Social media's effects on adolescent girls' body image

Social media’s effects on adolescent girls' body imageis associated with body dissatisfaction and even dangerous behavior. These unproductive behaviors and obsessions range from compulsively evaluating one's body and engaging in unhealthy fad diets to physical self harm like eating disorders. Arguably equally as serious, severe disappointment with one’s body may lead to dysfunctional eating patterns that create pathways toward depression. Reactions to media can vary because of factors like the social networking platform, the environment of the individual, ethnicity, whether media icons are human or virtually, and more. Considering that adolescent girls are at the intersection of youth and femininity, social scientists and community members alike have shown concern for the ethical implications of social media’s effects on this group in particular. While literature on this specific demographic has risen significantly in recent years, continuing research is a priority given the ever evolving nature of technology.

Relevance of Demographics

Axis of Gender

This specific grouping of adolescent girls is of interest to those studying the effects of social networking for two major reasons. In terms of gender expression, there is a notable discrepancy in the effect that media use had on body image. A 2013 study from University of Minnesota showed that girls of this age have higher levels of body dissatisfaction as compared to their male counterparts. With that being said, this study has multiple limitations, the most prominent one being in its adherence to the gender binary (produced no data on intersex or non-binary individuals). This limitation was not unique to this study: the available literature that evaluates gender difference in body image tends to . Because of this, most journals include a paragraph on how continuing research is critical to add the currently incomplete data