Social media, these two words are not uncommon to hear and have increased in popularity in the past decade. it seems that a majority of teens and adults have some form of social media or for the very least have heard of some sort. Social media apart from being a way to bring families and friends together has now become a form of self advertising where many choose to only show their best side and their best selves. While in theory this seems like a great idea, in reality it forms this fake perception of oneself that is presented to the world. This often leads to people comparing themselves to one another and has been seen to lead to self esteem issues and a constant struggle to the way one perceives themselves. This is due to the fact that they believe that the person they’re seeing on social media has a perfect life. This then allows the viewer to become envious and creates a situation in which they are no longer secure with themselves. A study shown in the article “of facts of social media and smart use on body esteem in female adolescence” showed an experiment consisting of 100 adolescents who reported their usage of social media. The idea of the study was to test weather social media led to unhealthy body esteem. The results stated that the constant use of social media led to a struggle on the way one perceives themselves. This has become a grand issue as those who get wrapped up in this end up setting themselves for health issues such as depression and anxiety. Not only are they at risk for mental health issues, but they may also be at risk for disorders that come along with the obsession of being picture perfect.

Source: Yang, H., Wang, J., Tng, G., & Yang, S. (2020, September 21). Effects of Social Media and Smartphone Use on Body Esteem in Female Adolescents: Testing a Cognitive and Affective Model. from https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/7/9/148