Approximately 87% of women and 65% of men today compare their own bodies to images that they see on social media (Blackford). Throughout the past few years these percentages have constantly been on the rise with social media becoming a huge part of many people's everyday routines. People wake up and instantly check social media, and they are on it for a good amount of time before bed as well. There are numerous causes of poor body image, but researchers have found social media usage to be one of the largest. People continue to use social media although it can be detrimental to body image because they become addicted to the attention it puts on them and their lives. 

Many adults, as well as teens, enjoy using social media because it allows them to continue many parts of their social lives online when they don’t have the ability to go out and do things face-to-face. Some examples of this may be staying connected with friends and family, making new friends, sharing pictures, and exchanging ideas (O'Keeffe et al). Many people view social media as a place to express themselves and be creative. They don’t get on social media and post pictures of themselves to intentionally make the people who see them wish they looked different, this just happens because of the way that our minds are wired (Hilliard). Due to the way that we naturally compare ourselves to others, it is not possible to use social media in a positive and healthy manner. 

Not many positive effects have been concluded in the research concerning social media and its effects on body image and self-satisfaction. Some people believe that there are ways to use social media to have a more positive influence. There are supposedly precautions that people can take when using social media such as taking breaks between usages or having a time limit for browsing, which may lessen the chances of seeing things that will lead to degrading of their body (Heger). There may also be ways that people can be more cautious when using social media by controlling what type of photos they are viewing and only using the media to post positive and inspiring content (Cohen). Although these may seem to be potentially effective ways to make social media a more positive space, everyone thinks differently about things and interprets things in different ways so they may still get hurt either way. 

Although there may be ways to change the way that social media is used, there are truly a large amount of negative effects. Social media can be harmful to people's physical and mental health with any amount of usage. A survey that was conducted by Zoe Brown et al, showed how viewing images of peers and celebrities on social media can lead to women comparing themselves and wishing they looked more fit. The results from this survey also showed that women are more likely to compare themselves to peers rather than celebrities because their peers are closer to their age and their lives may be similar. (Brown et al) It has been proven by a large number of studies that those who use social media generally tend to look at their bodies more negatively than those who haven’t been exposed to the perfect body images found on social media. For example, social media not only increases chances of comparisons, but also often leads to disordered eating and high body-dissatisfaction (Rounsefell et al). Once someone develops an eating disorder, it can be hard to break the vicious cycle.

There is a point when having bad body image can turn into body dysmorphia. “Body dysmorphia, or body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), is a condition where an individual becomes obsessive about a perceived flaw in their appearance (D’amore Mental Health). BDD can mean that someone constantly spends time staring at themselves in the mirror and judging their features, or it can eventually lead to other conditions such as binge eating or anorexia nervosa. Over 5 million people in the U.S alone suffer from BDD, and with increasing amounts of social media use, it is undeniable that this increase could be part of the cause of the outrageous number of people developing the disorder. (D’amore Mental Health)  A plastic surgeon in New York, stated “patients have been coming in with Snapchat filtered selfies to show what they want done to their body.”(Adkins) 

When turning the page from child to teenager, seeing what other people do majorly influences the things teens choose to do. They begin to want to go out and do more things because that is what everyone else is doing. For example, when a teen sees that her friends are hanging out and going to see a movie, they will want to go with them and may become angry if they aren’t invited. For the rest of the night they may check social media and text them to see what they’re doing, they feel like they are being left out, this is also known as the fear of missing out (FOMO). (Hilliard). This phenomenon can be defined as a pervasive apprehension that others might be having rewarding experiences from which one is absent, and it is often expressed by the constant checking of social media. (Bloemen et al). FOMO is a major reason why teens feel the need to download and use many of the social media apps, it makes them feel more included and knowledgeable. FOMO is often an effect of social media addiction and it makes staying off of social media sites much harder. Teens are more likely to engage in certain activities because of this developed fear. 

