Carrasco 1

Javiera Carrasco

Prof. Celestino

English 1010

December 6 , 2018

Welcome to the World of Social Media

Ever since the evolution of social media, the idea of the ideal body image has been an

ongoing controversy. Magazines, films, photographs, and now social media have contributed to

creating beauty standards for users. Throughout the years with the increase of technology and the

creation of online social media platforms, there has been an increase in cases of eating disorders,

social comparison, and the use of photoshop among active social media users. Research shows

that there is a connection between social media and how it is affecting users interpretation of

active social media users personal body image. Altogether active users should be skeptical about

the content that is being posted on social media, and how the content may be affecting society as

a whole.

The rise of contemporary media like Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Snapchat is

all interactive applications in which users can instantly share content. Active users have the

access to personalize the type of content that they are interested in viewing. Contemporary media

has created a personalized bond between the user and the content (Perloff, 366). Such exposure

to personalization can have an impact on individuals perspective of the ideal body image.

Everyone who has an online profile on any social media platform also has the freedom to share

their opinion about the content that they are interacting with. This function can be used
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negatively causing the owner of the content to have a constant pressure to keep up with an image

or lifestyle. For example users that are struggling with eating disorders can find sites that will

support their habits and inspire them to keep up with their unhealthy lifestyle.

” Two experiments with female undergraduates have examined the impact of pro-ana

Websites, indicating that exposure to these sites exerts a number of short-term negative

influences, such as lower self-esteem, negative affect, and decreased perceived

attractiveness (e.g., Bardone-Cone and Cass 2006, 2007). Pro-bulimia or pro-mia

Websites may also exert harmful effects on young women (Levine and Chapman 2011)”

(Perloff, 366)”.

Users of all ages are exposed to eating disorder sites. Filtering websites should be

brought to concern because young users like children can be informed on how to follow

through eating disorder lifestyles, and find a group to bond with and support a unhealthy

lifestyle. These sites can affect the the developmental growth of a child on a physical, mental,

and even social aspect. Mental disorders like depression, anxiety can be triggered by sites that

are promoting this type of behavior. By filtering websites containing harmful content, early

developed eating disorders can be prevented which may lower the percentage of depressed

people may decrease as well.

Contemporary medias can also cause social comparison. With exposure to infinite

quantity of instant content, social comparison can become a constant habit among active users

which causes an increase in body dissatisfaction. ”Increasingly, social media users evaluate their

appearance based on photographs of their peers, rather than models or celebrities (Fardouly et al,

2015), (Guest,444)”. Social comparison can turn into an addictive habit that will affect the way
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active users portray their ideal body image. Social comparison can affect young users, and they

may feel the constant pressure to share and keep up with the beauty standards and trends of the

digital society. Digital natives are at risk of being introduced to social comparisons at an early

age.

“The online environment is filled with pictures of peers and opportunities for social

comparisons. Negative comparisons can (theoretically) be particularly likely when young

women compare their online pictures with peers, not knowing their peers have digitally

altered the photographs (Tiggemann et al. 2014)”, (Stronge, 202).

Social comparison should be a concern when actively using social media. Users should

keep in mind that not all of the content that is portrayed in social media is real, and is most likely

digitally altered. Social comparisons can affect the self esteem of a person and happiness levels.

Which can lower the overall performance of individuals on simple daily tasks, and affect social

interactions and relationships with other people (Stronge,203). Keeping in mind that appearances

are meant to look different, and that it is merely quite impossible to clone someone else's image.

When users can relate to sites that are promoting a healthy positive body image, not only will

their self esteem improve but their overall performance will be of higher quality.(Stronge).

Not only should the active users viewing the content be aware of social comparisons, but

the person sharing the content should think about how they are influencing their supporters. If

influencers are constantly sharing perfectly altered images, their followers may feel the pressure

to share perfect images as well to fit in with the digital society. Social comparisons can tempt

users to engage with photoshop applications to share the perfected versions of themselves just

like the online influencers that they are following on platforms. Which can affect the body image
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of active users because they may feel like they need to keep up with a altered photoshopped

image online, and alter themselves to satisfy online beauty standards.

