Abstract

This paper will explore the role of social media and how it negatively impacts the identity of young females, and its effects on self-esteem and their identity. This paper argues the behaviour of young females that partake in on social media, such as their roles in traditional media outlets in comparison to their roles in the Internet and social networking sites. In particular, sites identified will be Facebook and Instagram, which are heavily visually oriented platforms. The paper also focuses on identity development and it is a crucial stage for teenagers, and how social media is incorporated into expressing their identity to others. Lastly, the paper explores gender ideals and how this affects young girls’ way of expressing their identity to others online, and how this may cause emotional concerns in the long run. This paper aims to outline these aforementioned issues in order to fully understand how young females are influenced in terms of their identity.  

Introduction

With the growth of social media being readily available and the ability for users to control content, it allows adolescent females to not only network with the online community, however, allows them to create an idealised image of themselves and a constructed identity online. For adolescents, the stage of character development and self-confidence is imperative, and the online space allows for identity development and self-expression and will be elaborated on further. Partaking in social media sites can have an adverse effect on young adolescents’ body image and self esteem, as multiple factors such as self-photo investment, photo manipulation, comparison of peers online, and also exploring sexuality to adhere to societal norms are multiple factors that will be examined.

Differences between traditional media and social media on adolescent girls’ identity

Traditional media outlets such as television and magazines have previously influenced the youth by promoting unrealistic body images of retouched females, and has constantly fed an ‘ideal’ body image to females specifically by their media exposure since their childhood. Due to the digital age, there has been a shift in usage of traditional media to social media outlets, and teenagers are now looking to the Internet for entertainment and communication, and particularly engaging in social networking sites such as Facebook as discussed in (de Vries, Peter, Nikken & de Graaf, 2014). Visually oriented social media such as Instagram. Social networking sites, particularly Instagram and Facebook revolve around the idea and evaluation of one’s physical appearance, and this may create pressures on teenagers to look a certain way that is deemed attractive, that is different to the image portrayed in traditional media outlets (de Vries, Peter, Nikken & de Graaf, 2014). Tzavela and Mavromati (2013) indicates that 73 per cent of 13-14 year olds report having social media profiles, whilst there is an increase to 82% of 15-16 year olds, this clearly indicates that the use of social media increases with age (Livingstone, Ólafsson & Staksrud E, 2011) and is important to note, as this age can be imperative in character building and self-esteem as it sets teens up for adulthood.

Identity development refers to an individual actively searching for their role, making meaning of their experiences and context, and furthermore examination of their individual strengths and weaknesses as discussed by Eleuteri, Saladino and Verrastro, 2017 cited in (Llyod, 2002). Adolescence is therefore an essential stage for development of identity as teens are able to explore and present themselves in different ways. Therefore, due to moderately high social media use by teens, and the highly interactive features social networks allow, teens are able to use social media to build their identity, explore sexuality and build moral awareness. Another point to note is that teenagers are practically granted full-time access to social networking sites, and can instantaneously communicate with their peers, or post a picture within seconds. This behaviour has become embedded in many young people’s lives (Mascheroni, Vincent & Jimenez, 2015) and has resulted in the opportunity for teens to actively engage in their self-presentation online to not only their peers, but to the world. Teens are constantly able to create and update their profiles online whilst conforming to socially shared rules of their social connections such as their friends, to maintain their reputation (Eleuteri, Saladino & Verrastro, 2017). Teenager’s online profile is further developed not only by individual preferences but also based on the assumption of what their peers find interesting (Tzavela & Mavromati, 2019). Moreover, due to social media granting young adolescents the ability to express themselves and communicate with peers, it has become a lifestyle where the individual not only engages in self presentation and communication in reality, however, also in the online space.

Moreover, social networking sites are predominately user-generated and empowers users by encouraging creativity and the ability to control content, resulting in a completely personalised online presentation of oneself. Since the commercialisation of mobile phones and the camera feature, self-portraits have been commonly used. However, with the increased functionality of smartphones and features such as a front-facing camera, has now created an evolution of the “selfie”, where teens are taking advantage of this to share self-portraits online and a way to construct and furthermore explore their identity. This poses a question whether mobile technologies and ease of sharing self-portraits are affecting young adolescents body image and self-confidence.

