Social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook have become very popular in the lives of many people. With adolescents and young adults, especially young women, being the first users of such platforms, it is an important question whether the use of social media contributes to self-esteem, self-esteem, body image, and physical dissatisfaction. Researchers have begun to question the intensity of these questions, and recent studies have shown mixed results. The current article attempts to review these findings and provide possible explanations for the effects of social media use on physical dissatisfaction, with a focus on Instagram, Facebook, and other popular photo-based platforms.
“Social media is not real life,” said Essena O’Neill, a 19-year-old Australian Internet star who quit social media in November 2015 to prove that social media is a way for self-promotion. Essena has been a star on Instagram, Tumblr, YouTube and other social media platforms, with more than 600,000 followers on Instagram alone (McCluskey, 2016). As soon as he was silent, his followers and friends were in a commotion. They called the Australian man and accused him of deliberately closing his social media accounts in order to attract more attention and attention. His followers, friends and acquaintances began posting blogs and videos in response to Essena’s withdrawal from social media, with some even sending death threats.
In the same week Essena left Instagram, The Guardian’s Mahita Gajanan (2015) asked some young women about their self-esteem and confidence and their experience with social media. His discovery was in line with Essena’s; most of the women interviewed felt insecure. Many young women have reported staring at the number of “likes” they get, fearing that they don’t look good with their photos, think people think they look different on social media than in real life, and ask what aspects of their lives people can get the glory of. It was a common theme for women to spend a lot of time thinking about what image they should upload, upload a picture and constantly look at their page to see calculations such as, “which in turn increases their self-esteem.” Although many women are aware of these practices, they are consumed by their need to enter social media and strive to disrupt their habits. Many young women have reported that they live their lives through social media and view media presence as more important than real life. This focus on social media sources and subsequent compulsive behavior may contribute to physical satisfaction. To date, however, the findings of the study have been mixed, and the exact relationship between social media behavior and physical dissatisfaction is unclear.
The Influence of the News
The use of social media in particular has grown significantly in the last decade and continues to be a problem. The Pew Research Center shows that 71% of 13- to 17-year-olds use Facebook, 52% use Instagram, and 41% use Snapchat in 2015. Young girls using social media platforms are more frequently used than their male counterparts; 61% of girls use Instagram compared to 44% of boys. This increase in social media use, particularly Facebook and Instagram, could negatively affect adolescent girls and young women in terms of their self-esteem and physical satisfaction (Lenhart, 2015).
Some researchers have suggested a link between physical dissatisfaction and eating disorders with exposure to fashion magazines or television shows for women (Grabe et al., 2008; Levine & Murnen, 2009). These studies examined the emergence of media forms and body image to show that there may be a link between looking at small body images and dissatisfaction with her body. Another study by Becker and colleagues (2011) shows that media effects can occur even externally. The authors have learned whether direct and indirect media exposure (e.g., television, videos, CD players, MP3 players, internet access, phone access) is associated with pathology diets in young Fiji girls. They found a link between direct media exposure (e.g., personal media exposure) and mass media exposure (e.g., media exposure to people in the same peer group) on pathology diets in Fiji girls. Although there are limitations, such as the question of whether the findings can be documented in general (Becker et al, 2011), this study suggests that at least in this case, social networks play an important role in media interactions and dietary pathology, which may increase media interactions and physical dissatisfaction.
However, these findings should be taken with the knowledge that some investigators did not find a link between viewing media-based images and physical dissatisfaction. Holmstrom (2004) conducted a meta-analysis on pre-existing literature and focused on general media exposure and body dissatisfaction, body image and dietary pathology. Holmstrom focused on 34 subjects that used the media as an independent variant and a dissatisfaction with body image as the reliability and size of the overall result were minimal. Surprisingly, research has shown that women report that they feel better about their bodies after looking at excessively fat photos and have no change in body image after looking at thin bodies. These findings undermine the relationship between the image and the media and suggest the need for further investigation.
A recent meta-analysis by Ferguson (2013) enhanced the work of Holmstrom (2004), Grabe and colleagues (2008) and other researchers, and included the findings from 204 studies. The main point Ferguson honored was the publication of choice; precisely, that significant statistical results are likely to be published and empirical findings are non-existent, by a meta-analysis of a collection of biased findings. Ferguson (2013) did not find a relationship between media and physical satisfaction for men, however, there was a high, but very small, increase in women, especially for those with a desire for body image problems. Overall, meta-analyzes have encouraged researchers to be more secure in their studies of the relationship between social media and physical dissatisfaction because of the magnitude of the impact effect, the design limitations of the study, and the bias bias.
In a Summary
The popularity of the media, especially the media, in its youth makes it a powerful force for good. The findings discussed above provide the basis for future research and open up important discussions on how the use of social media can influence physical dissatisfaction. However, a lot of research is related, and the mechanisms for triggering possible relationships are still unknown. Most of the findings may apply to one person and may not be available to the general public. More work is needed in the future to distinguish between possible annoyances such as peer pressure and image editing. Scientists have identified specific areas to focus on, such as the need to specify moderate formulations (i.e., whether the result may be foodborne illness, physical dissatisfaction, etc.) and design a comprehensive study based on the limitations of previous research (Holmstrom, 2004; Ferguson, 2013). All in all, apart from the mixed findings and limitations of previous studies, previous research seems to note the relationship between social media and physical dissatisfaction, even though the nature and strength of the relationship remains unknown.
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