, with 800 million users active monthly and over 95
million photos uploaded every day (Statista, 2019). Since teenagers spend so
much time on Instagram, it is not a surprise that the app can have negative
influence on their body image, self-esteem, and overall satisfaction with
themselves and their life.
On Instagram, it is possible to follow anyone, from
people you know in real life such as friends or relatives, to celebrities or
social media influencers. Celebrities and influencers usually heavily edit
their photos, making themselves appear more attractive, fitter, and slimmer. Young
girls following these accounts can feel like they are fat and not attractive. According
to a study, being exposed to pictures of celebrities who are slim and own what
is considered ideal bodies leads to higher levels of body dissatisfaction and even
symptoms of disordered eating (Tiggermann & Pickering, 1996). Some might
argue that edited images would have no influence at all. However, young girl
may not be aware an image is manipulated and think of it as of reality (Kleemans
et al., 2016).
On Instagram, users can “like” the pictures that
others post. Many users judge themselves and others based on how many likes
their Instagram posts get. Some teenage girls delete selfies that they posted
on Instagram when they do not get enough likes even though before posting, they
liked how they looked in the picture. According to some researches, being “liked”
on social media has the ability to create a sense of purpose. In a study,
college students were asked to fill out a questionnaire about their sense of
purpose and then asked to post a selfie. The students then were told false
numbers of likes that their selfies received. The research found that
participants that had a low sense of purpose and were told that their picture
got a lot of likes had higher self-esteem than before (Burrow & Rainone,
2017). This shows that getting a high number of likes on just one post can improve
a young person’s self-esteem, while getting a low number can make the feel negative
about themselves.
However, Instagram does not only influence one’s appearance.
The images that people share mostly reflect only the positive things in their
lives, creating a curated and glorified version of their lives. Because of
that, some teenagers might feel dissatisfied with their lives and unhappy. According
to a study, Instagram users who follow more strangers have a higher possibility
of having depressive symptoms (Lup et al., 2015). In my opinion, that is
because when someone follows more people they know than strangers, they know
what their life is like in reality, while if someone follows a lot of
celebrities, it is easy for them to fall for the belief that their lives are
actually that perfect.
In conclusion, I believe that Instagram use has
negative effects on teenagers’ body image, self-esteem and an overall satisfaction
with their lives and themselves. If someone gets many likes on their photos, it
can boost their
self-esteem, while endless scrolling on celebrities’ profiles can lead to low body image and view their life as boring and unsatisfactory.
self-esteem, while endless scrolling on celebrities’ profiles can lead to low body image and view their life as boring and unsatisfactory.
References:
Burrow, A. L., & Rainone, N. (2017). How many
likes did I get?: Purpose moderates links between positive social media
feedback and self-esteem. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology,
69, 232-236. doi: 10.1016/j.jesp.2016.09.005
Common Sense Media (2018). Social Media, Social Life.
Retrieved from https://www.commonsensemedia.org/research/social-media-social-life-2018
Kleemans, M., Daalmans, S., Carbaat, I. &
Anschütz, D. (2016). Picture perfect: The direct effect of manipulated
Instagram photos on body image in adolescent girls. Media Psychology, 21(1), 93-110. doi: 10.1080/15213269.2016.1257392
Lup K., Trub L., Rosenthal L. (2015). Instagram
#instasad?: Exploring associations among instagram use, depressive symptoms,
negative social comparison, and strangers followed. Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw., 18(5),
247-252. doi: 10.1089/cyber.2014.0560
247-252. doi: 10.1089/cyber.2014.0560
Statista. (2019). Number of monthly active Instagram
users from January 2013 to June 2018 (in millions). Statista - The Statistics Portal. Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/statistics/253577/number-of-monthly-active-instagram-users/
Tiggemann, M. & Pickering, A. S. (1996). Role of
television in adolescent women's body dissatisfaction and drive for thinness. International Journal of Eating Disorders,
20(2), 199-203. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1098-108X(199609)20:2<199::AID-EAT11>3.0.CO;2-Z
-Adela
Hey Adela!
ReplyDeleteThank you for covering such an important issue in today's world! I agree with your point of view; however, believe that problem attaches upon not only teenagers but also the adults who actively use social media such as Instagram. People should be more careful while surfing the internet, as some posts may hurt their feelings or trigger violent behavior.
Hey! I really like your topic because it is probably the most concerning issue with social media nowadays as many young people do use Instagram to seek for gratifications through receiving likes, posting pictures hoping they can "imitate" celebrities as you mention in your posts. This is critical because they do it habitually perceiving it as normal because many other young people do it as well. However, it is not healthy for mental health of youth. Therefore, talking about it is important no matter whether through blogs or on TV, magazines. It needs attention!
ReplyDeleteMichaela
Hi Adel,
ReplyDeleteI agree that Instagram is kind of taking over in terms of self-esteem as you said, and create negative thoughts about yourself using instagram. Or let´s just say it makes you feel you look and are worse compared to the "ideal" people on instagram. However, I think it has a lot to do with who you follow and how much you use it, since there are many influencers that can be used as motivation. Although there are these possibilities to get motivated like that, I strongly agree with your statements about the self-esteem and being accepted in terms of likes and posts. Also, instagram eats up a lot of time, which you could use to do something productive and in contrary it could boost the self-esteem in real life.
Hello Adela!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your blog as it gives a deeper inside into the issue regarding social media which I also talked about. Because Instagram is currently one of the most used and popular social platforms, I believe the negatives associated with it should be given the attention they deserve. And mostly because Instagram is all about images. People and mainly teenagers should be aware that not everything they see on Instagram is real.
Alexandra Švejdová
DeleteHi Adela,
ReplyDeleteThis is a great topic to discuss and one that is very important in today's society. I have two teenage sisters, and their social media usage reflects the current trend seen on Instagram. They post pictures for likes and glorify other users pictures with comments. There is pressure for young girls to look a certain way, use certain captions, and comment a certain way on their friends pictures. This topic is important to be aware of as it is causing harmful affects on self-esteem.
Hey Adela, I really enjoyed your topic as it is similar to mine! I hate how influenced our society is on these photoshopped "instagram models." I never have really thought about how individuals alter their photos but rather to actual model and photo agencies. It is crazy how apps give people the ability to change themselves, and how this is considered the "norm." Anyways, great job on your blog, I really enjoyed it!
ReplyDeleteHi Adela,
ReplyDeleteI am glad to be presented with an opportunity to read a blog about such a concerning issue in the modern society. I strongly agree that the incorrect (unrealistic) representation of a person's life on Instagram may negatively affect his or her followers' self-esteem. Therefore, there is a strong need of researching the particular topic, which I hope you will succesfully accomplish with your blog.
Sincerely,
Galiya Tillabay
Hey Adela!
ReplyDeleteNicely said! I could not agree more with you that social media, specifically Instagram, has a negative impact on our body image, self-esteem and overall satisfaction with our lives. The only thing I would add is that teenagers and young adults are endlessly scrolling through these unrealistic photos, which not only consumes us in a virtually fake world, but takes away so much time out of our day. I think this is a very important topic for our generation today.
Hello Adela!
ReplyDeleteYou did a great job writing this blog as you covered a very popular and important issue. Instagram portrayals of people are indeed different from reality and this is very sad. A lot of teenagers see "beautiful" picture on Instagram (that in reality are photoshopped) and because of this their self-esteem becomes lower. I am agree with your opinion that instagram 'likes' mean nothing and absolutely don't reflect the actual image of other's lives.