Social Media and Body Image: How to Fight Negative Effects

Social media has grown ubiquitous over the past few years. Over five billion people around the world are estimated to use social media with an average person spending about two hours on it a day. Due to this growing popularity, being a social media influencer is now considered a legitimate career path and not just a hobby.

People are leaving their traditional jobs to pursue content creation, be full-time social media influencers, and make significant earnings from it. Big companies are seeing the benefits of partnering with social media influencers to promote their businesses and products to reach the wide audience that scrolls every day.

Inadvertently, social media influencers are becoming authorities or trendsetters with the power to influence people’s opinions on certain topics like fashion, beauty, diet, travel, home decor, etc.

Social media and body image

Historically, thinness in women was the epitome of wealth, status, femininity, and, ultimately, attractiveness and beauty. Popular media such as magazines and films helped popularize this ideal. The beauty industry has played a substantial role in promoting the “thin is beautiful” ideal by featuring only thin models in fashion, beauty, and product advertisements.

Being thin was also made a requirement in both the film and fashion industry such that thinness became glorified at the expense of other body types. This lack of diversity in the mainstream media left no room for alternatives to be embraced and celebrated.

Social media seems to be carrying the torch of the mainstream media when it comes to beauty standards. Companies offer brand ambassadorships to social media influencers to represent their products or services. The common trend is to offer ambassadorship to women or men who have, what is considered, ideal looks because they visually appeal to many people who have been subconsciously molded to see beauty in only a certain type of people.

People relate to the idealized standards of beauty because that is what has been dominant for many years. This is common in the fitness, fashion, and beauty industry where the idealized female body is tall and thin, and the idealized male body is tall and muscular.

Effects of social media on body image

By recruiting brand ambassadors measuring up to the idealized thin standard, companies only reinforce the long-held perception that to be considered pretty and attractive, a woman needs to be thin. To get more sponsored partnerships and brand ambassadorship, social media influencers end up enhancing their looks.

There is a heavy reliance on editing tools like photoshopping and filters which over the years are becoming more and more advanced. Through filters and photoshopping usage, people can make themselves look thinner and their skin smoother and lighter. By constantly consuming this curated content, social media users feel pressured to live up to this standard.

This is harmful to society. People start developing feelings of inadequacy and dissatisfaction with their bodies, particularly young people who are still trying to discover themselves. Exposure to idealized and unattainable beauty standards have many harmful impacts on the social media consumer’s body image and mental well-being.

The idealized standard of beauty ignores several genetic factors which contribute to a person’s physical looks including height, weight, and skin conditions. One can diet and exercise and still fail to meet their weight loss goals because genetic factors make it challenging to shed weight. This sometimes leads to people developing unhealthy eating habits and excessive exercise routines just to lose weight.

How to fight the negative effects

Limit screen time

Social media is addictive, and many people spend more time in a given day on it than they should. Without realizing it, a person’s perceptions of beauty are shaped by what they are exposed to constantly. If you are one of those people whose views on beauty are influenced by what you see on your feed, the first step toward fighting this is limiting the time you spend on social media. Explore other hobbies to keep yourself occupied.

Follow accounts that make you feel good

You do not need social media to feel good about yourself. Be intentional about who you follow and why you follow them. If you constantly feel inadequate while scrolling someone’s page, then it might be time to consider unfollowing them.

Several pages promote body positivity and embracing diversity. Following such pages allows you to see a broader definition of beauty and will help you unlearn the false narrative that there is only one beauty standard.

Seek professional help

If you are struggling with social media’s effects on your body image or your mental well-being, consider seeking professional help from a counselor in Mission Viejo, California. Reach out to our office today at Mission Viejo Christian Counseling to schedule an appointment.