Social media platforms are becoming increasingly popular in the 21st century United States, especially for adolescents. Technology plays a major role in our modern-day society, so it is quite likely that applications such as Youtube, Twitter, and Instagram affect the body image of children through promoting unrealistic body standards. Body image is an extremely relevant, current issue that hurts the younger population in America on a daily basis. It leads to serious issues such as eating disorders, depression, anxiety, and more. The videos, blogs, and posts on these social media platforms are exemplifying a body type that is highly impractical and can be harmful in trying to achieve. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of
…show more content…
Currently, most kids under the age of 18 feel uncomfortable with their bodies and desire to decrease their weight or look thinner as a whole. The damaged view that many have on their bodies can be credited significantly to media. The Crimson White digs into statistics, stating, “most female models are 5 feet 11 inches, and usually wear a size double zero to zero at around 107 pounds” (Crain). As discussed earlier in the article, the average female weighs about 50 pounds more and is 6 to 7 inches shorter than what is portrayed on social media most often (Madison Crain). With a world revolving around Photoshop and picture editing as well, children see body standards that are truly close to impossible to attain. They desire to be accepted in society and to be visualized as beautiful or handsome, so they resort to unhealthy decision making. These websites and applications hurt the self-esteems of adolescents and they feel as if they have no worth because they do not match the body types of celebrities or others. Instead of leading stress-free lives, children are scrutinizing their bodies to a higher degree and coming up with detrimental ways to look slimmer or fitter. They believe the end goal is worth it, so the various obstacles they will face during the journey are excused. This is how eating and mental disorders …show more content…
The audience is advised to modify their diet, listen with an open mind, and realize that celebrities are not the only source of role models out there (Lauren Berninger). The article states, “Get to know local women in your town [...] and focus more on how you can be a better role model than how others are failing at it” (Berninger). The journalist is bothered by the idea that many people with body image issues do not take charge of their own problems and instead complain or blame others. She believes social media has no correlation with body image in a negative manner. Though social media has not done 100% of the damage, it is a leading cause. American children become more dissatisfied with their bodies as they grow older into teenagers, which directly relates with how social media usage increases as adolescents thrive. The unrealistic standards that have been made popular over time are unhealthy and make adolescents feel as if they have to conform to one body type. These are shown as videos on YouTube, along with posts on Instagram and Twitter. Body shaming is unfortunately not rare on these forms of media and can hurt adolescents
Currently, most kids under the age of 18 feel uncomfortable with their bodies and desire to decrease their weight or look thinner as a whole. The damaged view that many have on their bodies can be credited significantly to media. The Crimson White digs into statistics, stating, “most female models are 5 feet 11 inches, and usually wear a size double zero to zero at around 107 pounds” (Crain). As discussed earlier in the article, the average female weighs about 50 pounds more and is 6 to 7 inches shorter than what is portrayed on social media most often (Madison Crain). With a world revolving around Photoshop and picture editing as well, children see body standards that are truly close to impossible to attain. They desire to be accepted in society and to be visualized as beautiful or handsome, so they resort to unhealthy decision making. These websites and applications hurt the self-esteems of adolescents and they feel as if they have no worth because they do not match the body types of celebrities or others. Instead of leading stress-free lives, children are scrutinizing their bodies to a higher degree and coming up with detrimental ways to look slimmer or fitter. They believe the end goal is worth it, so the various obstacles they will face during the journey are excused. This is how eating and mental disorders …show more content…
The audience is advised to modify their diet, listen with an open mind, and realize that celebrities are not the only source of role models out there (Lauren Berninger). The article states, “Get to know local women in your town [...] and focus more on how you can be a better role model than how others are failing at it” (Berninger). The journalist is bothered by the idea that many people with body image issues do not take charge of their own problems and instead complain or blame others. She believes social media has no correlation with body image in a negative manner. Though social media has not done 100% of the damage, it is a leading cause. American children become more dissatisfied with their bodies as they grow older into teenagers, which directly relates with how social media usage increases as adolescents thrive. The unrealistic standards that have been made popular over time are unhealthy and make adolescents feel as if they have to conform to one body type. These are shown as videos on YouTube, along with posts on Instagram and Twitter. Body shaming is unfortunately not rare on these forms of media and can hurt adolescents