In Meghan Ramsey’s video, she starts off by talking about an eleven-year-old girl named Lexi who posted a video to Youtube asking her audience if she was “pretty or ugly”. She asks for honest answers and comments while admitting that people at school deem her to be ugly. Unfortunately, Lexi is not the only one. In fact, she’s one of thousands of pre-teen and teenage girls who post these videos and look for self-validation through the media (Ramsey, 2:20-2:27). In today’s age, young girls, like Lexi, all over the world are doubting themselves and their worth. Through their self-doubt, they are creating their own digital identities and portraying themselves in ways that are untrue to who they really are. Social media has a negative impact on young girls’ self-esteem because of how it impairs their self-image and self-worth due to the social media community’s strong focus on one’s “digital image.”

A “digital image” is how one portrays themselves through digital media, such as on the internet and through social media platforms (i.e. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.). However, many people tend to portray themselves in ways that make them look best, which causes these “digital images” to be misleading. This inaccuracy can cause detrimental effects like eating disorders and depression. 

The amount of girls who are negatively impacted by social media is overwhelming and disturbing. Suren Ramasubbu states that, “Seventy-five percent of teenagers in America currently have profiles on social networking sites” (Ramasubbu, P1). Seventy-six percent of these teenagers admit to having an Instagram account, fifty-nine percent of teenagers have a twitter account, and forty-five percent of teenagers are using Facebook (Blaszczak-Boxe, P2-3). According to the Washington Post, teenagers are spending an average of nine hours per day using digital media. That is one third of their day that they spend using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. (Tsukayama, P1). It’s no coincidence that these high percentages correlate to the high percentage of girls in today’s generation that suffer from disorders, depression, and are self-dissatisfaction. Twenty million women in the United States are said to have eating disorders (NationalEatingDisorders.org, P2). Twelve million women in the United States suffer from clinical depression, every year (MentalHealthAmerica.net, P2). In Cameron Russell’s video, she states, “Fifty-three percent of thirteen-year-old American girls don’t like their bodies. This grows to be seventy-eight percent by age seventeen” (Russell, 7:23). 

When considering the young age of these children that take part in using social media, people must stop and think about how easily influential this age group is. Every experience and encounter that these kids face, can have a long and lasting impact on them. Ramasubbu says, “…this particular group [adolescents and teenagers] of children is developmentally vulnerable but also among the heaviest users of social networking” (Ramasubbu, P1). This means that with every negative aspect that comes from social media, the young children who so often use these sites will suffer. A vulnerable group of children and the harmful effects of social media are two things that should not be mixed. Young and influential children update their Facebook profiles and share content on social media more than any other age group (Birnholtz et al.), and that is part of the reason why social media is so easily impacting this generation in such negative ways. Taking part in these social media platforms and interacting with them so frequently has a strong impact on these young and influential kids and the percentages and statistics shown above show that the effects are dangerous and detrimental. 

In today’s society, people are so focused on appearance. In a Ted Talk, called “Why Thinking You’re Ugly is Bad for You” by Meaghan Ramsey, she states, “In an image-obsessed culture, we are training our kids to spend more time and mental effort on their appearance at the expense of all of the other aspects of their identities” (4:24). Kids today do not realize that appearance is only one part of their identity because of how much emphasis society puts on one’s looks. Suddenly things like their family and friends, their studies, and their hobbies are prioritized after their appearance. In the same Ted Talk, Meaghan Ramsey says that one out of three girls refuse to take part in classroom debate because they are afraid to draw attention to the way that they look. One out of five girls admit to not showing up to class at all when they feel they look ugly or not good enough for the public eye (5:09-5:18). She even includes that, “About ten thousand people a month google the phrase ‘Am I Ugly?” (Ramsey, 1:07). In hopes of finding self-validation and self-worth in an appearance-obsessed world, girls are so desperate, that they turn to the internet for answers. But little do they know that the answers the internet and social media hold are most-likely worsening the thoughts that these girls have about themselves.  It is now that society needs to be addressing this issue. It is now that parents and teachers and young girls become educated on body-image, before more social media platforms are created and before more young children are compelled to participate in social media and therefore bear the consequences. It is now that the world see how negatively girls are impacted by the effects of social media. 

