An increased use of social media can lead to harmful changes in thoughts about one’s own body perspective and social media use should be decreased for the welfare of themselves.
Despite many facts and numbers showing how bad social media can be for people’s sense of self, people believe that social media does more good than bad. Alexa Rosypal is a senior at Pennridge High School who shared her story of how social media has helped her. She shared, “It can be beneficial in many ways. Social media can show you ways to make your body healthier by different foods to eat, diets to have, and workouts to do. It helped me learn to live a healthier lifestyle and make the best me.” This view may be accurate for some people, but the healthy impact of social media on body image does not outweigh the comparisons done by a person when scrolling on social media. Increased use of social media leads to bad mentality and behavior regarding looks and body image. There is a correlation between increased use of social media and illnesses due to negative thoughts on body image. According to a study done by the American Psychological Association, 50% of young adults, in their most critically influenced age, who decreased their screen time for a few weeks, feel better about themselves than they did before. According to a mom of two teenage girls, Amanda Stengel, notices, “When my girls get super busy and have no time to scroll on their phones for more than a few hours. I notice them uplifted, consistently eating better and they seem more confident than when they are endlessly scrolling.” Increased screen time allows both males and females to compare themselves to those that pop up on their feeds; even if they are unaware, they are doing it.
These comparisons are made to other people and big influencers who tend to photoshop themselves or put on beauty filters when recording. There are also trends like the “What I Eat In A Day” trend that causes people to question their eating habits and compare them to others. People compare themselves to what they think is reality but are manipulated to fit standards. This can lead to followers thinking they need to look like these creators with a big following who most likely use enhancements which can lead to harmful effects. Over time people believe they need to change their appearance to become better even if they are already healthy. These thoughts then lead to illnesses and an unhealthy lifestyle including problems such as depression and eating disorders. 1 in 4 people at Pennridge High School have experienced one of these effects from having over three hours of social media use per day.
While not everyone’s body image is greatly impacted by social media to extremes, it can still be harmful in many ways. There is no perfect solution as people will always compare but limiting your screen time is good for both your mentality as well as your own image of yourself.
Sources:
https://www.healthline.com/health/social-media-and-body-image#positive-effects
https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2023/02/social-media-body-image
