Social media has become an essential part of adolescent’s everyday life, almost impossible to escape. It can leave a person feeling less worthy and isolated, but can also make people feel more connected and supported. Many adolescents are concerned and dissatisfied with their body image, and are unfortunately willing to change their appearance and go as far as extreme dietary restrictions. Restrained eaters are more vulnerable to dangerous behaviors, since they tend to value appearance and attractiveness on a larger scale. Photo-related and explicit verbal media exacerbate and trigger the tendencies anorexics have, it can makes adolescents feel insecure and unconfident in their own bodies.
Young girls in developed countries are most affected by eating disorders; with growing technology, online interactions make it convenient to seek support and advice that fortify the behaviors of anorexia. Many simply stay behind a screen to hide their medical conditions, which make it harder for them to get the proper help they need. People live in a different space when they are online, individuals feel comfortable and free online because it is seperate from the judgement and demands of the real world.
At times, adolescents share very personal information, revealing secret emoticons, wishes, fears, and thoughts that they would not otherwise share outside the virtual world. Likewise, anorexics also seek support and advice for their eating disorders, often reaching out to other anorexics like themselves. Over the recent years, the alarming “pro anorexic” movement promotes and encourages anorexia nervosa, it has been making its way into popular social medias such as Twitter. Disturbingly enough, the most prominent users and audience of this “pro-ana” content are adolescents, who happen to be the population at heightened risk for developing eating disorders.
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Bert et al. and the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of Turin carefully investigated pro-ana accounts on Twitter for over a month. The results were absolutely shocking, researchers at the university concluded that unmonitored use of social media can be damaging, especially when the ages of the users are taken into consideration. Adolescents on the site shared their “tips and tricks” section which revealed what individuals discussed on how to lose extreme weight, by fasting and purging. 341 Twitter accounts were examined, the accounts shared explicit information such as, “Haven’t eaten in over 26 hours… so about 135 cals over 36 hours #proud” (236).
Unfortunately, people on these platforms encourage one another to practice these dangerous behaviors, a strong bond is made within the anorexic community, essentially making it more difficult to leave and seek recovery. Although this sense of community can make some feel connected, it is also destroying the connection to reality, where people should seek professional and medical help. Adolescents are in a stage in their lives where they are still discovering their identities and who they are, the internet is a dangerous and manipulative place because people can get very lost living in a virtual world. Younger people are more likely to care about what other thinks of them, and the way they present themselves to others.
Likewise, individuals with anorexia have a heightened value attractiveness and physical appearance, therefore making them more vulnerable to the content that may be triggering displayed on social media. Unfortunately, pop culture and media has displayed and worshiped the “ideal” body type which is unrealistic, the standards lead others to feel dissatisfied with themselves. As a result, “adolescents trying to cope with these negative feelings are more at risk of being involved in unhealthy behaviors… restrictive diet, excessive exercise… illicit drug consumption, excessive tanning” says Marengo et al. from the Department of Psychology at the University of Turin (63).
Sadly, the desire to be thin actually becomes stronger than the desire to have a healthy body. Healthy does not necessarily mean thin but the media has portrayed it that way. Evidently, this is worrisome because adolescent brains and bodies are still developing, extreme exercise and restrained eating are very harmful for both. The behaviors exhibited by anorexics can actually exacerbate, it can be inferred that these young people are not receiving adequate nutrition if they are starving and overworking their bodies; the human body consumes its own muscles if the body is not given enough food for energy and to metabolize. Not only is this harmful for their bodies, but also their mental health, also putting them at risk for depression and other disorders. Young women should be concerned with matters of things such as school, not being “thin”.
Quite different from the findings at the University of Tuin, researchers from the University of Southern California and University of Greenwich discovered that social media can actually be beneficial. Although social media is seen as harmful, “these websites can also offer help and support to participants, sometimes raising awareness and even facilitating recovery” (1167). According to these studies, socialization on the internet can actually aid in the development of positive body image, social media can create new opportunities for people with disorders to interact and support each other in a healthy manner online.
It was also found that those who are underweight seem to benefit the most from personal networks; high-BMI people who may have body image issues are less able to benefit from social media networks. In fact, another group of researchers from University of Canterbury and University of South Australia found that eaters in this study reported a smaller body size and higher self-esteem associated with appearance after exposure to the media (536.) This is hard to believe, but the researchers theorized that it is due to a “thinness fantasy” which is defined as individuals “imagine[ing] themselves in the ideal body presented by the advertising” (536).
The findings are intriguing and have supporting evidence. However, the study is not related specifically to social media itself but media overall including magazines and not limited to adolescents, and the results could have been more specific. Pallotti et al. from the University of Southern California reinforced the factors that play a role in adolescents lives, “individuals’ concerns… are significantly influenced by both their computer-mediated and face-to-face social networks” (1174). Other factors contribute such as their relationships with partners, family, and health professionals in an adolescent’s life aside from social media. While social media can be beneficial, it happens only in some cases; it can be observed that most the time, online interactions can do more harm than good to adolescent anorexics.
