CWalking around a college campus, you rarely find a girl without her cell phone. Her connection to the outside world relies on the technology she possesses. Everything you need to know about a girl can be found on her phone and more specifically on her social media, such as Twitter, Instagram, or Snapchat. Social media allows for people to connect and communicate with each other by taking pictures and writing posts. This leads to people not only communicating with one another but also equating themselves to these pictures or posts. The social comparison theory states that humans have an innate drive to compare themselves to others, which means that as a person views another person’s pictures they have this instinct to compare himself to the other. This leads to a standard that society creates through social media, and the consequence of not everyone feeling as though they live up to this standard. Most of the time, not even the models who are supposed to represent this standard live up to it. Social media causes young women to develop body dissatisfaction due to the fact that they see models all over Instagram and Facebook being called “beautiful” or “perfect” leading them to believe they are not those things due to the fact that they do not look similar. Although the rise of social media has brought about an increase in communication among individuals and a connection across nations through posts and pictures, ultimately it has brought about negative effects in young women specifically concerning body dissatisfaction.

With the rise of social media, more and more young women are developing body-image issues and eating disorders due to the fact that a lot of the content directed at women is in relation to fashion or beauty. Studies have shown a cross-cultural link between body dissatisfaction and social media. An online survey was distributed with a total of 311 participants completing it. It concluded that a lot of what young females post and view is directly linked to how they determine their self worth (Stefanone 48). Although this does not mean social media is the cause, it does prove there is an association between the two. As women are exposed to these trends and models on social media, they are gaining more and more negative feelings toward themselves. These social networking sites allow for young women to receive “approval” and offer up a comparison for other girls (Simmons). The purpose of posting a selfie or solo picture is to receive the positive comments and differentiate themselves from other girls. The Internet has become a beauty pageant, however, girls are capable of altering the way they look before even posting allowing them to mask their insecurities and pretend they do not exist. 

With the help of numerous free applications, girls have the ability to alter and “touch-up” the pictures they take before posting them. “Teens can cover up pimples, whiten teeth and even airbrush with the swipe of a finger, curating their own image to become prettier, thinner and hotter” (Simmons). A picture rarely gets posted without undergoing editing and a filter first. This provides this illusory sense of control. Girls may not be satisfied with the way that they look or think it is acceptable that they look they way they do, however, shading away blemishes and thinning themselves out allows them to gain the likes and confidence they lack otherwise. Likes on a picture and seeing the attention they receive solely based on looks and the pictures they are posting leads girls to attribute their self worth with their appearance. The Internet and these social media sites are to blame for the cause of this desire to edit. Pictures of celebrities with slim bodies and glowing skin are posted all over. They are praised for having the “perfect” body, which is ironic due to the fact that their bodies were altered before the magazine or article was published. An entire mass of fitness celebrities are all over social media sites promoting “fitspiration” and healthy eating, however, this “healthy” eating and “wellness” lifestyle has become more of a cover for dieting and deprivation (Simmons).

The problem with the mass promotion of thin bodies and perfect looks is girls are no longer focused on how they act or the importance of what is on the inside but rather making themselves equivalent to this standard that the media presents. About 10% of college women suffer from some type of eating disorder (Perloff). Girls are beginning to attribute their self worth to the amount of likes they receive on a picture or what the comments people are leaving. Deep down girls realize that none of this stuff will matter in many years to come, however, they continue to allow it to run their lives. Everywhere you go, people are glued to their phones on social media concerned about what everyone else is doing rather than enjoying the time they are spending with the people they are with (Tedx Talks). People are becoming more and more obsessed with the idea of posting the perfect picture or being caught up in all the latest trends. The problem with this is, nowadays, many of the trends for women are looking beautiful and having flawless skin and promoting this “healthy lifestyle” which really involves starving themselves followed by intense workouts. 

Fitspiration is an online trend that promotes a healthy lifestyle by encouraging healthy eating and regular workouts. Its purpose was to counteract the “thinspiration” phenomenon, which is women posting pictures of how skinny they are and encouraging starvation in order to reach their goals of being skinny. Fitspiration images are supposed to be motivational and positive, however, a study has shown women who are exposed to these images developed a negative attitude and an increase in body dissatisfaction (Tiggerman). This appearance-based social comparison ignites a habit to compare themselves to these models and causes them to construct more negative feelings rather than positive due to the fact that they are different.  These images are often accompanied by “motivational” captions, such as “Suck it up now so you don’t have to suck it in later” and “It doesn’t get easier, you just get better” (Schreiber). The intention of these captions is to motivate, however, they seem to antagonize women and guilt them into losing weight which results in women developing eating disorders. When reading these comments, I get the feeling that I must look better rather than live better. These phenomenas which encourage weight loss and uphold women to this standard of the “perfect” body leads to more tragic effects than positive ones. 

With the “fitspiration” and “thinspiration” phenomenons, social media presents this underlying ideal of the “perfect” body, and for the young women that fall short of this ideal, the outcome is lowered self-esteem, body dissatisfaction, and a tendency to develop poor eating habits. Usually, the cause of eating disorders derives from bullying, and it does not always occur directly. Overweight people are often the butt of the joke or the comic relief. This gives young girls the idea that in order to not be the victim of harassment or bullying they must maintain a certain look. Even most celebrities and characters in movies have this “perfect” body image, and these people are the role model for young children. The heroic image that the media presents is small and thin for females and bulkier bodies for males (Vitelli). When thinness is presented as the necessary shape and goal for happiness, young girls who do not fit this are vulnerable to depression and body-image issues leading them to take drastic measures such as starving themselves and falling victim to eating disorders. The media focuses too often on outward appearance and not enough on the attractiveness of the personality.  In terms of physical-attractiveness, the beauty standard seen in media celebrities and the role models adolescent girls look up to leads to an increase in comparisons with more and more girls falling short. This loss of self-esteem and lack of confidence causes girls to fall into depression and produces poor eating habits in order to reach the standard of beauty promoted by the media.

