Social Media's Negative Effects On Women

Today, social media is used twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Social media has been good for many reasons, but has anyone ever stopped to think it could be causing harm? Women everywhere look to social media for what they believe they should look like. Social media portray thin and symmetrically beautiful women that leave an unrealistic impression of what average females should look like. According to Kasey Serdar, “Ultra-thin models are so prominent that exposure to them becomes unavoidable and 'chronic ', constantly reinforcing a discrepancy for most women and girls between their actual size and the ideal body” (1). This body dissatisfaction affects almost every woman in the world. This belief that a person’s body is not

Social media caused multiple problems socially for women, but adding that to their psychological and physical problems can become a disastrous combination for some women. Self-esteem, friendships, and significant relationships can all be harmed by social media. A researcher named Leon Festinger writes in his study, “people rely on external models to form their self-perceptions. Adolescent women who look to the media to make these comparisons end up negatively comparing themselves making themselves seem inferior” (Vitelli 1). Teenagers and adolescent girls, already at a stage of judgement and jealousy, tend to compare themselves to each other and those who they deem superior. Social media multiplies this by allowing girls to post pictures, view pictures, and judge anonymously online and then bully those not meeting “physical criteria” in real life. This bullying arises from jealousy which can be connected back to poor self-esteem and feelings of worthlessness. Jessica Winter, the author of “Selfie-Loathing”, writes about the emotional effects social media can cause women. Catalina Toma, a researcher in Winter’s article states, “I would venture to say that photographs, likes, and comments are the aspects of the Facebook experience that are most important in driving the self-esteem effects, and that photos are maybe the biggest driver of those effects” (Winter 1). Social media enhances the belief that everyone should look alike, and that differences make one ugly rather than individually beautiful. This in turn breaks one’s self esteem and can cause lasting damage to friendships and relationships. Hanna Krasnova, another researcher in Winter’s article, states, “If you see beautiful photos of your friend on Instagram, one way to compensate is to self-present with even better photos, and then your friend sees your photos and posts even better photos, and so on”