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Calli Jensen
Professor Brooks
English 2010
April 11, 2016
Am I the Fairest One of All?
Social Media Influence and the Rise of Eating Disorders

Hours upon hours, every day, are wasted scrolling, tweeting, and posting to social media
sites. We see posts about celebrities, friends, family, and what is going on in the world on
several different social media sites. Social Media has a mental, emotional, and physical affect on
people. Some of the effects can be positive, but it is also having a dangerously damaging effect
on the world in many aspects. Many individuals of both genders have experience negative side
effects from the rise in the use of social media. Specifically this article will discuss the effects of
social media on youth, ages ten to 19, and its cause of the rise of eating disorders among this age
group.
Social Media is a way that people communicate across the entire world over the internet.
Over the years, many different types of social media sites like, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
have been created and used by billions of people. In theory, it sounds like an amazing tool to
connect people all over the world. Eating disorders are physical, mental, and emotional illnesses
that cause people to change their eating habits drastically, in order to fit an ideal body image.
You might ask what these two topics have in common. Despite the positive aspects of social
media there has been a rise in problems such as eating disorders, depression, and anxiety among
thousands of individuals especially, ages twelve to nineteen.

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I have personal experience with this new and upcoming issue that is arising in the youth
everywhere. As a self conscious fourteen year old teenager, I did my best to make sure I was
wearing the right clothes, the right makeup, and that I looked the right weight. But where
did I get these right ideas from? I got them from the constant scrolling and streaming from my
different social media sites, including, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. As a young teenager, I
was trying to find who I was and where I belonged in the world, and for hours each day all I
would see were perfect women modeling, or my own friends posting their best selfies at the best
possible angles. Instead of being happy with who I was, I felt the need to mold myself into the
pictures I was constantly looking at online.
The more time I spent on my social media sites, the more I became obsessed with my
body image. At times when I would hang out with my friends I could hear the sounds of my
friends causing themselves to throw up in the bathroom after eating. Soon enough, I found
myself skipping one or two meals to fit in with my friends who were also obsessed with
achieving that ideal body image that we had all seen online.
Were not the only ones. Thousands of people are struggling, both male and female
because they are so commonly exposed to what they should look like in order to be normal. A
study recently revealed that the number of appearance-focused television programs (but not
appearance-focused magazines) viewed predicted a decrease in appearance satisfaction one year
later (Fauquet 400). Additionally, another study has shown:
The average amount of time adolescent girls spend viewing appearance-focused media
such as fashion and glamour magazines, soap operas, and music videos is positively and
modestly correlated with body dissatisfaction, drive for thinness, internalization of the

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thin ideal, endorsement of surgery to attain a bust size that is neither small nor too large,
and bulimic symptomatology (Levine & Mur-nen, 2009) (Fauquet 390).
The access to fashion magazines, music videos, and televisions shows are unlimited on social
media sites. Our friends share and post these online every single day. If the amount of time
spent has a correlation with dissatisfaction of their body, then think for a second about how much
time the average youth spends each day looking at social media. One study found that The
average youth devotes 6 hours to media each day American youth devote more time to
media than to any other waking activity, as much as one-third of each day (Roberts, 2000). It
appears to me that there most likely going to be many dissatisfied and self-conscious youth.
Over the past ten years, there has been a noticeable increase in eating disorders due to the
increased time spent online. Today, there are currently 20 million women and 10 million men
suffering from anorexia or bulimia (CNN). However it doesnt stop there, children are also
starting to be affected and concerned with this new and rising epidemic. 80% of all ten year
olds are afraid of being fat. Furthermore, 42% of all 1st through 3rd grade girls want to be
thinner (CNN). The dieting industry has also seen a huge spike in weight loss meals and weight
loss supplements being bought. On average, the dieting industry makes a whopping 40 billion a
year from consumers. Additionally, there has been 400 million spent on monthly Weight
Watchers passes and 570 million boxes of Alli sold, which are both weight loss supplements
(CNN).
Many young men feel the need fit a masculine appearance. Trying to fulfill those
needs may lead young men to eating disorders as well. Other young men may suffer with steroid
abuse to try and obtain a manly mold. Xiao Wang, a well respected journalist, states that,

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Unlike female adolescents and college students who are concerned about weight loss, male
adolescents are more concerned about increasing their body mass and may rely on the use of
steroids (Kanayama, Barry, Hudson, &Pope, 2006; Ricciardelli & McCabe, 2003) (Wang 49).
Men are seeing a manly mold which is being presented everywhere by social media. Medical
doctor, Benjamin Wedro also explains,
People abuse steroids for a variety of reasons, but most do it to increase body
performance and appearance. People who use steroids to enhance their appearance by
increasing muscle and decreasing fat may suffer from muscle dysmorphia or abnormal
perception of their own body. Males may think that they are perpetually too small and
weak, and females may think themselves fat, even though that perception may not be
actually true (Wedro 2).
Peer pressure has an extremely strong influence on developed habits among developing
adolescents. A certain study showed that among many different pressures put on teenagers, the
influence of peers has been found to be one of the strongest (Ferguson, San Miguel, & Hartley,
2009) (Ferguson 15). So, how does this relate to the affect of social media on eating disorders?
After attending a full day at school, social sites become an additional area where young people
can be negatively influenced by peers. Cyber bullying, negative posts, and the mentioned idea of
posting the perfect pictures, are all different paths that can lead to individuals feeling
displeased with themselves and their lives which can ultimately lead to eating disorders and in
some cases, steroid abuse.
Social media is all over the world. This is not only an American fad. This is
something that people all over the world use every day. Paul Butler who is an intern for

