Good morning, steemers! Today I would like to talk about selfies and how they could be a sign that someone is struggling with their body image. I recently read an article about this issue in BuzzFeed and it really made me think. That is the reason why I wanted to get into this issue.
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We spend most of our time on social media. We constantly feel the need to share everything we do on Instagram and share every thought of ours on Twitter. Moreover, Facebook has become a political platform in many ways, which has resulted in us unfriending some acquaintances or even some of our friends.
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Our whole world revolves around these three core social media platforms we’ve already mentioned, as well as other social media apps, such as Snapchat, Periscope… We might not know it but we spend a lot of time on the Internet and on these apps. Why? Today is all about sharing what you eat, where you go, which activity you’ve enjoyed most and with whom you have been sharing the experience with… Although this doesn’t imply you have a problem per se, psychologists have found out that there is a link between spending too much time on social media posting a lot of selfies and struggling with your body image or having a negative view of your own body.
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Researchers have carried out studies in order to find out women’s Facebook and Instagram use and their concerns regarding body image. Well, they discovered that the problem is not really about how much time people spend on social media platforms, but it rather has to do with how some people invest a lot of time in their selfies, meaning they spend more time choosing and editing a photo because they are not satisfied with the way they look, have eating disorders, depression, anxiety…
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In fact, there is another symptom, which is following celebrities’ Instagram accounts and engaging with photos over anything else on Facebook. This is also called “body surveillance” and it’s a real issue and a risk factor when it comes to eating disorders. Through these apps you can monitor how celebrities look like and how you look like, which makes you become obsessed with body image.
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You may not be aware of any of this when you follow an account. However, experts say that “you are what you follow”. For instance, if you follow drawing accounts, travel accounts or funny accounts you are not obsessed with image. Nevertheless, if you just follow health and fitness accounts or celebrity accounts, you could be struggling with body image. Take a look at the list of people you follow or the kind of stuff you look up on Facebook. We should all take a moment to reflect on this. I firmly believe we don’t take seriously how social media can affect our lives.
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Until next time :)
