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