The Impact of Social Media l Assignment

SOCIAL MEDIA 1
The Impact of Social Media on Young Women's Appearance-based Consciousness
Jessica Chen
WR-121-42
April. 3rd, 2020
Maggie Ferguson

SOCIAL MEDIA 2
The paper seeks to understand how social media functions an evil in the disguise of a
helping hand. This paper contains how I came to comprehend this malevolence of social media
by drawing references from several scholarly papers. On December 31st, 2018, the New Year
Resolution to reduce the time on Social Media made me stop following most celebrities and
influencers on Instagram. I decided to spend time with my family and friends who mean the most
to me. Throughout this year I do not regret this decision because it has completely withered away
the habit of procrastination and strengthened personal relationships. Apart from reestablishing a
stronger bond with friends and family, I noticed that I have also grown more confident and have
started valuing myself amidst this. I was curious about why that happened and if that had
anything to do with my resolution, so I decided to research and dig deep into the never-ending
conversation about social media. Finally, I found the reason behind my unexpected change and
discovered that social media is the first thing to affect our body image.
The use of social media has vehemently increased over the last few years, with one of the
most popular activities being taking and sharing photos with others. Recently, research has
embarked on studying the effects of taking pictures and posting them on wellbeing and body
image along with the adverse effects of the overconsumption of mass media. A number of
researchers have specifically looked at the already existing ideals that Western media tend to
portray and how such ideals have impacted on how an individual formulates an identity
(Tiggemann & McGill, 2004). Increased use of social media has been associated with occurrence
of multiple disorders including depression, body dissatisfaction, and poor psychological
functioning of various individuals. Amplified use of social media has cut down the opportunities
of verbal communication among individuals leading to crippled psychological conditions for
young adults.
As illustrated by a number of scholars, the more media exposure, the higher the
probability of women showing patterns of an eating disorder (Diedrichs, Lee & Kelly, 2011).

SOCIAL MEDIA 3
A study found that young women who watch entertainment shows in promoting the aspect of
being thin undergo the struggle with their body with unscientific means so that they can imitate
the ideal (Cho & Lee, 2013). There is an evident connection between social media and body
image because it affects the way one perceives own body appearance. There are both the sides of
social media on body image, especially on young women in society. The research highlights the
impacts of social media on the growing consciousness regarding their appearances in young
women. Literature states that repeated form of exposure to the content of mass media results in
the viewer's acceptance of media portrayals as those which represent reality in nature
(Tiggemann & McGill, 2004). In such case, it is highly believed that the consistent depiction of
the thin ideal results in women accepting this ideal as normative, central and attractive (Grabe,
Ward & Hyde, 2008). Therefore, their consciousness efforts are put into achieving the same ideal
as portrayed by the society.
Body image is not something built within the various individuals. Body image deals with
the perception of one’s body and attitudes towards their looks. When we were small, we usually
didn't pay much attention to our body image, and we were often not affected by others’
perceptions of us. However, as we grew up, we became more conscious of our appearance and
our image. Aside from our everyday encounters with society, online resources also contributed
significantly to our growing insecurities and appearance-related consciousness. Specifically,
Social media has helped in creating a different picture of the body, affecting different young
women in society.

SOCIAL MEDIA 4
Through social media, many young women have been affected negatively or positively.
The positive effects of using social media include improvement of health and wellness of the
various people, development of personal fitness goals, and changing in the diet to start using
plant-based foods. Through social media, people can improve their health and maintain positive
outlook on their body images. In most situations, social media helps women to feel better in the
way they look. There is a lot of body positivity shown in social media today, assisting in
addressing issues of negative body image.
Duah (2016) argues further that the current elements of behaviours witnessed on young
women and girls are highly influenced by what they learn from the media. People always
evaluate their individual appearance and attractiveness on the basis of comparing them with that
of the ideal presented in social media. Online platforms ban sensitive words to ensure the
positivity of the contents and stabilize the comfort level of their users. Holland and Tiggemann,
believe, “there are a lot of advocating groups in social media, and all of them have made an
impact on all the people who have eating disorders”. The pictures, videos, and other content
posted on social media have a positive outcome for the people because they assist in making
them aware they are still beautiful, even with bodies that are not perfect.
As a matter of fact, most of the comparisons made by young women, right from the
models shown in the mass media are always in the upward direction and always yield negative
impact of being dissatisfied by one’s own body (Spangler, 2003). The users of social media
accounts find it easy to get information from different platforms to support the issue of body