Unfavorable Body Image

The use of digital media platforms has grown exponentially over the past decade. Social media use, such as Instagram and Twitter, has increased 88% over the past 5 years. Although digital media is meant to be enjoyed by the user and allow the user to connect with their friends and family abroad, media can have inimical influences on an individual, such as altering their definition of physical beauty. Social media can lead to an individual having an unfavorable body image by changing their definition of physical beauty, and giving unrealistic expectations. Majority of posts on social media nowadays are pictures of attractive men and women in a fit body. Unfortunately, majority of these pictures are edited and fictitious. Viewers yearn for a body identical to the models, and as a result they have an unfavorable body image. Florida State University conducted a study asking a group of women to browse Facebook for 20 minutes, and asked another group of women to browse rainforest cats for 20 minutes. The results show that the women who spent 20 minutes on Facebook yielded greater body dissatisfaction than the women who were looking at rainforest cats. Due to edited pictures being spread all over the internet,
A male can see an edited picture of a ripped, muscular man who is on steroids, and assume that anyone can look like him. Although anyone could take steroids to quickly increase their muscle mass and become lean, it is not a practical, nor an ethical decision to make. A woman could see an altered picture of another woman who appears to be fit, toned, and jubilant. The viewer will assume that if they were in better shape than they will be more optimistic and joyous as well. Feeling pressured, the woman could make poor nutritious choices and put her body in distress. These unreal expectations social media sets results in detrimental effects on an individual’s