Terms like thigh gap, strong is the new skinny, and micro-celebrities are just some of the features of social networking sites. Not only have these sites surged in popularity, but they have become particularly common among young women and teenage girls. Self-objectification refers to an internalized version of objectification where the affected people view their bodies as objects to be evaluated. Instagram is a popular Social Networking Site (SNS) among teenage girls because it is image-based and offers a platform for these girls to take and upload photographs to their personalized pages. In addition to being trends on these sites, the terms above have a decidedly physical theme, that of westernized ideals of the female body. Considering the physical, social, and psychological dimensions of adolescence and collating it with the influence of Instagram, it is necessary to investigate the nature and effect of Instagram on teenage girls.
Body image refers to subjective mental perceptions that people have of their own bodies in relation to a cultural context. Advancing this notion further, a practical application of this concept involves self-assessments of different bodily dimensions such as size, proportions, skin tone, and type. Not only do these teenagers make social and cultural comparisons based on body image, but this application impacts their sense of self-worth and physical attractiveness. Objectification theory holds that the social value of women is more likely to be inferred based on appearance where a culturally favorable appearance is met with a positive response and vice versa (Wagner, Aguirre & Summer, 2016). Based on this, teenage girls are likely to engage in forms of self-objectification that not only conform to current cultural ideals but also confirm the connection between the physical bodies and their sense of self-worth.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
In the interest of fairness, it is appropriate to acknowledge that societal preoccupation with beauty standards is not unique to the millennial generation. Conversely, there are dimensions of this cultural exercise that are unique to this generation. It is doubtless that expectation of the ideal female form has been present in varying forms across time and generations. Equally doubtless is the fact that conventional media also has a role in the socialization of the ideal female form. However, the internet has changed media behaviors both through mobile media devices and facilitating access to personalized and private media spaces (Wagner, Aguirre & Summer, 2016). Based on this shift is the surge in popularity of Instagram and other SNS primarily because they allow teenager girls and other users to fashion and display their identities as they interact with other network members. Therefore, it is the use of SNS’s like Instagram that has led teenage girls to become increasingly invested in creating idealized versions of themselves. An outcome of such a pursuit is the development of among other things, negative body image and eating disorders among teenage girls (Wagner, Aguirre & Summer, 2016).
While both are guilty of socializing female beauty standards, there is a significant distinction between mass media and social media approaches. In the case of the former, majorly they use the images of unknown female professional models to socialize the ideal female form. Conversely, Instagram is a platform for teenage girls to develop, display, and reflect on their own body image (Wagner, Aguirre & Summer, 2016). Therefore, Instagram and other SNS’s permit teenage girl subscribers to portray themselves as they view the online identities of people with whom they may have actual social connections. In so doing, Instagram and its ilk raise new concerns regarding body image among teenage girls. In other words, compared to conventional media, social media is more interactive, and thus provides its users with more agency to personalize and control their experience. Because these sites encourage users to express themselves and interact with other users, social networking sites are both identity-based and relationally motivated.
According to the Pew Research Center (2015), approximately 70% of 13-17-year-olds use Facebook, and about 50% use Instagram. Furthermore, the center established that teenage girls were more likely than their male counterparts to use Instagram and other image-based social media platforms. The increased consumption of image-based social media platforms has been associated with teenage girls developing a negative subjective assessment of their bodies. According to the findings of a study conducted by Lewallen and Behm-Morawitz (2016), image-based social media environments were likely to encourage teenage girls to engage in social comparison. In other words, Instagram and Facebook use among teenage girls increases their likelihood of engaging the process of determining self- worth based on their evaluation of others. Not only does this practice encourage a sense of inadequacy and body dissatisfaction but it also means that negative body image concerns feature highest among those girls who have internalized negative images and messages.
Tiggemann & Miller, 2010 and Tiggemann & Slater, (2013) assert that there are studies that associate the use of image-based social media to body dissatisfaction among teenage girls. According to Wagner, Aguirre & Summer (2016), the self-portrait style photograph has gained cultural prominence to such an extent that Oxford Dictionaries declared selfie word of the year in 2013. To reach the determination above, Tiggemann and company conducted one study involving about 100 girls in the 7th grade. Not only did they establish that there are teenage girls who share more selfies online, but that the ones who used image editing software exhibited greater body appearance anxiety and eating concerns. Furthermore, de Vries, Peter, de Graaf, & Nikken, (2016) observe that due to appearance-based comments made by friends, social media usage is associated with increased body dissatisfaction.