When asking a group of twelve and thirteen year olds about the enhancement and editing of photos, they not only admit to knowing what that means, but they also admit to taking part in it.  Phillipa Roxby explains, “I ask them to shut their eyes and put their hand up if they have ever enhanced an image on Facebook. They usually all put up their hands” (Roxby, P23). This quote was from a teacher, named Ms. Nokes, who was surveying some of her young students about social media. Here she finds that all of her students have at one point or another edited their photos. Young girls are so insecure with how they look that they feel the need to make themselves look better by using editing and enhancement applications that can be found on any smart phone and tablet. They are easily accessible and even young children are able to download and use them at their leisure. These applications allow people to use filters, airbrushing, and body resizing functions. Have a zit or a stomach roll? Consider it fixed with a simple click. Suddenly, all of your flaws are gone and you are now able to present yourself to your friends and followers, on all social media platforms, as your best self. Except, this is not you. 

“Image is superficial,” says Cameron Russell, a professional model who spoke out against the modeling industry on a Ted Talk called “Looks aren’t everything. Believe me, I’m a model” (1:42). “These pictures are not pictures of me, they are constructions. They are constructed by photographers, hairstylists, makeup artists, and all of their assistants,” she adds and she includes, “They retouch all the photos” (5:31-6:10). Nowadays, most photos that are seen on social media platforms and on the internet have in some way been enhanced or edited through applications or Photoshop. Whether these retouched photos be placed on the cover of fashion magazines or posted on an eleven-year-old girls Instagram account, they are not real. 

This is where the term “digital image” comes in. Because editing and enhancing photos is so common in today’s society, most people’s “digital images” are inaccurate to how they actually look. Ramsey continues by declaring, “It’s hard to tell the difference between what’s authentic and what’s digitally manipulated” (Ramsey, 3:19). However, people are so obsessed with manipulating their photos because they strive to portray themselves in the best possible way. And in order to do that on social media, flaws must be hidden. 

Author Mahita Gajanan, wrote an article which quoted several teenaged and young-adult women about how they feel about Instagram and Social media in today’s society. Essena O’neil, an Australian teenager gained half a million followers on Instagram because girls all over the world deemed her to be pretty and strived to be like her. However, recently the pressure got to O’neil and she made the rash decision to delete the application.  O’neil admits her obsession to her “digital image”. She admits that, like other teenage girls, she wants to also portray herself in the best possible light which means she refuses to post unedited photos where she doesn’t look flawless. The extreme focus and obsession with one’s digital image and how others see one suddenly changes the intentions of the eleven-year-old girl with the Instagram account. Instead of enhancing photos for themselves, girls start to enhance their photos to compete with and impress their social media “friends” and followers.

“I do feel insecure if I see girls who look prettier than me, or if they post really pretty pictures and I know I won’t look as good in any that I post” (qtd. by Summer Andrews, P14). Summer Andrews, an 18-year-old teenager was another girl who was quoted in Gajanan’s article. The strong focus on “digital image” causes girls to compete with and compare themselves to other girls that use social media platforms. Girls in today’s society feel pressured to always look their best and worry about their appearances so that they are able to get good photos of themselves, edit them, and post them on their social media accounts. This way, they can prove to all of their followers that they are pretty and worthy enough for society. They strive for social media validation. 

A form of social media validation is through the amount of likes and comments one gets on the content that they post. “I do feel a pressure to look particularly good. I would never post a photo that wasn’t flattering of me…If I get two likes, I feel like, what’s wrong with me?” (qtd. by Michelle Linker, P5-6). Michelle Linker, a 24-year-old, admits to validating herself through the amount of likes she receives on a photo that she posts in the same article as Essena O’neil and Summer Andrews. She says how when she gets a small amount of likes, she blames herself and comes to the conclusion that it was her who was not good enough for her followers. Similarly, a twenty-two-year-old named Lindsay Correia who was also interviewed for this same article (Young Women on Instagram and Self Esteem), says “I do delete pictures that don’t get enough likes because I think I probably didn’t look good enough for my followers” (P,10). Like stated before, girls are now posting on social media for their followers, and not for themselves. They focus on pleasing and impressing other people with their “digital image.” Similar to the girls who were posting videos on Youtube asking the public if they were “pretty or ugly”, people are also using social media, such as Instagram, to seek validation from their likes and comments. 

Yalda Uhl, a researcher who decided to conduct a study on how social media was affecting teenagers. In order to answer her questions, she interviewed teenagers all over Los Angeles and asked them questions like “What are your priorities?” and “What do you want out of life?”. She came across a 13-year-old girl who made short videos and posted them on Youtube. When Uhl asked the girl what she wanted to get from these videos, the girl replied with, “It’s all about the likes” (CBCTheNational, 1:13-1:18). Most of these teenagers agreed that when they receive a lot of likes or comments, they feel good about themselves. But when they don’t, they feel insecure. Because social media is such a prominent part of society and because teenagers use it so frequently, it becomes difficult for kids not to see themselves from the eyes of their followers. “This ‘always on’ type of society is teaching our kids to value themselves based on the number of likes they get or the types of comments that they receive” (Ramsey, 3:04). These insecurities that girls begin to feel when they don’t receive an appropriate amount of response from their followers, end up leading to low confidence and body dissatisfaction. 

