{"id":121,"date":"2017-01-06T13:41:50","date_gmt":"2017-01-06T13:41:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/lorettavasco\/?p=121"},"modified":"2017-01-13T14:51:00","modified_gmt":"2017-01-13T14:51:00","slug":"the-social-media-body-image","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/lorettavasco\/the-social-media-body-image\/","title":{"rendered":"The Power Of The Social Media Body Image"},"content":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0Power of Social Media<\/h2>\n

With social media\u00a0appearing to be the preferred communication between teens these days,\u00a0it’s worrying to see what they are subject to.\u00a0The popular social networking sites; Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Tumblr all have the facility to post and share images and videos widely across the world. The teenagers viewing\u00a0these images and messages are still in a stage of brain development, along with emotional regulation. This means that they are sponges. They absorb the constant posts on how to lose weight,\u00a0how to tone up, and they are affected by the frequent images posted of thin ‘beautiful’\u00a0models and icons.\u00a0Social media has the power to trigger an eating disorder-\u00a0that’s if they didn’t already have one. It does not only have the power to trigger an eating disorder, but also tragically relapse a recovery.<\/p>\n

Mental health experts are finding A cause for concern\u00a0in the link between social media and eating disorders.<\/p>\n

Teens\u00a0connect via\u00a0mobile<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong> <\/a><\/h2>\n

This means that teens are accessing social media and online pretty much wherever and whenever they want. They won’t just use\u00a0one form of\u00a0social media either, <\/strong>71% of teens say\u00a0claim that they\u00a0use more than one social media site.<\/p>\n

So there\u00a0are a\u00a0vast\u00a0amount of teenagers being\u00a0regularly exposed to a variety of images and\u00a0messages about body shape and size. This exposure is toxic. Studies have found that teenage girls specifically, who spent more time using Facebook, had higher chances for developing a negative body image.<\/p>\n

I say teenagers, as the age restriction on social media sites is 13 and above- meaning nobody under 13 should hold an account. But you and I both know that isn’t the case. I guarantee that you probably know someone under the age of 13 with a Facebook, Snapchat, Youtube or Instagram account. Or if not someone who access’s their parents. The age restriction is there for a reason, to keep children safe from the dangers of online. These children are even bigger sponges than the teens.<\/p>\n

Advertising ‘Perfect’<\/h3>\n

People often don’t consider the fact that social media is a mobile billboard. It is an advertising platform thats too busy brainwashing you for you to notice. Magazines and fashion agencies are the biggest culprits. The average\u00a0UK and US dress size for a women is 12-14<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Victoria
Victoria Secret Angels<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Victoria Secret Angels strut their stuff down the run way for the Victoria Secret Fashion Show- a video I’m sure you’ve all seen shared on Facebook. Their unbelievably slender ‘angelic’ bodies are paraded down the run way in\u00a0lingerie, with not a size 12-14 in sight. So what they seem to be saying, is that if you want to look that good in the lingerie, you’ve got to be that size.<\/p>\n

Ways Of Influence<\/h3>\n

Social media has various means of influence on body image and eating behaviours.<\/p>\n

Peer and competition – Social media can be a platform\u00a0for people to\u00a0compare themselves with others.\u00a0Feeling envious and\u00a0the need to compete with the\u00a0amount of likes that another Facebook friend gets on a picture. Thinspiration images such as bikini bridges (when\u00a0lying down\u00a0bikini bottoms hang suspended between hip bones, showing off a flat stomach)\u00a0are posted online. By seeing these images of ‘real life people’ these body\u00a0attributes can\u00a0become a challenge and trigger unhealthy eating\u00a0behaviours.<\/p>\n

Low Self-Esteem<\/em>:\u00a0 A study<\/a>\u00a0found that being regularly exposed to images and content\u00a0that suggests\u00a0others have ‘perfect’ bodies and perfect lives, left some teenage girls feeling incompetent and worthless. By comparing themselves to these other users and images\u00a0individuals feel inadequate as they\u00a0believe they don’t measure up.\u00a0The study\u00a0found that\u00a0after spending time on Facebook, teen users felt worse about themselves.<\/p>\n

Unrealistic Weight Loss Goals<\/em>: Images shared across social network sites\u00a0can\u00a0create body goals that are physically impossible. If an individual has\u00a0slim hips that don\u2019t allow her thighs to be far enough apart, then the desirable ‘thigh gap’ is physically impossible to achieve.\u00a0Various bone structures and body types can\u00a0prevent individuals from healthily or at all reaching the body goals influenced\u00a0by social media.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0Power of Social Media With social media\u00a0appearing to be the preferred communication between teens these days,\u00a0it’s worrying to see what they are subject to.\u00a0The popular social networking sites; Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Tumblr all have the facility to post and share images and videos widely across the world. The teenagers viewing\u00a0these images and messages are still […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"featured_media":129,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[4],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/lorettavasco\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/lorettavasco\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/lorettavasco\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/lorettavasco\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/114"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/lorettavasco\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/lorettavasco\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":213,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/lorettavasco\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121\/revisions\/213"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/lorettavasco\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/lorettavasco\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/lorettavasco\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/lorettavasco\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}