The era of the ‘selfie’ and the effects of photo investment and manipulation

As aforementioned, social media is highly interactive and visually expressive, and teens that post self-images increases the exposure of scrutiny from their peers and are subject comments from other users, and furthermore, creates increased competition from peers. Posting self-images and choosing the ideal profile picture is important to present an individual, as it essentially represents the user’s physical identity (Tzavela & Mavromati, 2019), and will be discussed further. As reviewed in Nierengarten’s study (2017) the role models for teens are often the friends they have on social media, which is a shift from traditional media where the role model would be a celebrity or a model. The effect can be significantly different as in traditional media the image they portray of a celebrity is certainly unattainable, however, if it is a friend from school, it may seem attainable and could cause body concerns for the individual. Indirect pressure can also occur by reading comments about their friends’ appearance on their photos (de Vries, Peter, Nikken & de Graaf, 2014), and may result in unhealthy comparison, whilst also promoting the ‘ultimate’ and ‘ideal’ body image. It is also common for young females to “untag” photos of themselves that is uploaded by a peer if they are not happy with their appearance, which is a privacy option on social media sites such as Facebook and Instagram (de Vries, Peter, Nikken & de Graaf, 2014). This therefore, reinforces the idea of teens wanting to present an ‘ideal’ version of themselves and a constructed identity to the online world.

Additionally, the idea of photo investment is important to discuss, as it plays a role in how young girls present themselves online. McLean, Paxton, Wertheim & Masters (2015) suggests that self-photo investment and photo manipulation are linked to high rates of body and eating concerns amongst young girls. Photo investment refers to a person’s interest of aesthetics such as the photo quality, and how the photo represents the individual. It further refers to the effort taken in choosing photos before sharing them online (McLean, Paxton, Wertheim & Masters, 2015). Similar in concept, photo manipulation and photo editing culture is another common step before teens post a photo. There are many available photo-editing apps to create a more physically appealing image, for example: Facetune, Photoshop and VSCO cam. However, a study featured in McLean, Paxton, Wertheim & Masters (2015) reveals that photo-manipulation that reported greater body concerns referred to using a filter to blur and change the overall appearance of the photo, rather than altering body size, which is more on the extreme side of the spectrum. Moreover, it is becoming clear that self-photo investment can cause negative effects on young adolescents, due to the awareness of how the photo may represent the individual, and therefore impact their identity.

These types of aforementioned behaviour and obsession with image may result and contribute to body dissatisfaction, as one study in McLean, Paxton, Wertheim & Masters (2015) suggests that adolescent females found increased social media use was linked to body concerns and a drive to be thin. Likewise, a study conducted in McLean, Paxton, Wertheim & Masters (2015) also reveals adolescent girls who regularly share selfies are linked with body image concerns. Another point is that college women find receiving comments on their own photos important and tend to compare themselves with their friends’ photos. This is also correlated with higher levels of disordered eating and may also be related to the desire to undergo cosmetic surgeries (de Vries, Peter, Nikken & de Graaf, 2014). This suggests that actively engaging in the presentation of an online image, comparing and commenting on other’s images leads to a type of self-scrutiny that cannot transpire through traditional media engagement which is mostly passive. Another question is why do teenagers go through all the effort to post a selfie, and why they feel the need to portray a perfect life all the time. McLean, Paxton, Wertheim & Masters (2015) reveals that teens engaging in activities with a focus on appearance are looking for validation and reassurance from others regarding body concerns such as social and physical attractiveness. It is also important to mention that all the effort to portray an image online is to present an identity, and the desire to feel included in the world as discussed by Eleuteri, Saladino & Verrastro (2017) cited in (Allen, 2015).

The effects of sexting and sharing of provactive photos of adolescent girls

Sexting and posting revealing selfies has become a way in the modern world to experiment with identity, and explore one’s sexual identity. Posting revealing pictures that may cause negative consequences can be associated with the lack of online and social media literacy discussed by Mascheroni, Vincent & Jimenez (2015) as cited in (Livingstone, 2014) or can be linked to boys’ behaviour for sharing inappropriate pictures to their friends or the internet after a break-up or for revenge purposes.

