Essay On Social Media And Self Esteem

Social Media and Body Image:

Instagram’s Effects on the Youths’ Self Esteem and Self Perception.

In a world so greatly shaped and defined by social media, many questions have arisen about whether or not the Internet has become a powerful influence on the way we as humans see ourselves and the level at which we are satisfied by our self-perceived image. The study we chose to explore for the entirety of this semester aims to tackle one of the major arguments in our contemporary times: Does social media affect teenagers and adolescents’ feelings towards their physical appearance?

Our focus is on explaining the phenomena that is Instagram and how it plays a role in teens and adolescents’ body image – whether the social media platform positively

Both girls and boys undergo several physical and biological developments. As their features change, hormones can cause them to have skin problems which in turn could take a toll on their self-esteem. All these factors contribute to adolescents finding it difficult to get used to their new appearance or “image”.

One of the core struggles of being a teenager is the easily vulnerable feelings that arise when criticized or teased. Teenagers are easily susceptible to negative and insulting comments which causes their confidence in their appearance to plummet. Negative body image can have serious effects on teenagers’ mental health which could lead to disorders and illnesses such as anorexia and bullemia which, thanks to the modern contemporary media, is now affecting adolescents at much younger ages and at much larger scales (Derenne, J.L. & Beresin, E.V., 2006). Teenagers need to be reminded to give equal importance to other vital aspects of themselves such as creative talents, personality, and other strengths, which contribute to overall self-image along with body

Even though social networking undeniably plays a large role in widening social connections and helps in acquiring numerous amounts of knowledge, it has quite a few dangers. Teenagers become susceptible to vices such as cyberbullying, depression and other factors leading to the youth having low self-esteem. Other issues such as internet addiction, sleep deprivation and social network- induced obesity continue to affect…………

Studies show that social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram increase daily occasions for connecting with friends and people with shared interests. According to a recent poll, 22% of teens log on to their favorite social media sites more than 10 times a day, and more than half of adolescents log on to a social media site more than once a day. Hence, a large chunk of this generation’s social and emotional development takes place on the internet through social media. A report by CNN states that teens spend 9 hours, if not more, on social