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Facebook, one of the most used social media sites in the world, created a map where it shows the
friendships between certain parts of the world. He explains:

Figure 1: Butler, Michael Map of

Friendships

I defined weights for each pair of cities as a function of the Euclidean distance between
them and the number of friends between them. Then I plotted lines between the pairs by
weight, so that pairs of cities with the most friendships between them were drawn on top
of the others. I used a color ramp from black to blue to white, with each line's color
depending on its weight. I also transformed some of the lines to wrap around the image,
rather than spanning more than halfway around the world.
After a few minutes of rendering, the new plot appeared, and I was a bit taken aback by
what I saw. The blob had turned into a surprisingly detailed map of the world. Not only
were continents visible, certain international borders were apparent as well. What really
struck me, though, was knowing that the lines didn't represent coasts or rivers or political

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borders, but real human relationships. Each line might represent a friendship made while
travelling, a family member abroad, or an old college friend pulled away by the various
forces of life (Bulter).
Social media in-and-of itself is not evil. As discussed earlier, it can be a way to connect
people all over the world, which is shown in figure 1. It can be a medium through which people
are exposed to different cultures, ideas, and ways of thinking. There are many stories of families
and friends being connected all over the world through Facebook, Skype, and other sites. If
these were the only ways that people used social media, however, there would not even be a
reason to write this paper. Nevertheless, the unbelievable amount of time spent looking at other
peoples lives and the false identity of always being happy that people see each day, are causing a
false cyber world leading to insecurities and problems.
As you can see in the above quote and image, Facebook is used all over the world which
means the problem of social media pressure is everywhere. The image of the perfect body
type is being shown and displayed everywhere, fooling young adolescents into believing they are
not good enough for the world that they live in. This causes many young men and young women
all over the world to fall to the extremes of, eating disorders and steroid abuse to achieve this
perfect look to satisfy themselves and the world.
Not every young man and woman can be affected by the social media pressures in the
same way. Everyone reacts to social media differently because everyone is different in this
world. Some men and women look at the social media ideal body image and think positively
towards themselves and their self confidence. Additionally, other young men and woman can
look at the social media ideal body image and think negatively about themselves and lower

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their self confidence which can ultimately lead to extreme eating disorders. A recent study was
done about the way different young woman look and react to models and the ideal body image
that social media portrays.
Two studies in the United States by Wilcox and Laird (2000) suggest that young women
who focus on the slender models in magazines while defocusing attention on themselves
are more likely to identify with the models and thus to feel better about their own bodies.
Conversely, women who self-consciously divide their attention between the models and
themselves are more likely to evaluate themselves and reach a conclusion that leaves
them feeling inferior and worse. This finding is supported by research showing that self
evaluative processes, as opposed to self-improvement motives, are more likely to reflect
and activate upward social comparison processes, which themselves tend to generate
negative feelings about ones body (Halliwell & Dittmar, 2005) (Levine 23).
In conclusion, many studies and research have shown and proven that social media does
in fact play a huge role in the rise of eating disorders in the world today. I personally believe that
its nearly impossible to change social media and the images and messages it presents. However,
I do believe that young men and woman can change how they perceive these images and
messages. Additionally, parents and friends can also play a huge role in helping others be
confident with themselves by uplifting one another and generating positivity. Social media is
never going to go away; it is only going to get bigger, and the pressure of social media will only
get stronger. Young people all over the world need to understand the importance of self worth
and loving one another.

Works Cited

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Butler, Paul. A Map of Friendships The Economist. Blogs and Data Visualization. December
15, 2010. Web
CNN, National Eating Disorders Association. Web.
Fauquet, Jordie, et al. "Influence of Mass Media on Body Image and Eating Disordered Attitudes
and Behaviors in Females: A Review Of Effects And Processes." Media Psychology 13.4
(2010): 387-416. Academic Search Premier. Web
Ferguson, Christopher J., Benjamin Winegard, Bo M. Winegard. Who is the Fairest One of All?
How Evolution Guides Peer and Media Influence on Female Body Dissatisfaction.
Review of General Psychology. U.S Educational Publication Foundation. 11-28. Web.
Levine, Michael P., Murnen, Sarah K. Journal of Social & Clinical Psychology. Jan 2009, Vol.
28 Issue 1, p9-42. 34p. 2 Charts.
Roberts, Donald F, Media and Youth: Access, Exposure, and Privatization. Journal of
Adolescence Health. August 2000. Web.
Wang, Xiao. More than just Anorexia and Steroid Abuse: Effects of Media Exposure on
Attitudes Towards Body Image and Self-Efficacy. Atlantic Journal of Communications.
1545-6870. 51-62. Web.
Wedro, Benjamin., William C. Shiel. Anabolic Steriod Abuse. Medicine Net, October 23, 2015.
Web.