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The impact social media has on body image
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John Paul Titlow discusses the possible positive effects of the increase in social media in one’s everyday life. In his essay, “#Me: Narcissism and the Scourge of the Selfie,” he explains that while social media platforms such as Instagram may seem to just encourage narcissism, in fact they may be helping to improve the self-image of it’s user. This is an effect from the increased exposure to less professionally constructed images compared to those we normally run into in popular media and advertising. From my own personal experience with social media I can agree with this claim. While some images on social media can still be edited or distorted, it is rarely to the same degree as professional advertisements. In addition, the types of people …show more content…
Instead he tries to understand the positive effects if this dramatic increase in the influences of social media over our lives. Titlow describes it as a break from the highly edited and crafted world of popular media and advertisement photography, stating, “It used to be that most of the photographs of other people we encountered were carefully crafted images of flawless-looking individuals portrayed in popular media and advertising.” In contrast, while some images are still edited on social media, the degree in which this done is severally decrease. Society is growing use to seeing images of everyday people instead of celebrities or models. In addition with the increase in popularity of the social media platform Snapchat, even the photographs of celebrities or models we see are not as professionally crafted, despite a silly puppy or flower crown filter. Titlow then goes on to reference psychologist’s fear of the effects of those carefully construction images from popular media on one’s self image. He connects the idea of these less processed and more diverse images from Instagram or other platforms as a solution to these fears. It’s a simple concept, when people are surrounded by pictures of real people instead of one’s with unattainable beauty standards, they are less likely to hold themselves to such unrealistic
I feel as though more and more teens of this generation are using social media in order to seek approval of attention of others. Since they are expected to use social media in a way to create an online audience, they post pictures of themselves and activities so that they can get a “yes” or “no” response from their audience. If someone posts a picture online and someone who is considered a “friend” makes a positive comment on the photo, then they have received approval of their actions. If someone makes a negative remark on the photo, then they have received disapproval. She uses various examples of how young adults use social media to create a persona of themselves, such as when girls post sexualized pictures of themselves and create avatars of themselves (Orenstein, 448). This means that how they are seen online will affect how they act in real life. When Orenstein says that “the self, becomes a brand”, she means that young adults have to act in a way that is perceived to be socially acceptable by their peers, and the image of how everyone sees you. So many people today use social media, and the biggest one that is being used is Facebook. Profile pictures, albums, and statuses are things that gets posted up for anyone to comment, like, or dislike. Your “friends” on
In the article “What Your Selfies Say About You” by Peggy Drexler, she talks about self-portraits also known as the “selfie”, and how it has taken over social media and added a manifestation to society’s obsession with looks. Taking a self-portrait can be positive in the sense that you are proud of your image and are not scared to share it with others helping boost up your self-esteem. Although this may help others by persuading them to not be ashamed to share their true image, Drexler believes this can also affect other individuals whose focus is only on looks making them feel self-conscious about their looks. A recent study out of the UK found that the selfie phenomenon may be damaging to real world relationships, concluding that both excessive
Susan Sontag discusses the reality of the modern person’s addiction with “needing to have reality confirmed” by photos. Sontag says “we accept it as the camera records it” then goes to say “this is the opposite of understanding.” I agree with her wholeheartedly, as accepting photos as they are limits ones understanding of the world. The trust in photography led to the rise of pictures hoaxes, in which people take pictures out of context and assign it a new background; as well as Photoshop, which becomes increasingly popular as the years go by. Photoshop allows one to manipulate a photo to portray what they desire it to.
As technology becomes increasingly a major part of our everyday lives, much of our interpersonal communication and interactions occurs online through online networks. Within the past decade, the introduction of social networking sites (SNS), such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn, places a new emphasis on first impressions. Instead of engaging in interpersonal communication and forming our own first impressions, an individual’s online profile picture presents a digital first impression, portraying one’s physical appearance, personality and character to their audience. As a society, we are motivated to constantly update, maintain and grow our online presences, gaining more connections, friends and followers via these social networking sites.
Today, our culture demands us to be perfect, thin, powerful, successful, smart, extraordinary, but when people begin to try achieving them, we start labeling them as narcissists. The problem is that it is impossible for anyone to please everyone. Brown defines narcissism as simply a “fear of never feeling extraordinary enough to be noticed, to be lovable, to belong, or to cultivate a sense of purpose” (22). Before giving out labels, it is wise to practice asking ourselves questions to clear the intentions and reasons of someone’s behavior. For example, teenagers posting pictures of themselves online to gain some attention reveals that the culture has taught them that they are as lovable as the number of likes and comments they get on social media. Negative feedback roots into negative thinking about vulnerability and causes them to shut themselves down and never show their real selves again. Encouraging others to believe that they are perfect as themselves, will plant a positive attitude in them and push them to pursue their goals and visions to fulfill their dream of a happy
It hadn’t cross my mind before. But after reading through the article done by the Appalachian State University and High Point University. I think that maybe is true and narcissism could be a reason why people feel attracted to use more their social sites.The article calls millennial 's narcissistic individuals which I think is sort of accurate by the way a lot of people act with their social media accountants. For example they state narcissist behaviors that people do with their social networking accountants are a way to seek attention. “SNSs provide easy opportunities for narcissists to engage in the exhibitionism and attention-seeking behaviors that partly define this personality trait, and which help narcissists maintain their grandiose self-images”(Bergman). Attention why haven’t I thought about that before. Social networking users want attention. That why millions of people are on all the time. This new generation is seeking attention. After reasoning through the article I thinking it might be correct. Observing the people around me I can see the truth to the article, somebody is taking a picture of himself with a weird pose and making it a trend. Somebody else posts how they are feeling every two hours. Another person posts everlys single event in their daily life for others to see. I could tell that we have become narcissistic individuals. We are trying to find ways where we are accepted
The term “narcissist” formed when a man, named Narcissus, gazed into the river and fell in love and became obsessed with his own reflection. This Ancient Greek and Roman myth may have originated thousands of years ago, but it still applies to the modern world today, especially with the advancement of technology and social media. With humans constantly posting pictures of themselves, it is natural for narcissism to play a role in social medias, such as Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, and other platforms. To start off, on Instagram or Facebook, the ability to “like” and comment on other people’s photos has sprouted the inevitable desire for more likes and compliments. Most people will post several pictures of themselves, and a large majority have
“In each of these contacts, he tends to act out what is sometimes called a line – that is, a pattern of verbal and nonverbal acts by which he expresses his view of the situation and, through this, his evaluation of the participants, especially himself” (Goffman, 1967). Line is an impression I prefer to show to others. On Instagram, there is an identity that others cannot find on my Facebook. At the beginning, I opened an Instagram account to share my handmade works and drawings (Fig. 1.). I aspired to show a line that I was creative and talented. People liked me and left comments under my photos was giving me face (Goffman, 1967). They helped me to develop a positive face. And later I did not have the passion for engaging in DIY, and therefore, I began to post comparatively special things in my daily life, for example, my travel (Fig. 2.).