Portraying an ideal image through social media platforms is a crucial aspect of the digital

community. Commonly popular social media pages portray images of a false reality. Especially

when influencers are advertising their body in the media with body ideals that are physically

unachievable (Guest, 444). “ Over the past 20 years, digitally altering images using photo-editing

software has become increasingly common in traditional forms of mass media (Jones, 2013),

(Guest)”. Photoshop has become a commonly used application among the overall social media

users. Currently photoshop applications are in such high demand that you can now instantly edit

pictures on your smartphones. Digital natives are introduced to the platforms with a false reality,

and photoshop applications at an early age. This can lead to body dissatisfaction at a young age.

Tempting them to use and promote photoshop applications.

Most of the users today are the young people who about 90% interacting and interpreting

photoshopped content, and are constantly using social media on the daily (Guest,445). Today

unrealistic body proportions tend to be shared across media not only by celebrities, but also by

the regular social media user. Photoshopped content can be harmful to young users interpretation

of their body image. Young users may feel the need to look a certain way, so that their image is

acceptable to the digital society. With the more advanced photoshop applications it can be

merely impossible to recognize that an image has been altered, so users should be skeptical about

the content that is being shared online.

Today not only do celebrities have access to this program, but also the regular social

media users of all ages. Altering images can be as simple as picking a filter on your phone
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camera application to adjust the tone of your picture. There are also various apps like FaceTune

where photoshop is literally at the the fingers of the users. There is now a instant 24/7 access to

photoshop applications which may become an addictive habit. It is important to consider that

more than half of the images that are posted on to social media have been digitally altered, and

that the flawless appearances that are being portrayed probably don't even physically exist.

In conclusion knowing that most of the content in social media is altered, users should be

more skeptical about comparing themselves to others, and what pages they decide to engage

with. That a constant social comparison can affect the mental and physical health of the

consumer. Users should also think about the way that they are sharing and engaging with content

online. That by engaging with photoshop applications to share the perfect selfie can be very

damaging to their personal interpretation, and can affect the users engaging with the content and

their personal interpretation of themselves. That by sharing perfected images the younger users

may be influenced to keep up with the perfect image that social media is sharing with them. If

people with a large social media following start to share more awareness about the false reality

issue, there would be more thought put into content that is being shared.

On the other hand creators who assemble the social media platforms should filter harmful

content so that there is a decrease in cases of eating disorders and depression. They could also

consider ways to inform active users that the image they are viewing is altered. Simply by

providing the altercation details of an image, there would be less social comparison, and body

dissatisfaction among active users. Perhaps the social stigma of thin a thin body being a healthy

body would diminish, and a more diverse body positive digital society can emerge.
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There could also be more online restrictions on the kind of content certain age groups are

accessing. Today all of the children that are born are born digital natives. Meaning that the

youngest of children can be influenced by harmful content that is being posted online. On the

other hand parents should also be aware and involved with the content and monitor what their

children are interacting with online. There could also be a system where parents can be linked to

their minors social media accounts, to observe the content that is being viewed, shared, and

interacted by their children is in according to their parenting.

Simply if the parents of these digital natives become active users, they can become more

informed about online content. If active social media users are aware of the content that they are

interacting with a decrease in cases of eating disorders, social comparison, and the use of

photoshop among active social media users may occur. Creating a world where it is okay to have

imperfections, and and increase in more diverse body types are being portrayed as beautiful

online.
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Works Cited

Guest, Ella. "Photo Editing: Enhancing Social Media Images to Reflect Appearance Ideals."

Journal of Aesthetic Nursing, vol. 5, no. 9, Nov. 2016, pp. 444-446. EBSCOhost,

doi:10.12968/joan.2016.5.9.444.

Perloff, Richard1, r.perloff@csuohio.edu. "Social Media Effects on Young Women's Body

Image Concerns: Theoretical Perspectives and an Agenda for Research." Sex Roles, vol.

71, no. 11-12, Dec. 2014, pp. 363-377. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1007/s11199-014-0384-6.

Stronge, Samantha1, sstr041@aucklanduni.ac.nz, et al. "Facebook Is Linked to Body

Dissatisfaction: Comparing Users and Non-Users." Sex Roles, vol. 73, no. 5-6, Sept.

2015, pp. 200-213. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1007/s11199-015-0517-6.