When kids as young as thirteen or fourteen are becoming insecure, it can only lead to detrimental effects in the future. It is proven that girls who are unconfident with their bodies are more likely to have eating disorders, low self-esteem, depression, cosmetic surgery, or take part in unprotected early sex, self-harm, and alcohol or drug usage. (Ramsey, 5:58-6:16 ). Because of social media, sixty-percent of people are ashamed of how they look. And “girls as young as five are worrying about their size and appearance” (Roxby, P16). A typical five-year-old girl has just entered kindergarten and most likely does not even know how to spell her own name. However, she is already looking at herself in the mirror and not liking what she sees. 

A study was conducted that analyzed how Facebook correlated to Body Image Disturbance in young girls. It was described, in detail, in an article that was called, “Facebook Photo Activity Associated with Body Image Disturbance in Adolescent Girls”. One hundred and three middle and high-school aged girls filled out questionnaires that asked about how often they used Facebook, what they did on Facebook, and how they felt about their bodies. After reviewing the answers of the questionnaires, the researchers found that Facebook and body dissatisfaction were very much related. “Elevated appearance exposure was significantly correlated with weight dissatisfaction, drive for thinness, thin ideal internalization, and self-objectification” (Meier and Gray, 199). The study also suggests that this body dissatisfaction leads to body shame, urges to diet, and fatal eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia. 

However, many people do believe that social media is beneficial to teenaged girls. In an article called, “Social Media has Good and Bad Effects on Kids: Experts”, the author talks about why social media can be good for young users. She quotes a doctor and the editor and chief of Pediatrics Now, Dr. Gwen O’keeffe, who says, “Social media sites are mostly good. They’re where kids socialize and where they connect together” (Gordon, P5). In such a digital age, it is inevitable for teenagers to use social media. Most teenagers that have social media accounts are able to express their creativity and themselves through their sites. Many even use social media to socialize and keep in touch with friends and family members. This shows that not all people who use social media will acquire eating disorders and depression and that not all teenagers use these platforms for self-validation. However, in this situation, the cons of social media highly outweigh the pros. Although social media allows teenagers to socialize and connect with each other, the statistics and the data provided above show that this is not always a good thing. When socializing and self-expression turns to a decline in the health and the overall wellness of teenagers, the benefits of social media become worthless. To parents, teachers, and the general population of the world, what should matter most is the safety of the upcoming generations, not whether they are able to connect with each other online. And in order to secure the safety and the well-being of the upcoming generations, we must learn to stop or fix the negative effects that social media puts on teenagers. 

A persons “digital image” is how they wish to be perceived. In today’s society, a time where people (especially adolescents) excessively use social media, one’s “digital image” is what many social media users focus on the most. In fact, many obsess over it and make it a priority to make their digital-self look as appealing as possible. All in all, girls are constantly comparing themselves to the ideal body, which is thin. With trends that have been flooding social media for the past few years such as, “thigh-gap”, “bikini-bridge”, and “pro-ana” (which means pro-anorexia), it’s difficult for girls not to think about and obsess over their bodies. However, what many girls are not realizing is that many times, the photos that they are comparing themselves too are not real. They are edited and retouched. Their body is reshaped to look thinner, their skin is enhanced to look clearer, their eyes are made to look bigger. So in reality, girls are comparing themselves to a perfect image that nobody actually can attain. This causes girls to feel insecure, especially when they don’t receive the positive feedback from their followers, such as likes and comments, that they wish to receive when they post photos on social media. This insecurity and low self-esteem can lead to detrimental effects that are dangerous and unhealthy and can ultimately become real problems in the future. 

It is now to realize how negative social media can be in the lives of influential adolescents. It is now that people either try to find a way to fix how we, as a society, perceive social media or fix the generations of people that social media has so badly hurt. If the world continues to let social media and the idea of a “digital image” run the minds of our future generations, so many more problems can occur. One of the things that our society lacks is an education on social media. A class where all people are taught about the world of Photoshop and enhancement tools. Where people are told that most of the posts they scroll through on Instagram are fake and constructed. We cannot change how people use social media, but we can change how people perceive social media. And that could change everything. 