A quick look at how social media influences self-image in today's society.

1. Social
Media
and Self
-Image
By Julia
McCann

2. What is body image?
“Body image is the way that someone perceives their body and
assumes others perceive them. This image is affected by
family, friends, social pressure, and the media”
-www.dosomething.org

4. “Approximately 91% of women are unhappy with their
bodies and result to dieting to achieve their ideal body
shape…Unfortunately, only 5% of women possess the
body type often portrayed by Americans in the media”
-www.dosomething.org

5. In a poll by the University of West England, 80.7% of
men talk in ways that promote anxiety about their
body image or perceived flaws. Sadly, 38% of men
would sacrifice at least a year of their life for the
perfect image.
-Denis Campbell, Health Correspondent, “Body
Image Concerns More Men than women, Research
Finds”

6. Understanding these surprising statistics, mass media campaigns have recently
been used as a platform for sending a positive message to people about body
image and individuality.

7. From expressing style, art, passions, goals or skills, social media tools
can act as an outlet of expressionism and individuality

8. The transparency of the internet theoretically encourages creativity and
individualism in the posts made and online identities created.
The access to millions of people has created an opportunity for the possibility of
more friendships that surpass geographical boundaries.

9. “The Selfie” is becoming a
prominent photo in Uploads on
social media websites…

10. "It's how we define ourselves, and present
for others to see. We rely on others
perceptions, judgements and appraisals
to develop our social self”
-Christine Erickson "The sosical
Physchology of the Selfie”
"The Selfie is important and not always
used in a narcissistic way"

11. “Whether we’re creating a screen
name or avatar for ourselves, or
broadcasting that the bar or coffee
shop down the street is one of our
frequent hangouts, we are
inevitably telling those around us
something about who we are as
individuals.”
The Selfie and other uploads create a
projection of ones’ self image
-Lindsay Graham, “From Bullying to
Relationships: Mapping our Online
Communications”

12. “The “looking-glass self” is a psychological
concept that suggests we develop our sense of self based on the
perceptions of those we interact with”
“How we see ourselves in the mirror versus a regular photo is
different. The mirror shows a reverse view, but also shows you
alive and with movement”
-Dr. Pamela Rutledge, “The Social Psychology of the Selfie”

13. The societal obsession with perfectionism contorts the purpose of
posting photos and actually adds to the negativity and pressure
surrounding body image
The societal obsession with perfectionism
twists the purpose of posting photos and
instead adds increased feelings of
negativity and pressure surrounding body
image

14. Social media
forums allow an
opportunity for
positive or
negative self-
reinforcement.
Unfortunately,
negativity is a
common trend on
different media
websites

15. Cyber bullying is becoming a
societal epidemic.

16. “51% of all teens have had a negative
experience with social networking…Where
educators consider cyberbullying as big an
issue as smoking or drugs”…
-Ipos Reid 2011 Survey of Canadian Teenagers;
Pew 2007

17. “Some statistics indicate that as
many as 160,000 students a year
skip school just to avoid being
harassed, and texting and social
media are making it easier than
ever to harass classmates”
-Society for Personality and Social
Psychology, “From Bullying to Relationships:
Mapping our Online Communications”

18. “Victims of internet bullying
have no refuge. Victims may
continuously be harassed via
SMS and websites, and the
information spreads very
quickly and may be difficult
to remove”
-Anne Frisen, “Tough Broads
overfed Trolls?: Tackling
Cyber Bullies”
Professor of psychology Anne Frisen
researches how cyberbullying
influences issues surrounding body
image and identity development

19. Are there any solutions?

20. According to John Mendel, the
operators of Twitter and Facebook
have as much responsibility for
stamping out cyberbullying as the
individuals who write the offensive
posts

21. Facebook’s Mission Statement is “to give people the power to
share and to make the world more open and connected”
-Facebook website
Other social media
websites do not have
a mission
statement…
Society should support this
mandate surrounding
openness and
connectedness and use
these tools to our benefit
and what they were made
for.
-M.G.

22. Credits All images from Flickr Creative
Commons http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/jan/06/body-image-concerns-men-
more-than-women http://bodyimageissues.wordpress.com/2012/09/03/tough-broad-
overfed-trolls-tackling-cyber-
bullies/ http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100222104939.htm http://bodyim
ageandthemedia.wordpress.com/2012/05/21/cyberbullying-and-children-how-body-image-
may-be-an-important-factor-for-tuesdays-class-3/ https://www.facebook.com/facebook/info
http://esciencenews.com/articles/2013/01/20/from.bullying.relationships.mapping.our.onli
ne.communications http://mashable.com/2013/02/15/social-media-and-the-selfie/
http://www.dosomething.org/past-campaigns
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/jan/06/body-image-concerns-men-more-
than-women