If one were to ask teenagers and young adults, “what app do you use the most on your Phone”, it would be assumed that majority would answer with some type of social media app. With new technology being developed with every passing year there has been a plethora of new social media applications rising in popularity. We often find that content posted on these applications can be quite influential and often make users think differently. This can be applied to many young adult women and their body image.
Social media allows content creators to post what they want their audiences to see and often alter and misconstrue their life to fit into the beauty standard. With one small click an audience member can have access to a creator’s “life”, which often leads to many comparison thoughts. There are many influencers and content creators that have gone famous purely for how they look. I have noticed with myself and others that this can lead to detrimental thoughts about your own body image.
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Constantly seeing these women who are thin and fit can put a lot of pressure on those who are seeing it. These women get praised for how they look and forms ideals that you have to be thin to fit into the beauty standard. This can lead to many negative impacts on the consumers of these videos/pictures of these “perfect” women. Body dissatisfaction can lead to many negative effects such as eating disorders, body dysmorphia, and mental health issues. Recognizing the severity of this influence is crucial to help raise awareness and make a change in the social media industry.
Being a young adult woman myself, I have also noticed the difference in feedback in the comment section when a thin woman posts versus a woman who weighs more. Thin woman often gets praised in the comment section and often receive comments such as, “Can I be you”, “Okay, I need to start working out”, “I’m done eating for the day”, etc. These comments help to show what thoughts are going through the audience’s head when they see a woman post who fits into the beauty standard.
Not only does seeing body checking on these apps affect the audience, but also the type of content they post can have effects. It has become a trend to post “what I eat in a day” and workout videos to show your routines. Although, for some people this may increase motivation to live a healthier lifestyle, it can also lead to audience members changing their eating habits/workout routine in a harmful way. All bodies are very different and need different things to flourish. For example, if a woman who is short and thin posts a what I eat in a day, their food consumption would not satisfy a woman who is taller and weighs more. However, many consumers do not understand this and feel that they should alter their routines to fit the creators because they want to their body to looks like theirs.
Social media is a huge part of communicating and staying in touch with friends and family. However, I think our society needs to find ways to make it a safer and more welcoming environment across all platforms. Influencers and content creators need to recognize the influence they have on others and raise awareness around the issue of harmful body image effects that these applications can cause. Creators need to be aware of what they post and encourage their viewers to always be supportive and kind to others regardless of their physical appearance.
ShoutOut! James Madison University 
Self-perception and social media have become almost inextricably linked as apps such as Instagram and TikTok permeate our everyday lives. I appreciate your offerings which highlight the different ways in which skinnier women are treated vs women who weigh more. However, I also believe there is a further disparity when it comes to white cisgender women influences vs influencers who are fat, black, trans, queer, etc., as they receive a disproportionate amount of criticism. Anti-fat rhetoric and beliefs actually have racist roots and have routinely been weaponized to disparage especially fat Black women. This is evidenced by BMI which has been exposed as being racist and highly inaccurate for a variety of factors. So when we talk about social media influencers I completely agree with your statement that it is critical to recognize the role social media and how its influencers have impacted mental health. Furthermore, I also believe it necessary to recognize how white women are often platformed as these ideal popular influencers while anyone who may identify as otherwise receives an unfair amount of that criticism you mentioned.
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Social media and society are extremely damaging to all people’s body image, and it is so important to remember that is just a highlight reel. Comparison is detrimental to confidence, yet we unfortunately live in a world where we are not only comparing ourselves to others but also women to other women. Diet culture has extremely detrimental effects on the mental health of all people, but especially young women, producing eating disorders that may have not occurred without the world’s expectation of what a woman’s body should be, and what social media shows women’s bodies can be.
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