Introduction
There is extensive literature on the effect of mass media on young women’s body image. However, there is little research carried out on the effects of social media on young women’s body image and how women perceive themselves. Given that there currently exists a huge reliance on social media and a heavy online presence of teenage and young women, it is important to understand the degree of influence that social media has on young women in regard to how they perceive an ideal body. According to (Ferguson, Winegard, & Winegard, 2011) The enormous peer presence on social media; the discussions, the exchange of videos and still images, exacerbates the urge of the young women to compare and contrast body shapes.
(Bandura, 2013) Contrasts mass media with social media by stating that, unlike mass media, social media is interactive. The Social comparison theory supports this assertion by positing that human beings have a need to evaluate their progress and repute on different aspects of life. Where there are no objects to compare themselves to, people tend to compare themselves with others to figure out where they stand in society (Bandura, 2013). Body dissatisfaction is a majorly a result of the comparison of one’s appearance to that of another. Further, research by (Mabe, Forney, & Keel, 2014) indicated that women judge themselves by comparing their appearances to others. According to (Harper & Tiggemann, 2012), body dissatisfaction has been found to be among the key reasons why women compare their appearances.
Research by (Ferguson, Winegard, & Winegard, 2011) indicated that millions of images are uploaded per minute on social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram around the globe. Consequently, opportunities for women to engage in comparisons of appearances are numerous. In an era when everyone has access to the internet enabled mobile gadget, social appearance comparison are constant, and the effects are dire. According to research by Tiggemann, the main component of idealized beauty by women in the westernized societies is an unrealistic curvaceous thin body. The internalization of such a body can be traced to some social-cultural forces. These include the pressure to conform to what the society deems ideal physic, media depiction of beauty, peer influence, cultures and people’s ideologies (Tiggemann, 2014).
Presently, adolescents and younger women in their mid –thirties, do not subscribe to conventional mass media. According to studies by (Levine & Chapman, 2011) magazines are making poorer sales by day as television viewership dwindles. It is attributable to the fact that the internet is readily available, and most information is interactive. Social media can be both the receiver and the giver of information has enabled instantaneous communication in real time. The information relayed has a lot of individual attachment to both the receiver and the giver. (Harper & Tiggemann, 2012) assert that availability of information and a pool of people who subscribe to the same line of thought present the opportunity for peer pressure and poor judgment. The social media platforms play the biggest role of communicating stereotypes about body image. Social cognitive theory (Bandura, 2013) and the socio-cultural perspective on body image (Tiggemann, 2014) place an emphasis on the key role the media plays in imparting images of what counts as female beauty. These images, once internalized, can stir feelings of dissatisfaction with one’s body. Studies do show that most women, who suffer body dissatisfaction, had internalized the thin ideal body from media exposure. Internalization of the thin-idealized female beauty is a culturally stereotyped standard of beauty that has continuously been communicated through the contemporary mass media and continues to flood social media across the world.
According to (Harper & Tiggemann, 2012), social media platforms give their users the ability to create semi-public or entirely public personal profiles. On these profiles, the users can insert information about themselves and their images. All this can be edited at will so as to present oneself as best as they feel about themselves at any particular time. Most people will try to present their image as the idealized image of beauty their society idolizes. Viewing of other people’s profiles or even one’s prompts self-evaluation. The outcome of these evaluations is more often than not negative and to the detrimental wellbeing of the individual. Comparison of one’s images and those of others is harmful to self-image. In fact, a study by (Mabe, Forney, & Keel, 2014)found that people who spend a lot of time on social media do believe that the lives of others on social media are happier and better than their own. It is sad that one knows just a few of the social media friends in person. The situation gets worse with the increase of social media platform friends that one has.
In conclusion, comments that people post on the social media platforms such Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have immense impact on people’s body image concerns. The advent of social media served to intensify the negative aspects of the traditional socialization between genders. Girls and young women had learned to self-objectify and focus only on their physical rather than inner qualities. Social media has maintained and glorifies the adolescent and young women preoccupied with their body weight and shape. The popularity award is on the girl with most pictures and the better looking she is, the more followers she gets. Discussions on the ideal lean body shape are extended across many social media platforms with pictures to support. The availability of images and video of the lean stereotyped figure causes most young women anxiety and poor health as they try to mirror what society on social media portrays.
References
Bandura, A. (2013). Social cognitive theory of mass communication. New York: Routledge.
Ferguson, C. J., Winegard, B., & Winegard, B. M. (2011). Who is the fairest one of all? How evolution guides peer and media influences on female body dissatisfaction. Review of General Psychology, 11–28.
Harper, B., & Tiggemann, M. (2012). The effect of thin ideal media images on women’s self-objectification, mood, and body image. Sex Roles, 649–657.
Levine, M. P., & Chapman, K. (2011). Media influences on body image. New York: Guilford Press.
Mabe, A. G., Forney, K. J., & Keel, P. K. (2014). Do you “like” my photo? Facebook use maintains eating disorder risk. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 516–523.
Tiggemann, M. (2014). The status of media effects on body image research: Commentary on articles in the themed issue on body image and media. Media Psychology, 127–133.
