Course Name Report: Instagram's Influence on Body Image & Confidence

This report investigates the influence of Instagram on the confidence and body image of young adults aged 17-25. It explores the link between Instagram use and mental health issues, such as anxiety, depression, and eating disorders. The report examines how Instagram's focus on physical appearance contributes to body image concerns and the impact of social comparison. It reviews existing research, including studies from the University of Melbourne, the Royal Society for Public Health, and New South Wales University, to assess the effects of Instagram on self-esteem and online behavior. The report considers ethical considerations related to the research and discusses the role of social media in shaping identity and self-perception. It also highlights the importance of understanding the potential negative impacts of Instagram on young people's psychological well-being.

The effects of social media on the mental health and the impact on
Users’ ‘online’ and ‘offline’ behavior
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Primary focus: Confidence and Body Image of young adults (psychological health)
Instagram
Executive Summary
A number of studies have reported that there is a link between sleeplessness, depressions,
anxiety, eating disorder, and increased suicidal feelings which even researchers from the
University of Melbourne National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health agree and warn
against in an article termed ‘The conversation’. Social sites like Instagram which focuses on
peoples’ physical appearance have been found to contribute to a generation of young people with
body confidence and body image issues” in a survey conducted for young people by the London-
based Royal Society for public health (Lup, Trub and Rosenthal 2015). Instagram as one of the
major social media and one that focuses on body image and physical appearance is the main
focus of this paper. It shall reveal the contributions of Instagram on confidence and body image
of individuals between ages of 17-25 years old.

Contents
Executive Summary.....................................................................................................................................2
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................4
Aspect of Instagram.....................................................................................................................................5
Social group media use................................................................................................................................5
Methods.......................................................................................................................................................5
Ethical considerations..................................................................................................................................7

Introduction
Many studies have linked social media with depression, sleeplessness, eating disorder
and anxiety. In this paper, we answer the question of self and identity on Instagram in particular
among the teenagers. This report will answer the question why teens seem strange online? Issues
of Teens self and identity, an aspect of Instagram, the social group media, and methods used in
the report and conclude with ethical considerations of the report(Holland and Tiggemann 2017).
This report will be relevant to young men and women communities that use Instagram to help in
reducing risks of depression and anxiety as a result of Instagram visiting.
Why teen seem strange online?
Boyd has two concerns when it comes to teen’s online engagement and these are
‘Collapsed contexts’ and ‘audience’. He says, collapsed context occurs when “people are forced
to grapple simultaneously with the otherwise unrelated social context that is rooted in different
norms and seemingly demand different social responses” p. 31 (Walsh and Walsh 2014). Issues
of privacy due to many platforms being publicized may be compromised(Boyd 2014). This
affects the way teens will present themselves on in social platforms. The main influence on how
teens use social sites platform according to Boyd is influenced by their peers. The other influence
is the availability of various options of presentations of oneself in different social sites(Boyd
2014). At times teens would use a fake identity to navigate between their peers and adults during
online interactions. How teens behave online is influenced by the want to be perceived by their
audiences and peers. Teens are trying to define who they are and are engaging in different ways
to come up with an answer that best defines their identity(O'Reilly 2016).

Aspect of Instagram
Instagram is limited to the non-square aspect ratio to be used. For example, you can use
an aspect ratio of up to 1:91:1 horizontally by that shape. Vertically photos use an aspect ratio of
up, to 4:5 in that shape and you also can use square.
Social group media use
The interested social media group in this report is teenagers between 17-25 years of age.
Any teenager younger than 16, parental consent is required. Teenagers in age bracket 17-25 are
in the final years of their high school and others at the universities and have independent of their
thoughts.
Methods
The methods that will be used will be research, surveys, and interviews. Some few questions
to be considered include;
1. Does Instagram affect the way teenagers view themselves online and offline?
2. To what extent does Instagram affect teens’ confidence and how they view their body
image?
3. How do teens feel when they get positive of negative feedback on their picture postings?
4. Is there any relationship between Instagram and mental illness among teenagers?
A new study from New South Wales University and the University of Macquarie, state that
women who spend as little as half an hour on Instagram can develop negativity towards their
weight and looks. The study which surveyed 30 Australian women aged 18-2 years of age found
that the more women looked at the ‘fitness inspiration” images and comparing themselves with
the celebrities the more unhappy they turned towards their own bodies(Hu, Manikonda, and

