Social Media Effects On Self-Image Essay

Self-image, according to dictionary.com, is the idea, conception, or mental image one has of oneself. Self-image can be affected by many outside sources. One of the biggest factors affecting self-image is media. As per an article on the HuffPost website, 60% of people using social media reported that it has impacted their self-esteem in a negative way. This was proved by a poll of men and women 28-73 who were active social media users. If 60% of people are negatively affected, just imagine how many of them are women! A blog on the “Just Say Yes” website claims that social media influences the way that females see themselves to the point that their mental perception of what they look like can become distorted. This can lead to eating disorders, drug and alcohol use, cutting, bullying, and sexual addictions. All of this can be used to show that the media definitely does not have a healthy effect on the female self-image. Media is a highly influential source when it comes to female self-image. As told by an article on the Applied Social Psychological website, “ the movie and music industries, as

The media has such an influence on women that their mental perception of themselves can become distorted. Many of them see the pictures in magazines and social media and believe that they need to look like what they see to be counted as beautiful. The problem with this is that all the pictures they are looking at are photoshopped or retouched to perfection. This makes it impossible for girls to healthily look like these ideals because only 5% of the female population in America naturally comes close to portraying these “ ideal” body types. This highly affects females ideas of themselves and can lead to them using unsafe methods of weight control behaviors. All of this just to try to look even remotely similar to one ideal body type. All of this proves just how unhealthy the media 's impact on the female self-image