Self-Image/ social media
As the saying goes “never judge a book by its cover”, however the sad truth is that we are living in a generation were self-image plays a major importance role to the wide variety of males and females of today. Has Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and so forth) been branded the route cause towards extreme pressures for you to look “perfect”? March 2018 statistics have reported the UK most popular social networks being used, Facebook 90%, Twitter 60%, Instagram 51% and Snapchat 50% (Chaffey, 2019.) one of Social media key features is known for its great ways of communication with friends and family members (advantages) however social media comes with its disadvantages were prejudice, discrimination and stereotyping occur particularly aiming towards self-images. Discrimination is the practice of treating a person or a group less fairly or less well than other people or groups (Collins, 2020.) this doesn’t just take place on social media it is happening everywhere in day to day life. Prejudice what is it? negative attitudes towards a certain member within a specific group. Prejudice have 3 components, affective (emotions), extremity (attitudes) and cognitive behavioural (thoughts, knowledge and behaviours).
One of the most favourable uses for social media apps, which we are all possibly guilty of doing so is uploading our pictures “selfies”. Whilst its all fun and laughter in the moment of trying to capture that perfect snapshot, whilst adding filters people begin to question their self-identity whether they are captivating and what people’s opinions will be on the specific pictures that they upload for all to see. My personal opinion concerning the social media topic and its uses is down to the self-discrepancy theory and self-regulation, we have three types of knowledge that we know about ourselves, actual self ( who we are for now), ideal self ( how we would like to be or who we`d like to be like) and ought self ( how we think we should be or how we want society to perceive us). Straight away you are being stereotyped, people will like your pictures, comment on your pictures, people are looking at your age, sex, race, social class and so forth but are the people who have acted on your pictures really genuine or just conforming along side everyone else which in affect groups are being formed in psychology terms known as the “in group” and “out group”. Based on social media the in groups will show positive feelings, perceive the in group to be far more intellect than the out groups, organise little get togethers. Out group, homogeneity, perceiving the out group to be lower than the in group and negative recollections to anything positive. Basically, how this all connects with social media people who seem to fall into the “in groups “are those who are perceived as good looking, nice clothes, lots of friends, popular, interest in similar music tastes etc. unfortunately “out groups” is the opposite, not as good looking, insufficient funds to be able to purchase nice clothes, not many friends which could be due to personal preference and completely different interest in music to majority or what people believe to be the norm, sad but truth.
Instagram being a big platform in the social media field for its engaging access into the lives of our famous celebrities, the only characteristics Instagram is immense for is the pictures and videos. As were all aware of majority of the time celebrities are always perceived as glam, people will find them comparing themselves to their ideal role model, whether the celebrity is promoting fashion, make up, designer garments and so forth. The great phenomenon which seems to be becoming more of a big subject is the increase to cosmetic surgery according to (Chatzidakis, 2017.) a report has revealed that social media pressure has been linked to the cosmetic procedure boom. There has been a huge desire within the younger generation to turn to procedure like Botox and fillers. While the UK market for cosmetic procedures was estimated to be worth as much as £3.6bn in 2015, its thought that this number has since grown even bigger. Clearly, this highlights the fact that we live in a world where we are subjected to huge amounts of pressure to look a certain way on a daily basis. When will this madness stop? (Chatzidakis, 2017.)
Why do you feel we need to compare yourself to everyone else? We are all unique individuals we all have unique individual qualities. Why do we seem to live in a world where we care what people’s opinions are? why would someone’s opinion cause and effect towards yourself? if your happy that’s all that matters.
Whilst social medias feedback (comments) is good for one’s self esteem on the other hand I believe that it can personally cause a huge impression to a person’s mindset, always trying to fit in with society to be the norm and can cause significant amount of doubt about one’s self-image. All these social media aren’t just causing an affect on a person to doubt the self, it is causing a huge impression on mental health leading a person to feel levels of loneliness jealousy, anxiety, depression, narcissism and a decrease in social skills. (Dolan, 2018.) findings suggest that users with low self esteem may use Facebook as an effective platform to enhance their sense of SWB by highlighting their most desirable characteristic and that they are reluctant to express themselves and socially feel less attractive than those with high self-esteem. I feel strongly about how social media plays a huge role on self-image and a person’s mindset, going off experience I have removed myself from Facebook for over 7 weeks now and my mental health has some what had a major impact and I have completely surprised myself I have, I thought I would of returned back to Facebook but all I feel that social networks give off is a lot of negativity compared to positivity.
Please interact and tell me your view towards prejudice through the influences towards social media.
References
https://graziadaily.co.uk/life/health-fitness/cosmetic-procedure-social-media-study/
Accessed on 10th January 2020.
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/discrimination
Accessed on 8th January 2020.
Accessed on 8th January 2020.
Accessed on 10th January 2020.
Amanda Dennison Blog 
I totally agree with this.
I myself do this. I have to have the perfect profile pic which is edited. This article has made me question myself why I do this, I think its a case of trying to fit in, be someone I wish I could be and just joining in with the ‘fake’ Facebook rat race.
