Instagram – have you put a filter on that?

For my first post on this blog, I thought I’d discuss Instagram with you. Body image is often defined as how content someone is with their own body, and the attitudes and feelings towards it. Young people in particular are affected by the pressures that social media applies to looking perfect and the idea of not being accepted if you are not perfect and Instagram is a huge platform where thousands of photos are posted every day. Instagram is only 6 years old but has become insanely popular, gaining 100 million users from just 2015 to 2016, making its total users around 500 million. As most people know, it is a site used to post photos of anything you like from what you had for breakfast, to last night’s outfit, to where you spent your summer holiday – some of which I am too guilty of!

Now, many people post half-naked, toned photos that are seen as bodily ‘perfect’ and are unrealistic. ‘Instafamous’ users constantly post images wearing very small garments, showing off their perfectly sculpted muscles and chiselled abs. They are often associated or accompanied by the hashtags ‘fitspiration’ or ‘thinspiration’ promoting unrealistic beauty ‘ideals’ that can result in damaging the mind-set of young people. It could be argued that women and girls are mostly affected by such posts however I think men can be just as affected – the amount of carved male bodies online is just as comparable and vast so the pressure is heavy for both genders.

Female ‘Instafamous’ users consistently post revealing photos of their extremely toned, slim bodies and as Spech (2016) says “Female users who achieve ‘Instafame’ do so in large measure by carefully constructing an identity that articulates a popular ideal of the female body” and because these are the accounts that get thousands to millions of likes and comments, exposing other users to these naturally raises expectations of young girls’ body image and adds to the pressure of looking ‘perfect’. Other real Instagram accounts such as ‘flawless community’ and ‘women in leggings’ show beautiful, faultless young women and girls again with thousands of complimenting comments, pressing other young women to compare themselves to these unachievable posts.

The posts not only pressurise users, but they are also objectifying. There is more to life than having the perfect body, as I’m sure many of you would agree. Why is it a thing that you have to be physically perfect to be classed as beautiful? Or have flawless skin and perfectly ‘arched brows’ in order to receive compliments and feel good about yourself? It is something I personally, find very hard to wrap my head around and Instagram is a huge culprit for promoting such messages.

Ironically, for an online social media site that encourages filters and editing your photos to enhance and better them, it has barely any filter of its own. It is extremely easy to search up for ‘nudes’ or sexually explicit content, again showing women with tiny waists and mile-long legs, toned stomachs galore! I think for such a huge online platform, Instagram should take part of the responsibility when it comes to promoting body ideals and the messages it can send out. As someone who has younger siblings, both male and female, it worries me that they will feel immediate pressure to be perfect from a young age because of social media sites such as Instagram.

Of course, there are also positives to such an online site. It connects people from all over the world, truly amazing photos being posted from exotic, serene islands to the lively and busy cities such as New York and I can appreciate this. I, like many, enjoy scrolling and liking a variety of posts but it disheartens me slightly when I see so many stick-thin people promoting unattainable body shapes. Staying fit and healthy is one thing and often there are posts encouraging this, however the almost inescapable flow of unrealistic body posts can be dangerous!

Body confidence is of course an extremely important thing, and for the people that achieve it it’s great, but it shouldn’t be that unless you have the ‘body ideals’ that current culture promotes, you can’t have this body confidence. It should be that young people are taught to love themselves and the body they have, and there are indeed accounts that promote this ‘love yourself’ idea. Although many people will not agree that Instagram adds to the current and clear pressures to be perfect, it is a site that people are scrolling through constantly and comparing themselves to others – a negative affect! These continuous comparisons can even lead to eating disorders such as bulimia and anorexia! We need to be more aware of the affects social sites like Instagram have on people’s mind-sets and the negative outcomes it can lead to. Perfection does not exist!