Recent research indicates that Beauty Is the Most Viewed Topic in The UAE on Facebook. This prompts us to question the entire social media experience as something much more than Passive Viewing says Tanuka Gupta, Clinical psychologist, and Consultant with the Al Noor Training Centre for Persons with Disabilities.
Data shows that in US alone the percentage of adult Internet users since 1995 has increased from 14% to 85% with 83% of people between the ages of 18 and 29 using it, and 90% of those users checking in on their networks within fifteen minutes of waking up.
The social media has become a more powerful tool of information and interaction than the static media as it offers a whole other level of engagement going beyond passive viewing of an image, in order to collect, retweet, “favorite,” or comment on a picture. And naturally enough, more engagement leads to greater impact. Social cognitive theory indicates other people and communities bolster our learning, deepen our impressions and any sign of affirmation is seen as a positive reinforcement. Young minds absorb the comments or tweets as gospel truth about their acceptability causing them to have unrealistic expectations about what they should look or behave like. Because of the intensity of the online world, teens who spend a great deal of time there may be at risk for a new phenomenon called “Facebook depression”. Teen development is, in large part, about separating from parents and gaining peer acceptance, and social networking sites allow them to do both. But if online harassment or rejection occurs, such as “de-friending,” symptoms of depression may be the result.
The active users are getting into a community interaction with a tendency to seek out approval on their appearances which can lead to body image anxieties. Some health experts are warning of the dangers of the “selfie” culture for those with eating disorders as the focus is on altering images to look unrealistic in appearance and fit into a body image which is not possible with a “normal” eating pattern. On top of this the compulsive quality of the social media offers especially the adolescents an “escape or distraction” route that they anyway crave and it is almost like being sucked into an omnipresent and thus omnipotent presence in their lives.
Dr Phillippa Diedrichs, senior research fellow at the University of West of England’s Centre for Appearance Research, says research backs up the link between social media and body image concerns. “The more time spent on Facebook, the more likely people are to self-objectify themselves,” she says. Another study by Jasmine Fardouly and Lenny R. Vartanian reveals that Social media use is consistently and positively associated with negative body image.
Blogs and websites are known to promote “Thinspiration” among young girls where pro-anorexic habits of eating are lauded and encouraged. Previously the “impossible to attain” body image was restricted to celebrities, billboards and advertisements and there was this distance between reality and glamour world. Now with social media, smartphones and the accompanying “enhancements” creating a “fake” self has become the norm. Continuous exposure to such images gradually blurs the line between “real” and “unreal” and soon they become the standard of comparison for ideal body shape. Similarly young girls presenting themselves through sexualized images create a distorted and objectified standard for female identity. Young men and boys are not exempt from these pressures as muscular and enhanced body images create equal amount of body anxiety and eventually shame in them.
While the negative or toxic impact of social media may seem overwhelming, just like any powerful tool, this media can be either used or abused. It is time that educators, parents, psychologists and health professionals play an active role to educate youngsters about the right way of using the social media. “The digital world is an evolving landscape that parents have to learn to navigate,” says Kathleen Clarke-Pearson, M.D., an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine.
Knowing about the online world, monitoring the young person’s use of the networking sites, talking to them about teen issues, discussing strategies to navigate online negative comments or taking actions against any cyber bullying are proactive ways of managing the use of social media by adults in their lives. Building a positive body and self-image at home with correct information, encouragement, implementing a healthy life style will help the young person to develop his or her own thought patterns and will reduce the risk of being impacted by onslaught of external information and opinions. Being part of online groups which encourage healthy self-image, positive and a wide variety of body shapes are to be encouraged by teachers and parents. Finally, parents need to be a good role model in their use of media and smartphones as well as be conscious of how they model their own perceptions about body and appearance to their children.
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References:
1. “Jannath Ghaznavi, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Communication, at UC Davis, discovered images that were, in her words, “bonier, more segmented, and more sexualized.”
2. 2013 Why Don’t I Look Like Her? The Impact of Social Media on Female Body Image Kendyl M. Klein Claremont McKenna College
3. Social Media and Body Image Concerns: Current Research and Future Directions: Jasmine Fardouly and Lenny R. Vartanian School of Psychology, UNSW Australia, Sydney, New South Wales, 2052, Australia
Tanuka Gupta has been working in Dubai, UAE as a licensed clinical psychologist since 1998 with children and adults. She currently works with Al Noor Training Centre for Persons with Disabilities as a Consultant. She is an international affiliate to the American Psychological Association –APA.
She has extensive experience of doing diagnostic, cognitive, neuropsychological and developmental assessments with children with various developmental and learning disabilities.
Her expertise lies in counselling parents of children with Autism, ADHD and learning disability to establish a home based parenting and behavior management programme based on principles of Applied Behaviour Analysis and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy.
Tanuka also works with adults experiencing depression, anxiety and relationship and motivation difficulties.