Social Media, Self-Esteem and Problems That Can Occur

Social media. Yes, it certainly has its benefits but it also clearly has its flaws. It is vitally important to not only focus solely on the flaws of social media and appreciate the good that it does. It is largely a source of news for young people, with all major news outlets having Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts. It allows for communication with friends, provides picture sharing opportunities as well as opportunities to stay connected with friends or family members who may not live near you. It is also a platform in which to showcase talent, skill or work. These are just some of the benefits, but it is even more important to focus on the flaws of social media, the ‘bad’ it does for young impressionable people and how we can address these issues.

With the main focus on Instagram, the flaws are fairly clear for all to see. Yes, we all like following our friends, family members and celebrities for an insight into the everyday lives of these people. Companies use it as a promotional tool in order to increase traffic and get more people to view their business and as we know, ‘influencers’ use it to attempt to sell products for brand through brand deals. These so-called ‘influencers’ are paid by brands to promote a product, highlight the benefits of said product and attempt to convince others into buying them. If a product has influencer endorsement, young, impressionable individuals will more likely be interested in it, leading to increased sales.

Many of these ‘influencers’ give off a false impression of themselves, however. All we see of these people’s lives is what they choose to upload to social media platforms. The pictures, stories and videos that they post often have filters placed on them and are also often edited to eliminate any flaws they may have. This gives off the impression that these models are ‘flawless’ with not a single blemish, and have the ‘perfect figure’. More and more often we are seeing photo editing apps used in order to add a ‘little more colour’ or ‘a smoother finish’ to a photo, giving a false impression of what an individual actually looks like. What these influencers and models want the public to see is that they’re ‘perfect’. This leads to, mostly young, impressionable girls (as they have a higher social media usage than males) seeing these images and questioning why they don’t look like that. They provide unreal expectations of what people ‘should’ look like when in reality the influencers and models themselves look extremely far away from the images that they’re posting.

The disappointing thing is the statistics that have come out as a result of the increase of social media use in youngsters. 60% of people claim that social media negatively affected their self-esteem. This would suggest that people are seeing these images or posts uploaded by others and it is affecting them negatively, mentally. Having low self-esteem will affect individuals in different ways, but ultimately it will affect confidence, leading to a further lowering in self-esteem. The never-ending circle of low confidence and low self-esteem can have a huge impact on individuals well-being. Those who also use Facebook more tend to suffer more from depression than those who use it in moderation. This highlights that it is not just Instagram where the issue lies.

What people need to realise is that these models, in ‘real-life don’t look like the ideal self that they portray on their social media platforms. It isn’t necessarily the Instagram influencers or models fault. They’re a product of societal expectations, pressure from the entertainment industry and the industry that they work within. They’re expected to look a certain way, flawless, perfect and without imperfections. What they need to realise, however, is that their actions, airbrushing their photos, photoshopping images and making sure that they’re constantly showcasing their ‘idealistic lifestyle’ has an impact on people’s lives.

Ultimately, PsychologyToday found that higher social media use leads to decreased self-esteem. To help yourself, simply spend less time on social media. Yes, it’s easier said than done, but if you don’t want your self-esteem to be negatively impacted, you have to help yourself and give yourself the best chance at happiness. Remember that those on social media, uploading their idealistic pictures don’t look like that in reality. The negative expectations that are given off as a result of these posts have a wider impact that influencers, models and companies must realise to help fight lower self-esteem in youngsters.

A previous piece of mine looked at mental health, why it is vital to teach young people about mental health in schools and why you should be an outlet for friends to talk to. Self-esteem plays into this and there should be an attempt by friends to help vulnerable individuals limit their social media usage. Invite your friends out for alternative activities, encourage less social media use and ultimately help your friends protect their mental health.