Social media is changing the way people view their bodies
and is having a large impact on particularly female’s attitudes on their body
image. Body dissatisfaction among females, especial adolescent girls is seen to
be linked to the use of social media platforms where marketing of ‘the perfect
skinny, bronzed body’ is the key to happiness. Caroline Nokes recorded that the
influence to look good has increased the rate of cosmetic surgery by about 20%
since 2008 (Roxby, 2014).
Tiggemann & Slater, 2013 demonstrated in their journal
article the impact of social media on teens through a questionnaire to young
girls measuring the relationship between media consumption and body image
concerns. In their findings 97.5% of the girls had access to the internet and
the time spent online was significantly related to the body esteem and body
surveillance among the teens. Social media is noticed to have mediated the
effect of body image and self-esteem with the influence of unrealistic
advertisements. These images of women in the media are altered, enhanced and
improved to create an unrealistic image of women and is portrayed as the
perfect desirable body and ideal beauty for women. This image below is a clear
representation of how images of models are edited in the media to present the
perfect desirable body.
Internalization of thin, sexy and flawless female beauty is
a typical stereotype standard communicated and advertised throughout media platforms
to society. This desirable standard of beauty has a huge influence on females,
particularly young adolescences self-esteem and body image. Throughout social
media women are judged on their physical appearance rather than their inner
qualities (Perloff, 2014). This sets expectations for women to be physically
attractive, thin and flawless as they are always comparing themselves to the
models or images they see in the media. Although it is almost impossible for
many women and girls to achieve this body image it is still desired by many and
is demonstrated as a risk factor for eating disorders, mental health issues and
body dissatisfaction, (Tiggemann & Slater, 2013).
Social media platforms in particularly Instagram, facebook
and twitter have a huge impact of young people, mainly female’s body image and
confidence as it is so easily accessible with the growth of smart technology
these social media platforms are a primary form of communication therefore are
almost impossible to avoid.
The current issue in marketing is the miss leading social
cultural standard of women’s physical appearance being portrayed on social
media platforms which has a huge influence on adolescent teens, specifically
girls who are body conscience and are heavily influenced and persuaded by the
media. Many more studies have been researching into the relationship between
social media and the effect it has on consumer’s body image especially in
typical women areas such as beauty industries, health and fitness and mass
media industries as these areas all hold characteristics of the idolized image
of female bodies. It is becoming a more
noticeable issue that the social media is not real life and marketers need to
be more careful and consider that their misleading advertising is very powerful
to consumers, especially young girls as they are vulnerable to this market and
are generally more insecure about their appearance and body image.
References
Perloff, R. (2014). Social Media Effects on Young Women’s
Body Image Concerns: Theoretical Perspectives and an Agenda for Research. Sex
Roles, 71(11-12), 363-377. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11199-014-0384-6
Tiggemann, M. & Slater, A. (2013). NetTweens: The
Internet and Body Image Concerns in Preteenage Girls. The Journal Of Early
Adolescence, 34(5), 606-620. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0272431613501083
Roxby, P. (2014). Does social media impact on body
image? - BBC News. BBC News. Retrieved 3 September 2016, from http://www.bbc.com/news/health-29569473
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