Social Media And Body Image Essay

Is is evident that the new and upcoming culture that we live in is affecting the current generation, mentally and psychologically. The ways of communication have completely changed, along with the ways of coping with emotions and stress. More than ever now, teens and even children are struggling with self esteem issues and mental illness. With expectations and the need to compete at an all time high, the stressors have shown their results on this generation for the worse. An issue that has always been facing teens is body image and the struggle to accept one's physical appearance. Though this has always been a prevalent issue, it is even more rampant in this age of technology. The scary part is, eating disorders and body image issues affect

Researchers at the University of Delaware discovered that social media can increase social anxiety and depression (Deffner, 1). Along with this, there is an overload of personal information out on the web which can cause it to be unsafe for teenagers and adults from all walks of life. Although this type of sharing may be beneficial to bloggers and people who based a living on social media, they are still susceptible to the risks of that the internet has to offer. Nobody is necessarily safe when it comes to these factors, which is why excessive use and building a reliance on the internet is risky. Another study by The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine found a significant correlation between social media use and depression (Deffner, 4). It is also been proven more than one third of kids eleven to fifteen have experienced cyber bullying and that one in three people feel worse mentally after visiting Facebook (Deffner, 4). This seems like a no-brainer, to avoid using these sites and applications but they are harder to dodge than expected. Social media has become a part of the population’s daily life and these risks go ignored. It has been integrated into school life, family life, and most impactfully, personal life. Silently but slowly, these effects begin to take toll, worsen pre-existing mental conditions, and assist with the arise of new