Photo-related social media is more likely to impact young women’s perceptions of themselves, making a distinct connection between negative body image and eating disorders. Visual social media sites such as Facebook offer adolescents an endless feed of images, where people often attempt to show the best version of themselves. Sometimes it is almost impossible to tell if an image has been altered, it is easy for adolescents to compare themselves to “public figures” and “health enthusiasts.” Evelyn Meier, MA and James Gray, PhD from the Department of Psychology at American University discuss the distress young women often have with their body image, related to Facebook Photo Activity. They found that the “thin media has been shown to increase… internalization of the societal thin ideal, and their tendency to make appearance comparisons with others” (199).
This study suggests that young girls with eating disorders and poor body image tend to seek out images that feature thin ideals. It is very easy for these individuals to obsess over thin ideal images, and look at them for “inspiration.” Some adolescents are not able to differentiate between what is reality and what is the perceived reality portrayed in the media; those with poor body image seek validation and ways to be accepted. Eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa arise from the intense desire to reach the unrealistic standards. Mier and Gray concluded that adolescents with body dissatisfaction and high thin internalization, “are driven to interact more heavily with with photo related FB features… this frequent appearance-related activity acts to reinforce or exacerbate existing body image issues” (202). This puts many users of social media with body dissatisfaction at risk for developing an eating disorder and can make the behaviors of anorexics even worse.
Mclean et al. from La Trobe University found that individuals who interacted more on social media also had more concerns with their bodies and eating. Young adolescents are willing to go as far as changing their appearance on the internet due to idealizations, some admitted yes to the usage of “apps to smooth skin” and “make yourself look skinnier’” (1134). This indicates that adolescents are very concerned with what their peers think of them online, it can become very unhealthy when these adolescents are invested in trying to become someone they are not. Adolescents feel the need to meet the standards and image people seem to praise online.
Since technology makes it easier than ever before, it is very easy for individuals to alter their appearance. Mier and Gray also noticed that, “adolescent girls admit to portraying a different version of themselves… that differs from reality; and self-esteem impacts the type of images girls present online” (200). Exposure to others’ profiles and photos can lead to comparison and increase negative mood, especially if young girls are presenting themselves in a manner that is not realistic. Adolescents express greater dissatisfaction, and report high emotional symptoms.
Social media users who are portraying a false self are hurting themselves because they are living a facade, and also hurting others because individuals are comparing themselves to or seeking something that is realistic or attainable. Young girls often seek validation on social media which is based on numbers, on “likes” and “comments.” Restrained eaters are more vulnerable to negative effects of social media since their value in attractiveness and appearance is so high. It is more likely that they become dependent on social media for others to tell them they are beautiful and worthy. Negative emotions are more likely to trigger behavior that can be damaging such as diet restriction, bad emotions can truly lead to bad decisions.
Even though social media can have devastating consequences on the health of adolescents, a path to helping and promoting awareness is available. Since social media is so prevalent in today’s culture, people should be mindful of the images presented and the possible damaging behaviors and perceptions. Others’ perceptions often influences people’s perceptions of themselves, inevitably impacting their self-esteem and self-worth. Human beings should not base their value or attractiveness on the amount of likes they receive. Surprisingly, parents of the users are not aware of their children’s content or activity.
Researchers from the University of Turin analyzed the biographical data of social media accounts, finding that, “uncontrolled use can be particularly dangerous” and, “online support can be counterproductive because it risks to forward pathological behaviors and can represent an obstacle to recovery” (237). The amount of involvement from parents is almost non-existent; it is understandable that adolescents want privacy but parents should be aware or at least check up once in a while without invading their children’s private life. Lack of awareness is producing uncontrolled use of social media, which is problematic because adolescents are most at risk for destructive health behaviors such as anorexia.
Higher parental awareness can result in overall more awareness of this alarming content; other parents will hopefully inform other parents and peers on the issue. More control of social media usage, will allow possible recovery and limitation to the media that can trigger or induce the dangerous behavior. A different study made by the Marengo et al. and others at University of Turin, conducted by the Department of Psychology stresses that, “interventions should aim at promoting critical awareness of the idealized images… as well as the potential impact” (67). If people we aware that the images are not realistic, a lot less people would be concerned with trying to reach a certain way of looking, the “perfect” body.
Acceptance is essential, individuals must learn to accept themselves as they are, because there is not a “perfect” body in existence. If they are not satisfied with the appearance of their bodies, there are better ways to lose weight in a healthy manner that is not obsessive or damaging. Adolescents should rather seek professional help to invest in their health instead of investing hours into a false world on an electronic device. Even though eating disorders and body image have received significant attention from clinicians in the past last few years, it is essential social media users know the risks and dangers, especially since there is an increasing patient population. Society as a whole can increase understanding by reducing the stigma of discussing insecurity and eating disorders, social media itself can be a tool itself to sharing information. All human beings should learn to love themselves and not rely on the opinions of others or the media in order to feel accepted and loved.