Based on study findings, Piercy (2018) asserts that most teenage girls have at least 1 social media account by age 13 on which they spend approximately 5 hours daily doing among other things, posting photographs. This is a sharp contrast from mass media influence on body image. Gone are the generations that had body image concerns peak periodically as was the custom under exclusive mass media socialization of beauty ideals. The nature of adolescence predisposes the girls to the negative effects of image-based social networking sites because of the many bodily changes that mark this developmental stage (Piercy, 2018). Another developmental feature of this stage is that girls become even more peer-centric; valuing the opinions of their peers higher than others. Collectively, these are some of the prominent developmental factors that make teenage more vulnerable to social media-based body image concerns.
Conversely, the nature of the internet and SNS’s like Instagram also influence this discussion. As mentioned above, the internet has changed media behavior via mobile media applications and Instagram among other SNS’s. The outcome of this change is media consumption is constant, convenient, and based on mobile media devices along with access to personalized media spaces. Prevalence of internet connection means that access to mobile media devices is significant to how teenage girls access Instagram. The perfection of the manufacturing and distribution of these devices means that they are both accessible and affordable. Not only does personalization mean that these girls can choose a platform based on their personalities, but it also guarantees them personal control in the case of having unrestricted access to mobile media devices. In other words, technology and in this case, internet usage is a cultural component for teenage girls, a situation that normalizes their spending up to 5 hours on Instagram among other SNS’s.
As mentioned above, teenage girls attach increased importance to the opinions of their peers and this is a feature of adolescent development. Considering the media behavior changes also mentioned above, then the suggestion is that Instagram and the internet are considered in a manner like a peer as teenage seek, among other things, validation from social networking sites. It is doubtless self-consciousness and the acute need for peer validation are unique to adolescence. Convenient access along with the promise of meeting needs based on self-consciousnesses and peer validation are some of the factors that lure teenage to use Instagram and other social media networking sites. Conversely, the fact that teenage girls are active media consumers capable of creating and sharing appearance-based content on Instagram, the same platform and skills can be used in creating awareness of the negative effects of image-based social networking sites on adolescent girls.
Especially in the age of real-time and constant multimedia and social based communication, it is important to note that societal fixation with beauty standards and the female form are not unique to the current generation of teenagers. However, the way image-based social networking sites accentuate this process is unique to the current generation of adolescent girls. Instagram socializes the westernized ideal of the female form and the desire to conform to beauty standards is a powerful force especially among adolescent girls. Not only do these girls assimilate these ideals, but they also internalize and reproduce them when they upload photographs that are like the ideals popularized by Instagram. Personalization is a prominent benefit of Instagram because it enables users to present to the world an idealized version of themselves. Body image issues arise from the disparity between the idealized and actual versions of their bodies plus Instagram’s reinforcement of the former. Emerging from that disparity is the link between media and body image concerns.
References
de Vries, D. A., Peter, J., de Graaf, H., & Nikken, P. (2016). Adolescents’ social network site use, peer appearance-related feedback, and body dissatisfaction : Testing a mediation model. Journal of Youth and Adolescence , 45 , 211-224.
Lewallen, J., & Behm-Morawitz, E. (2016). Pinterest or thinterest?: Social comparison and body image on social media . Social Media + Society , 2 , 1-9.
Pew Research Center. (2015). Teens, Social Media & Technology Overview 2015. Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/04/09/teens-social-media-technology-2015/ . Retrieved on October 13, 2018.
Piercy, L. (2018). What a New Study Reveals About Selfies and Teenage Body Image. University of Kentucky . Retrieved from https://uknow.uky.edu/research/what-new-study-reveals-about-selfies-and-teenage-body-image . Retrieved on October 13, 2018.
Tiggemann, M., & Miller, J. (2010). The Internet and adolescent girls’ weight satisfaction and drive for thinness. Sex roles , 63 , 79-90.
Tiggemann, M., & Slater, A. (2013). NetGirls: The Internet, Facebook, and body image concern in adolescent girls. International Journal of Eating Disorders , 46 , 630-633.
Wagner, C., Aguirre, E., & Summer, M. E. (2016). The relationship between Instagram selfies and body images in young adult women. First Monday , Vol 21. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.5210/fm.v21i9.6390