Social media is an outlet to show yourself for the world to see. The majority use social media to connect with friends and to document our lives. However social media is not just an outlet for people to connect. Social media is becoming a booming industry in which thousands are making money off of. Just who though is making money off of this? Well Instagram is a place where anyone can post pictures, doing this anyone can be a model if they have the right camera. And if these people gain enough followers advertisments begin to pop up on their page. Evantually their able to suffice on their own and become finically stable based off a social media account. While many think this to be a new way of entraprenuership there is a downside. With the growth of social media and these “models” a rise in plastic surgery has grown. Surveys have shown that more than half of those who have got comestic surgery have been influenced by social media. Plastic surgery has gone from a private affair to something that is done and known by everyone. Many are even documenting their plastic surgery with hashtags such as “rhinoplastydiary.” Where did this new found love for plastic surgery come from?
However the fact that it could also destroy a person’s confidence, incur false self-acceptance, and deceive people’s perception of beauty should also be considered. People believe that being “beautiful” is having a small waist, long legs, and skinny body; basically being sexy. According to society this is the definition of beautiful, but what exactly does beautiful mean? Being beautiful is being physically pleasing to the eye; says society. Some people only get to accept what’s there through digital manipulation; thinking that the real beauty is what one can make the others see. In the article “Debating the Rules and Ethics of Digital Photojournalism” by The New York Times, Independent Photographer Melissa Lyttle states: “It’s a dangerous and slippery slope to travel down when altered work is lauded, and other photojournalists see that as the ideal. It sets a bar that is unreal, unhealthy, and unattainable.” (The New York Times 10). In simpler terms, photo manipulation can make the others accept people who look unrealistically, and unbelievably beautiful; being fake to oneself means not truly and fully accepting reality, and therefore letting digital image manipulation incurs false
Narcissism- the pursuit of gratification from vanity or egotistic admiration of one's own attributes. Social media- computer-mediated technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, career interests and other forms of expression via virtual communities and networks. One would look at these two definitions and probably say they do not correlate. But, does social media make a narcissist? Or does it enhance that trait in a person. The term “Narcissistic” originated from Greek mythology, where the young Narcissus fell in love with his own image reflected in a pool of water. That fact alone, I feel links the two together; Social media is all about image. That’s the first step to the narcissistic tendencies. Secondly,
This gives children, teenagers, and even adults this factor. “In this media-driven age, it seems most people are dissatisfied with their bodies. Recent studies show that kids as early as third grade are concerned about their weight” (Maynard 6). To repeat on what Maynard stated, third graders are worried about their weight. What the media feeds to children gives them the sense of that it is something that they should be. Seeing thin models and looking back at themselves seeing that there is a big difference between the two. At this young of an age, they do not know anything about what the dirty truth is. What the media does to the pictures, photoshopping the flaws and enhancing the shape of face. Rollero conducted an experiment with college students giving them four images that were digitally altered. Results showed that retouching salience can reduce the level of internalization of beauty ideals and thus the negative effects of media images exposure, such as negative mood and decrease in self-esteem (Rollero 199). With this being said Rollero’s experiment shows that the digitally altered photos give the college students a false sense of beauty and a decrease in self-esteem. Giving these false ideals of beauty make men and females feel insecure about their bodies make them feel that there they need to fix the ‘imperfection’. What the media does not realize is not everyone can look the same, with these images
Selfie-Loathing: Here’s Why Instagram Is Even More Depressing than Facebook. Slate Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2013/07/instagram_and_self_esteem_why_the_photo_sharing_network_is_even_more_depressing.html
These things have become so common that not having them almost makes it seem like there is something missing. Because of features such as these, it is incredibly easy to share every aspect of what we are reading, doing, eating and listening to with everyone in our social networks. While this has meant incredible advances in the way we interact with our world, it has also fundamentally changed the way our social relationships are created and sustained. Social medial led users to have false impression of others and changed our feelings. Because social media users tend to only show the most positive aspects of their lives, social media users have a false sense of reality when it comes to how they seem themselves, how others see them and how they see other people. “It is not difficult to say that social media effect our perception of others” (Goshgarian213).
This paper 's main focus is on the ideas that social media puts inside our minds, therefore, helping us construct the perfect body image. This paper also touches one how little we know on the subject and we need to become more aware because social media is playing a major role in today 's ideal body image. It also touches base on how we look to others. (society) to get approval and how its social media teaches us how to visualize the perfect body. but it also does though on how even though there is a correlation