Last year I also did a few weeks off Facebook n totally did me the world of good, I wasn’t comparing my ‘boring’ life to other people’s ‘ fake exciting’ lifes, I wasn’t comparing my looks to other people’s edited photos.
I strongly believe Facebook is very negative but addictive.
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I agree that Social Media has an escalating detrimental effect on the individual especially if they have self image issues. Being the fat kid I was bullied but when I came home I was safe, this is not the case as Social Media gains access to this safe zone inflating the problem. It is no wonder that youngsters today are self absorbed with there image, it is understandable to fit in and not be singled out because they are different. I don’t like this view but know it’s there. This is a well thought out blog, which has provoked my thinking.
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I agree on what you have put says about how people feel about themselves it’s like for example if you was going into something like X factor if you had an amazing voice but youre body shape didn’t go we know you wouldn’t get into the final or semi final and that is cause the industry is you have to have a good body. Me personally it should go by what you look like. Would you see a fit guy looking at a big girl no you wouldn’t. I myself have put weight on which I’m not happy about but my partner loves me for who I am. This world we live in is all about how we look how we dress having a fancy house etc but just cause people have that doesn’t mean they are happy. I go on Facebook all you see is drama what’s going on the world who is sleeping with whoever. Instagram is about famous people
I use my Facebook for family and friends not to see what’s happening with people’s life’s. I have mental issues myself I see different people for several issues I take my partner with me cause she is a help to me and I feel safe. My past has alot to do with how I feel when you are feeling down it’s hard to get out of it. I do hope I have wrote enough down . Explaining myself in time I’m hoping to get back to being the person I was before.
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I agree with this article because it says about how people think about themselves for example I used to use facebook when I took a picture I checked to see if it looked good first before I posted it because people will judge you on how you look.
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This is so true, the society that we live in has a perfect body image, career image but thing is not everyone is on the same timeline. Social media has clouded judgement on how successful or how good looking one person is just by looking at exterior beauty.
Some call this motivation or inspirational I call this blind because like you’re not going to find your true self trying to follow the ‘Shepard’ aka celebrities, Instagram models.
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Thank you for your response on my blog commentary, I completely agree with you, social media is clouded, clouded by what people want the world to see however people only see what it is there interested in. social media comes with a lot of stereotyping however this can happen in every aspects of ones life therefore I feel that prejudice and discrimination in years to come will worsen and have major impacts on the wellbeing towards the younger generation today they wont stand a chance in a world that is so judgemental and dismal, who would have thought that we would be questioning our self image, self esteem and ideal self, What happened to being happy with self identity rather than seeking acceptance for social identity and following like sheep as I call it. my personal opinion which some people might people might not agree with me on, ads need to be dismissed, filters need to be abolished as its not a true identity, social media applying cost charges (people will be less reluctant to go on social media apps if they have to pay), limited time to access social media. There are many other factors that follow along side self image, bullying, mental health issues, debts and addiction. Lets face it were Instagram is concerned all these celebrities have vast amounts of money therefore they can afford cosmetic treatments, they have there own personal trainers, nanny’s to help out with children if they have any and lets be honest these celebrities our constantly in the public eyes and some what they have gained the impression that self image seems to be important however I don’t feel it is, if your happy with yourself the world will a happy place.
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I totally agree with this, I for 1 used to be the type of girl that would post a selfie for the likes and comments to see what people think about me! But in reality they just like what they see knowing damn well boys can get what they want for liking a girls photo cause it gets girls excited that a fitty has like their picture not realising the reason on why. This generation is just stupid botoxing themself to make them selves look good when in reality their ruining their natural beauty to become like someone who is rolling in money and is just changing their looks for fun. Once you ruin yourself like that their is no going back and people need to realise this sooner rather than later! Since getting older and mature I couldn’t care less what people think about me anymore their all just stereotypical bitches who get what they want whenever they ask mummy and daddy for it. So yes I agree with all that has been written here its amazing and more people should read it to realise their worth and what life’s becoming like x
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I agree 100% too many people are trying to be something there not just to please the public, its got that out of hand its even effecting young kids trying to grow up before there time and destroying there childhood which they can’t get back!! Theres parents ignoring there kids just to look good on social media, kids ignoring there grandparents just to be on social media and its completely killing society. I myself have self esteem issues because when I’m “dolled up” I get the attention and positive comments. People smile and acknowledge me yet when I’ve no make up on people avoid me, look down there nose and are even rude. Yet are no wiser I’m the same person they smiled at the other day
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This is a good piece to read, I totally agree. In today’s society the younger generation are pressurised more to look good rather than to feel good. I personally feel that our younger generation are more prone to being pressurised by their peers in school, this is also where famous people are brought into the situation & have their photos face tuned, therefore the younger generations are trying to keep up to standards of looking good. But, with peer pressure it is not just down to editing photographs / selfie’s, it is also keeping up with the latest fashion trends weather it is clothing, make up products, hair styles, nails, and even silly trends that leads to A&E for example: teenagers gluing their lips for a bigger / fuller look. These are all steps taken before the majority of pics on social media are taken, as someone has already mentioned, keeping up with fashion trends can be very expensive but, they are becoming more wise to this & use social media to buy products second hand or for less cost, or go to a police auction to buy ex offenders top named brands at a cheaper price. As you get older the pressure becomes less tense, you suddenly realise that life is not a fashion parade.