Mascheroni, Vincent and Jimenez (2015) suggest that self-presentation on social media is highly gendered, as it conforms to normalised patterns of masculinity and femininity, where girls are particularly meant to accomplish desirability and appear sexually attractive and active. Girls furthermore receive more peer judgement than their male counterparts. Expanding on the idea of conforming to gender expectations, girls who decide to post images with a sexy pose suggests are aware that these photos may be passed on without their permission, and have accepted to express this as their social identity to the world. Young females often conform to these standards because it may be attributed to their self-confidence, and that it is built around beauty and confidence. As aforementioned, girls further desire social acceptance from their self-presentation online as the number of likes they receive on their pictures defines their social inclusion, and may be a symbol of self-accomplishment and popularity (Mascheroni, Vincent & Jimenez, 2015). The presence of sexualised norms that are being projected on girls has influenced some girls to give in and post provocative pictures, and is subject to the negative comments of boys for being a ‘slut’ and ‘that kind of girl’. However, these girls are choosing to conform to their stereotype and receive acceptance from not only their male counterparts, but also female peers. On the contrary to appearing sexually attractive, girls are also subject to the expectation of being a ‘good girl’, another stereotype that they have to battle with (Mascheroni, Vincent & Jimenez, 2015). This can create unrealistic expectations for girls as they feel the need to live up to the norms and present their identity online in a way that is deemed acceptable by society.

The consequences of posting provocative pictures and sexting can result in cyberbullying, which can lead to humiliation, decreased social status, depression, damaged relationships and suicidal thoughts (Eleuteri, Saladino & Verrastro, 2017). Pressures from peers also influence teen girls to forward sexually explicit pictures, and can result in these photos to be shared around after relationships have ended. This can have serious effects on young girls self esteem and body image, and according to a recent survey study, 51% of respondents aged 18-30 considered committing suicide as a consequence of photo exchanges, and 93% suffered emotional distress (Franks, Eleuteri, Saladino & Verrastro, 2017). These statistics evidently show how sharing inappropriate pictures can have a negative effect on mental health for adolescent females.

To conclude, this paper has analysed how the use of social media by adolescent girls affects their identity development, both online and offline, and how this can negatively influence body perception. The paper has briefly discussed the difference between traditional media compared to social media and its endless supply of communication and entertainment that can be accessed at any time. Furthermore, I have outlined that traditional media is a much more passive way of consuming ‘ideal’ body images, whilst social media is significantly engaging and revolves mostly around peers. I have also argued that social media allows for self-expression and a way to present an ideal identity to others, in a way that may not be realistic. This paper has further discussed photo manipulation and photo investment in young females and its correlation to disordered eating and lower self esteem issues. Lastly, the paper outlines gender ideals and how females are to be presented in a sexual way, which leads to exchanging sexual pictures and causes emotional distress, as well as the pressure to conform to a specific identity according to gender. Moreover, combining the Internet that is rapidly advancing and the idea of gender ideals specifically for females, these issues of self-confidence may potentially become worse and unhealthy overtime for the next generation of social media users.

References

De Vries, D.,A., Peter, J., Nikken, P., & de Graaf, H. (2014). The effect of social network site use on appearance investment and desire for cosmetic surgery among adolescent boys and girls. Sex Roles, 71(9-10), 283-295. doi:http://dx.doi.org.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/10.1007/s11199-014-0412-6

Eleuteri, S., Saladino, V., & Verrastro, V. (2017). Identity, relationships, sexuality, and risky behaviors of adolescents in the context of social media. Sexual and Relationship Therapy, 32(3-4), 354-365. doi:http://dx.doi.org.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/10.1080/14681994.2017.1397953

Mascheroni, G., Vincent, J., & Jimenez, E. (2015). “Girls are addicted to likes so they post semi-naked selfies”: Peer mediation, normativity and the construction of identity online. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 9(1), article 5. http://dx.doi.org/10.5817/CP2015-1-5

McLean, S. A., Paxton, S. J., Wertheim, E. H., & Masters, J. (2015). Photoshopping the selfie: Self photo editing and photo investment are associated with body dissatisfaction in adolescent girls. The International Journal of Eating Disorders, 48(8), 1132-1140. doi:http://dx.doi.org.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/10.1002/eat.22449

Nierengarten, M. B., M.A. (2017). Influence of social media on teenagers’ body image. Contemporary Pediatrics, 34(10), 21-22. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/docview/2017969955?accountid=10382

Tzavela, E. C., M.Sc, & Mavromati, F. M.,M.Sc/Post-M.Sc Dip. (2013). Online social networking in adolescence: Associations with development, well-being and internet addictive behaviors. International Journal of Child and Adolescent Health, 6(4), 411-420. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/docview/1625518818?accountid=10382

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