The Negative Effects Of Social Media And Body Image

How do you define beauty? Is the word thin or muscular in that description? What would you do to achieve that description? One of the largest issues in the world today would be the impact that the internet has on people. Social media today is negatively impacting and influencing the way people look at themselves; the idea of having the “perfect” body can be a damaging physical and mental chain of events.

Social media can cause many physical damages to both men and women in today’s society. Body image is how people picture and view their bodies, as well as how someone else sees them. “The health of our nation 's adolescents is at risk from eating disorders” (CDC, 2016). Starting at a young age we are exposed to what our society and media have defined as desirable. People have been exposed to how the “ideal” body should look like since the time of adolescence. For example, as a

The authors of Body Image (2016) stated “more than one-half of girls and one-third of boys as young as six think that they need to be thinner, and about one-quarter of children as young as seven have engaged in some sort of dieting behavior.” This should provide people, especially parents, with awareness that any child can feel like their body is not pleasurable at such a young age! However, as we grew out of our toys, we began to idolize celebrities. Watching them on shows, movies, songs, and articles many begin to compare themselves. The use of mass media has been abused causing pain to others. The images and visuals that the media displays make people want to strive to be someone else’s definition of perfect. As a result, this situation has led to many individuals encountering physical and mental problems; bulimia, anorexia and strict dietary plans can all be the harmful effects of social media. Bulimia Nervosa is when a person excessively eats and then diminishes the calories of the food consumed by using laxatives, extensive exercise, and vomiting. In comparison,