Love-Hate Relationship with
Social MediaBy: Sarah Scott
Image: Kristine May
-www.dosomething.org
“Body image is the way that someone perceives their body and assumes others perceive them. This image is affected by family, friends, social pressure, and the media”
What is body image?
Image: Alice Bartlett
Body image is not a toy…the new wave of social media has
perpetuated the glamourized ideal of
the perfect image
Image:Sarah.Yusko
-www.dosomething.org
“Approximately 91% of women are unhappy with their bodies and result to dieting to achieve their ideal body
shape…Unfortunately, only
5% of women possess the body
type often portrayed by
Americans in the media”
Image: Sixbysixtasy
In a poll by the University of West England, 80.7% of men talk in
ways that promote anxiety about their body image or perceived
flawsand 38% would sacrifice at least a
year of their life for the perfect image.
-Denis Campbell, Health Correspondent, “Body Image Concerns More Men than women, Research Finds”
Image:Slimmer_Jimmer
Mass media campaigns have recently been used as a platform for sending a positive
message to people of all ages…
…And a message to speak upImage:Daphny Hellen
Different social media tools allow for an outlet of expressionism and
individuality
Whether it is expressing a style, writings, photography, passions,
goals, inspirations
Image: Che-Burashka
The immediate access to millions of people, “followers”, “likes” and “shares” has created a new realm of possible friendships that surpasses
geographical boundaries. The transparency of the internet theoretically fosters creativity and self-encouragement in the forums and posts made
Image:RubyJi
With “The Selfie” becoming a prominent photo in Uploads on
social media websites
Image:Xamad
“The Selfie: is important and not always in a narcissistic
way”
“It’s how we define ourselves, and present for others to see. We rely on others perceptions, judgments and appraisals to develop our social self” -Christine Erickson “The Social
Psychology of the Selfie”
Image:iJohn
“The “looking-glass self” is a psychological concept that suggests we develop our
sense of self based on the perceptions of those we
interact with”
-Dr. Pamela Rutledge, “The Social Psychology of the Selfie”
“How we see ourselves in the mirror versus a regular photo is different. The mirror shows a reverse view, but also shows you alive and with movement”
Image:Streunerin
The Selfie and all other Mobile Uploads creates a projection of ones’ self image
-Lindsay Graham, “From Bullying to Relationships: Mapping our Online Communications”
“Whether we’re creating a screen name or avatar
for ourselves, or broadcasting that the bar or coffee shop down the
street is one of our frequent hangouts, we are inevitably telling
those around us something about who we
are as individuals”
Image:Karin A
…BUT
The societal obsession with perfectionism contorts the
purpose of posting photos and actually adds to the negativity and pressure surrounding body
imageImage: RedWelly
Social Media forums allow an opportunity for self-reinforcement whether it may be positive
or negative
And negativity is a common trend on different media websites
Image: Lisapieraccini
Cyber bullying has resulted as a societal epidemic
Image: Etep
“51% of all teens have had a negative experience with social networking……Where educators consider
cyber bullying as big an issue as smoking or drugs”
-Ipos Reid 2011 Survey of Canadian Teenagers; Pew 2007
Image:dearjem
“Some statistics indicate that as many as 160,000 students a year skip school just
to avoid being harassed, and texting and social media are making it easier than
ever to harass classmates”-Society for Personality and Social
Psychology, “From Bullying to Relationships: Mapping our Online Communications”
Image: DewCon
Professor of psychology Anne Frisen has done research on cyber bullying concerning issues
surrounding body image and identity development
-Anne Frisen, “Tough Broads overfed Trolls?: Tackling Cyber Bullies”
“Victims of internet bullying have no refuge. Victims may be continuously be
harassed via SMS and websites,
and the information
spreads very quickly and may
be difficult to remove”
Images: Polarizing & ZoofytheJinx
Are there any solutions?
Image: Laucish
According to John Mendel, the operators of Twitters and Facebook have as much responsibility for stamping out cyber
bullying as the individuals who write the offensive posts
Image: Ricko
-Anne Frisen, “Tough Broads overfed Trolls?: Tackling Cyber Bullies”
-Facebook website
Facebook’s Mission Statement is “to give people the power to share and to make the world more open
and connected”
Society should uphold this mandate about openness and connectedness and use these amazing tools to our benefit and what they
were made for
All other social media websites do not have a mission statement to abide to…
Image: Ricko
Credits
All images from Tumblr and Flickr
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/jan/06/body-image-concerns-men-more-than-women
http://bodyimageissues.wordpress.com/2012/09/03/tough-broad-overfed-trolls-tackling-cyber-bullies/
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100222104939.htm
http://bodyimageandthemedia.wordpress.com/2012/05/21/cyberbullying-and-children-how-body-image-may-be-an-important-factor-for-tuesdays-class-3/
https://www.facebook.com/facebook/info
http://esciencenews.com/articles/2013/01/20/from.bullying.relationships.mapping.our.online.communications
http://mashable.com/2013/02/15/social-media-and-the-selfie/
http://www.dosomething.org/past-campaigns
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/jan/06/body-image-concerns-men-more-than-women
Image: *Martu
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