Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are recognized as the three most popular social media platforms in America today. The images and data shared on social media have the potential to create damaging body image perceptions in adolescents and young adults. People have it engraved in their heads that they need to have the precise measurements, BMI, the number on the scale, and body build as their peers and celebrities on social media.
The Inaccuracy of BMI
What is body mass index (BMI) and how may it be inaccurate? Body mass index is a tool that determines if you’re at a healthy weight for your height, gender, and age. A calculation derived from a person’s height and weight, etc. provides a BMI number. Anything over 25 is considered to be overweight and over 30 is considered obese. Critics claim the BMI formula is inaccurate because it does not account for weight attributed to muscle mass.
In 2013, researchers conducted a study testing both the BMI and Body Fat Percentage in a group of women and found that more than half of the women were not considered obese in BMI standards, but were considered obese when their body fat percentage were taken.
Facebook and Body Image
Facebook claims more than 1.3 billion users worldwide. According to the Washington Post, when a typical user is constructing their profile, they may feel they have to post a photo that is a glorified version of themselves. The photo they end up posting is usually one of many that were previously taken and includes manipulation to make the image appear “flawless.” Both teenagers and young adults may feel pressure to show the perfect version of themselves to their friends and family. A version that does not exist in reality.
Instagram and the Rise of Fitness
As a generation that is choosing to become more physically fit, Instagram has become the most influential platform of what one needs to look like in order to be “healthy” and “fit”. Girls see photos of their friends and celebrities in sports bras, while boys see shirtless guys with abs and definition; most think that it does not bother them, but it does. Dr. Tricia Burke says, “A lot of us just kind of scroll through and see things passively. We might not realize that we’re internalizing it, and it can be affecting our attitudes about ourselves.”
Twitter and Harsh Words
When scrolling through twitter the first thing that someone thinks of is not the images, but what everyone has to say. The vulgar opinions that people are sharing not only have to do with politics anymore, but with how others look and the things they are doing. Body shaming is not taken lightly and happens every single day on Twitter. Whether someone is too big or too small in the eyes of others, the words hurt the same. That is why in 2017 the #theysaid movement was created in order for people all over the world to share the stories of the body shaming that has happened in their lives.
This is just one of the many negatives of social media. If we do net get ahead of this issue soon, then it will continue to destroy mental image of ones self.