In today’s society we are still trying to keep up with technology for example: social media v’s online bullying, how do we deal with these situations to prevent more of it happening like when posting self-images of ourselves online.
Emma Moore.
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Starting from the age of 3 I got bullied because of I never stood up for myself that’s because I had a disability. Then even when I went to secondary school it still happened it made me alone depressed and felt like I wasn’t getting help but people was trying but I didn’t listen. It messed with my head and now as I’m older it seems to have got worse bullying I have Facebook Snapchat instagram and you see pictures of girls looking older than they are talking about boys this is why men pick young girls up cause there full of make up and dressed older than they look. When people put on social media about depression and put photos on it gets me angry because there is people actually going through it.
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I totally agree with what you have wrote when I was young we had no social media or mobile phones noone was judged and singled out but as years have passed society has got worse the world is a horrible place to live you can’t trust anyone all you hear is people killing others pedophiles and other crime that they have comitted now children wanting to end their lives because they are made to feel bad about theirselves I brought both my son’s up due to their dad passing away my youngest son has learning difficulties and it’s been a a struggle he was bullied and didn’t understand why he was so different and he felt alone at times but now he is 16 I see alot of changes in him and wanting to follow others I fear him going down the wrong road just to fit in I guide him best way I can
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Great work. Good statistics and opinions towards self concept. Great work keep it up xx.
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I agree with this, I my self use Facebook and spent a lot of time on it until lately I struggled with my own mental health so took some time off Facebook which helped me a lot. I think we spend too much time on social media and forget about the real things happening in our own lives sometimes. We are our own person,Yes I have used snap chat filters before but then thought I don’t need that. I am who I am, it can put a lot of pressure on you as a person to try and look/feel better about yourself but Each to there own also. I spend most of my time just scrolling through Facebook just for sake of it. Too much pressure on the younger generation now to try and fit in with the world when they should be enjoying life happily doing what makes them happy and shouldn’t care about what others think of them, I struggle sometimes and worry about what others think but does it really matter if you are happy in life.
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I couldn’t agree more with this, everyone’s feels the need to fit in , I don’t tho I love my individuality and quirk bits and so should everyone else don’t feel the need to fit in. Great read 🙂
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This is a very well written blog, youve clearly highlighted the type of discrimination and stereotyping happening within social media and explained the affects it has on individuals mental well being and their behaviours. I do agree that social media has influenced people to be conscious of their self image and also encouraged plastic surgery. This could apply to the self-fulfilling prophesy theory as when people upload their ‘selfies’ to social media and receive a postitive response (via likes and comments) it then encourages the individual to live up to that expectation every time. They can then become obsessive in maintaining this self image which is accepted by society, therfore causing unhealthy thought processes and mentality by continuing these behaviours to live upto other peoples expectations. I personally didn’t like plastic surgery before, but recently with the amount of women getting procedures i have questioned whether i should myself! I am not one to be easily influenced or ever felt the need to “conform” but in this area of self imagine and social media i have definitely started to self doubt and debated whether i should “conform” to fit in with the “new up to date trends”.
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Thank you for taking the time out to leave a comment on my blog commentary. Over 10 years ago cosmetic surgery wasn’t deemed for a high demand as it is now, cosmetic procedures in the past was mostly considered because of one’s insecurities (nose correction procedures for example struggling to breath), (ears being pinned back). It appears cosmetic procedures are becoming more of a fashion statement rather than it being essential due to health related issues, I personally know people around the age groups 20+ and above who have had procedures done there selves ( lip fillers), (Botox) (dermal fillers) and so on, it’s crazy at that age the skin is still maturing and that a individual is in that mindset that appearance is key. What I struggle to understand that either way after making slight adjustments to the way you look you will still be criticised for the fact that you’ve had some cosmetic surgery therefor either way prejudice and discrimination is going to occur and you are not going to win therefor essentially individuals need to teach themselves about self-love and learn to accept their individuality and stop seeking for acceptance from the society we live in and remember this beauty also comes from within one’s self also. Since when do we live in the world to please others?
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I agree completely with this blog and I myself have seen this first hand, where someone has portrayed there life to be completely different on social media compared to real life, everyone feels the need to compete against one another when it comes to social media and everyone seems to go one over on each other. I feel social media is the biggest cause of mental health issues.
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Your work is spot on, everybody at every moment of the day are judging and sometimes without even realising it. We are all striving for the perfect picture, sadly we can’t be more happy with what we are or have. We should fine one thing a day to be glad about xx
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I 100% agree with this. Yr work couldn’t be any more on point. People are judging and criticising others without them realising it as well as judging themselves
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Well if that ain’t the truth, 100% agree.
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Definitely agree with how people feel they have to portray themselves I also think it starts very young with children going on tiktok having to try and impress their friends or followers with the more popular children getting more likes
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Completely agree. Too many people faint themselves to be perfect on social media because of how celebrities are portrayed in the media. Very well spoken
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100% agree with this blog 👍
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