Spending a regular amount of time on social media can lead almost anyone to view at least one picture of a model. This standard of beauty is plastered on almost every social networking site. These models uphold this standard of physical beauty that not every girl feels she can live up to. Although the purpose of these models is to inspire and motivate, they have a rather negative impact on young women who lack self-esteem (Eli). This drive for thinness and to meet the criteria of a “perfect” body has lead girls to develop hatred toward their bodies and even eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia. The media chooses to overlook the eating disorders and obesity developing from these phenomenas which is why they continue to increase. With trends such as “thinspiration” that encourages girls to post about how skinny they are due to lack eating, girls feel as though the only way to gain the body they want is to starve themselves (Tiggerman). Girls experience more negative effects such as starvation and depression due to media exposure rather than positive effects of self-expression and communication. 

The priorities and values in young women are at stake with the rise of social media. Social media is not limited to teens and young adults. Young girls around the age of 10 browse social media sites, and at this age they are still developing both physically and mentally. The content they see will affect their development and values. Before social media, there still was this standard of beauty, however sites like Instagram and Facebook have exacerbated it. With the rise of social networking sites, women have been straying father away from inner beauty. As the media continues to portray these unrealistic standards that women should uphold themselves to, fewer women are concerned about their intelligence and inner beauty. The focus of looking a certain way in order to receive validation from others has taken priority over intelligence and mental attractiveness. Media equates lean bodies with “lean eating” rather than starvation which is the realistic cause and relate overweight bodies with impurity and desire rather than depression and medical disorders (Ulijaszek 9). The pro-anorexia websites that exist are encouraging girls to “meet their goals” (12). With this encouragement, women are destroying their bodies to meet this “perfect” body and follow the “fitspiration” that they see on the “Explore” page on Instagram. The measures girls are taking in order to reach a certain amount of likes or attract enough attention has gotten to the point of starvation. Although social media allows for self-expression and communication, the individuals being displayed on news feeds has no longer become authentic but rather edited and filtered content (Simmons). 

Social media originally brought about an increase in communication among people. This can be seen as a positive effect seeing as people are now able to connect across the globe. Although girls originally developed positive comments toward social media (Barker), as the social media sites such as Facebook and Instagram have increased in popularity, more and more girls develop negative feelings as exposure to these sites and the trends they promote increases due to the fact that the media creates this type of standard to live up to. I agree with the fact that there should be some motivation for fitness and healthy living expressed throughout social media but using edited and unrealistic bodies to represent this ideal is an invalid way to do this. The people who see these posts should also be discouraged from starving themselves and view role models who are not always the stereotypical thin and toned body. Being healthy does not always mean being skinny and muscular. The media should portray all aspects of being healthy not just an abbreviated version. In order to decrease the amount of girls starving themselves and developing body image issues, the media should not hide or overlook the issues that are occurring and the use of social media should be evolved into a more honest and representative site. The health of women should not be hidden, rather exposed and brought an awareness to the fact that women are imperfect, and imperfections are what make women differently beautiful. 

Bringing awareness to the body dissatisfaction seen in young women who use social media allows for changes. It is important to not only bring awareness to the fact that more women are suffering rather than benefiting from these social media trends but also do something about it, such as go about motivating and encouraging a healthy life in a different way. Young girls are taking their lives due to the bullying they face for not fitting in. By encouraging proper eating habits and healthy living rather than a skinny body and flawless skin, girls would feel less vulnerable and susceptible to judgement and ridicule. In addition, the captions following these posts should not be antagonizing rather more encouraging and honest. Models should not have their flaws edited out because this does not truly represent the audience they are reaching. The things the media presents need to be more realistic, so that girls are not killing themselves to live up to a made up standard that not even the models who represent it can achieve. It is important to feel confident in your body, however, what is on the outside is not the most important part of a person. Young girls should focus on intelligence and inner beauty and feel comfortable with the way they are mentally as well as physically. Young women are the future and should be concerned with more important things such as education rather than spending their days starving themselves to look like someone else. 

Looking at a picture of a model, the initial reaction is to compare yourself to her even though most of the time she does not truly look how the picture is portraying. Most of the time when women compare themselves to a model they become dissatisfied and depressed. Body dissatisfaction stems from the unrealistic models seen on Instagram and other sites along with the ridicule overweight people face. People have become obsessed with looking a certain way or living a certain way in order to please other people rather than themselves. The “motivational” captions that follow the pictures of thin fitness models antagonize and guilt girls into taking extreme measures to achieve this impractical ideal of the “perfect” body. The eating and mental disorders many young women face are overlooked by the media and transformed into “thinspiration” where they are encouraged to starve themselves in order to reach their “goals.” These posts should be accepting and positive rather than encouraging girls to take drastic measures in order to fit in. Social media should be promoting individuality rather than urging girls to conform and change who they are. Although the true key to success comes from within, the current focus of media is on looks and not inner characteristics. The future belongs to the young women, thus intelligence brings about more beauty than looks. 