Kambhampati2014). In March of 2017, Royal Society for Public Health based in the UK found
that Instagram highly contributed to negative mental health, which affected anxiety levels and
satisfaction of the body due to the harmful social network(Bakhshi, Shamma and Gilbert
2014).According to Matt Keracher’s message to CNN, who authored the report, “Women
compared themselves against unrealistic, largely curated, filtered and photoshopped versions of
reality.”
Other studies have found that women who are dissatisfied with their body image will take
more selfies in one month compared to those who are not dissatisfied with the bodies. The study
explains that the reason behind taking many selfies is to try and find the best lighting or position
for selfie ideal for posting on social media (Lup, Trub and Rosenthal 2015). There is more
likelihood of women distorting their body in relation to these behaviors according to this study
and recommends that additional research is carried to focus on the ways that body image
distortion can be prevented.
A recent survey on social media network for mental health and wellbeing released in 2017,
shown that YouTube out of five social networks surveyed received the highest positivity for
health and well-being by the respondents and Instagram the worst contributor to highest levels of
anxiety, bullying, FOMO (fear of missing out) and depression (Lup, Trub and Rosenthal 2015).
From YouTube followed twitter, Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram the poorest in enhancing
peoples’ mental well-being
A Survey published in United Kingdom’s Royal Society for Public Health termed
#StatusOfMind that included 1,479 young people between 14-24 years across Northern Ireland,
Scotland, England and Wales from February-May of 2017 answering 14 different issues related

to their mental and physical health as a result of using social media(Mokeyane 2014). There was
positivity associated with every social media with regards to self-expression, self-identity
community building and social support (Jelenchick, Eickhoff and Moreno 2013). YouTube
scored highest for bringing the awareness of other people’s experiences of the associated health
conditions, providing with accessibility to trustworthy health information and decreased levels of
respondent’s depression, loneliness, and anxiety.
The five sites also received some negative remarks from the respondents who associated
them with bullying, quality sleep, FOMO and body image issues, unlike YouTube which was not
associated with depression and anxiety(Holland and Tiggemann2017). Young people spending
two hours and more on social media according to previous studies can experience psychological
distress(Gosling et al. 2011). If young people see their friends constantly enjoying life in general,
being on holiday, pausing inexpensive machines among other things perceived to make life more
enjoyable will make them feel like they are left out or missing out something.
Ethical considerations
I understand that my research is a very sensitive one and requires indirect very personal
information that may lead to lowering someone’s’ self-esteem. I will as much as possible try to
avoid one on one interview but do submission of interview questions which will be privately
answered due to their confidentiality issues. I will also be very cautious to avoid asking young
men and women why they use fake accounts on Instagram and other times compare themselves
to celebrities.

References
Bakhshi, S., Shamma, D.A. and Gilbert, E., 2014, April. Faces engage us: Photos with faces
attract more likes and comments on Instagram. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on
Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 965-974).ACM.
Boyd, D., 2014. It's complicated: The social lives of networked teens. Yale University Press.
Boyd, D., 2014. It’s complicated. Yale University Press.Downloaded on November, 7, p.2015.
Holland, G. and Tiggemann, M., 2017. “Strong beats skinny every time”: Disordered eating and
compulsive exercise in women who post fitspiration on Instagram. International Journal of
Eating Disorders, 50(1), pp.76-79.
Hu, Y., Manikonda, L. and Kambhampati, S., 2014, June. What We Instagram: A First Analysis
of Instagram Photo Content and User Types. In Icwsm.
Lup, K., Trub, L. and Rosenthal, L., 2015. Instagram# instasad?: exploring associations among
Instagram use, depressive symptoms, negative social comparison, and strangers followed.
Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 18(5), pp.247-252.
Mokeyane, K.N., 2014. Media’s Positive & Negative Influence on Teenagers. Global Post.
O'Reilly, L., 2016. 10 Instagram accounts to boost your body confidence.Cosmopolitan.com, 26.
Walsh, D. and Walsh, E., 2014. Why Do They Act That Way?-Revised and Updated: A Survival
Guide to the Adolescent Brain for You and Your Teen. Simon and Schuster.