The number of children and teenagers with access to smartphones has been steadily on the rise in the past ten or so years. According to a survey conducted in 2020, 95% of adolescents in the U.S own or have access to a smartphone (Yang et al). Having almost constant access to a phone leads to social media usage at a very young age, which can ultimately lead to them comparing themselves to the unrealistic beauty standards that society has set also at that very young age. Most social media platforms have a minimum age requirement of thirteen, but children have found out how to bypass this age restriction either by entering fake information, or by using their parents accounts (O'Keeffe et al). Being in the routine of scrolling through social media for hours and hours influences how people think about themselves, especially when it comes to being a teen who may be easily susceptible to the ideas and pressure around them. (Yang et al) Society as a whole has gotten so used to constantly having a cellphone on hand that they use their phone when they're anxious, sad, happy, and even to calm their children. For example, when waiting in the checkout line at the grocery store, people may notice that when a child begins to cry, the parent will give the child their phone to play a game or watch a video to calm them down instead of trying to figure out what’s wrong. This is potentially harmful to children because they begin to find comfort in the device, leading to bad habits in their future. 

It may seem extreme to compare social media addiction to having a drug addiction, but it has been proven that the two are more alike than one may think. When taking any kind of addictive substance, the body gets hits of endorphins such as dopamine from using them. The same can be true with social media addiction. When someone becomes addicted to social media what they are actually addicted to is the feeling of being accepted that they get from each like, comment, or share that they receive. Each time they receive one of these three things they get a hit of endorphins and when it wears off they crave more. This can lead to our body being less responsive to our happiness chemicals such as dopamine and serotonin. (Heger) Social media addiction is a serious habit and it can be very hard to break. Overuse of social media often leads to desensitization since it is a fake stimulus and it makes your body build up a sort of tolerance once someone becomes accustomed to receiving the hits of serotonin. 

Many factors play into how someone develops an addiction to social media, but family characteristics have been found to play a large role (Bloemen et al). Family dynamics, as well as parental rules and techniques help determine how happy a child is at home. If they are unhappy in their home environment, they may use social media or online friends as an outlet for their feelings. The number of people who are using social media is increasing as we speak which will only lead to more addiction and degradation of our bodies in the long run. This addiction is becoming very common and the saddest part is that most people don’t see it as an addiction, even though they may spend over four hours on social media every day. 

The relationship between social media and poor body image has been deeply researched and a variety of conclusions have been drawn from the studies. One trend that I found interesting in the surveys and articles that I have read is that although the connection between women and the effects of social media has been researched, most researchers fail to go into detail about how males are impacted. Almost every article or research study that I have found has not included results from any surveys or experiments on men. A survey done in 2019 at the University of Cordoba was focused on female college students, as many of the other surveys that sit in cyberspace are (Aparicio-Martinez et al). Although I am sure that the effects of social media usage would be the same from women to men, it is interesting that many researchers choose to only focus on women instead of men. 

With social media usage at an all time high, it comes as no surprise that the ways of interpersonal communication have drastically changed (Hou et al). I believe that this change in the way that people communicate amongst each other plays a huge role in what and how much we actually say. Being able to communicate back and forth for hours a day gives us confidence to say the things that we normally wouldn’t say in person. A boost in confidence is just what people need to believe it is okay to say rude and hurtful things to people since they don’t actually have to confront them face-to-face. With both increasing confidence and screen time, cyber bullying has also become a much larger problem within the past couple of years. 59% of teens in the U.S say that they have experienced online bullying (Dudley). Bullying has a lot to do with  the way that people think about themselves and their body, but cyber bullying often takes it to a whole nother level. The fact that people can post photos of themselves all over social media whenever they want gives bullies an easy way to target them and their self-esteem. The truth is, oftentimes the ones who are targeting and bullying people are the ones with the lowest self-esteem and then they choose to take this out on other people, this causes a vicious cycle of body shaming and dissatisfaction. 

With everything considered, I believe that the downsides of using social media immensely outweigh the good ones. Given all of the negative effects that social media has on body image, I think it is high time for people to start being more cautious and aware of the ways that they are using social media. Although social media can be a great communication resource for people when they are feeling lonely and need someone to talk to, it can be harmful to their body image at the same time. Body dysmorphia, restrictive diets, and eating disorders are all very serious, yet actually pretty common problems today, due to the booming use of social media. Many people can attest to the fact that social media is more harmful than beneficial especially when it comes to the way we view ourselves. The addiction to social media needs to be more widely recognized, treated, and prevented if at all possible, since it can be seriously detrimental to body image.