The way adolescents perceive their physical appearance contributes significantly to their self-esteem, especially young women. Young people spend a lot of their time on social media posting pictures and videos of themselves and liking and commenting on others’ photos and videos. Adolescents rely heavily upon the photos and videos they post to represent themselves, giving an excess of importance to their physical appearance.2
Often, teens’ photos and videos are filtered or edited, which contributes to a social media environment that portrays appearances that are difficult to obtain or unrealistic. These false portrayals create a gap between what young social media users actually look like and what they believe they should look like, which can then cause body image and self-esteem issues.2
Young adults are also affected by the images they see on social media. Social media is a space where the thin-ideal is widespread. Images and content on social media often encourage women to strive for body ideals that are unrealistic or unattainable. These unrealistic ideals can lead to issues with body image and more extreme measures such as intense dieting and disordered eating. 5
In a study, 118 young women aged 18-27 were divided into two groups. Researchers asked one group to log into Facebook and Instagram for at least five minutes and find one peer they considered to be more attractive than themselves and comment on their photos. Researchers asked the other group to log into Facebook and Instagram for at least 5 minutes and comment on a post of a family member they did not consider to be more attractive.6
The women who had commented on photos of a peer considered to be more attractive than themselves experienced changes in their perceptions of their own appearances. Those who only interacted with family members did not experience any body image changes.6
This study showed that when young women interact with photos they believe are more attractive than themselves, they begin to develop issues with the way they look. Considering many of the posts on social media do not portray other women as they are in real life, many young women who use social media may develop body image issues based on the unrealistic images they see.6
Social Media and Cyberbullying