Social media is considered a place where individuals can post and publicize anything they want onto the world web! Social media is commonly used among teenagers and the younger generations as a way to consume news, entertainement, music, sports, pop culture, and also as a way for them to socialize with peers and publish their own content.
Although the research and data is still continuing to be studied, the facts can not deny the effects of social media on teenagers which have been recorded and measured: the ojbective results are that social media negatively impacts teens' mental health. It's been shown that teenagers have worse self-esteem and self worth because of desirable, unrealistic standards for their bodies. Studies also suggest that the results are worse for girls than boys. However, social media can also be used as a mode of communication and putting yourself out there on a forum of your choice.
The Issue of Social Media’s negative Effects:
Social media is known for its models and bodybuilders who post pictures of themselves. Most teenagers see this and internalize it, which forms unrealistic ideas of what they should look like. But, teenagers also post themselves and their bodies on social media in full confidence, which mainly stems from modern interpretations of women on social media where feminist social media posts about being confident in yourself. But is this truly a new concept? Older magazines used unrealistic body standards of supermodels and bodybuilders when they were published. The largest difference appears to be that only now near anyone can see these unrealistic standards rather than needing to pay for it like a magazine or tabloid. So, teenagers for years have been fed unrealistic standards for their bodies and adults’ bodies and only recently has that been remedied with newer media and posts on social media.
In all, in spite of the lower self-esteem of young people due to social media, teenagers already had unrealistic expectations for themselves from magazines. Also, social media can be beneficial for teeagers by providing them a place to discuss and talk to one another on an open forum. The decision is yours!
