When liking is more than compliment
Simple liking can lead to a better sense of well-being – but that also comes with risks
Cowell: Getty Images / Maskot
Rotated bodies, filters, and modified selfies: ideals of beauty correspond less and less to reality. A study shows what impact social media has on physical well-being — and who is particularly worrisome.
sBeauty ideals have always been around, and to some extent it is certainly natural that young women in particular turn towards them. But what happens when these body images don’t match reality? What if silhouettes like Kardashian appeared on the operating table? When the Instagram filter draws the complexion of the influencer, who greets you every day from the Instagram feed, so flawless and as velvety as any concealer in the world can do?
Then sometimes the unattainable ideals of beauty are propagated. And constant exposure to it can have an effect on mental health. That’s what the Beauty Impact Report 2021, a large-scale study by Stylebook (like WELT, belongs to Axel Springer) has now discovered.
Under the knife for beauty
Perhaps this is the sad realization: the majority of women don’t think they are beautiful. About 75 percent said so in the study. Almost everyone feels uncomfortable in their bodies and more than half of them have problems with their self-esteem. This has consequences: Younger women in particular are increasingly considering beauty treatments. More than a third of 16- to 39-year-olds questioned are either seriously considering it or have “done it” already. At the top of the wish list for surgical interventions, at 35 percent, is liposuction, followed by rhinoplasty, then breast augmentation, on a par with lifting.
Therefore, young women in particular feel very insecure about their bodies. If you look at why so many of them are willingly put under the knife, social media plays a role to be reckoned with. 43 percent of people under the age of 40 said they had received an aesthetic treatment because they felt the impact of influencers like Pamela Reeve or Sophia Thiel. The number of respondents over the age of 60 was significantly lower. Just under eight percent were tempted by similar content on social media.
The main problem: social media
The older they get, the more comfortable women feel in their bodies. However, women over the age of 60 are also using social media. The study shows: it is clear that they are subjected to a special evaluation of their own body there – and therefore attach special importance to their presentation in the virtual world. No wonder when you look at what can stimulate a simple proverb: For the majority, it makes for better well-being, but not only that.
For nearly a fifth of people surveyed in the 16-39 age group, a small heart is more of a reaction to a photo than a compliment from their partner. If the rain of hearts disappoints, it creates uncertainty, about a quarter of women questioned doubt themselves. Regardless of whether they are 16 or 60 and over – so the majority of age groups avoid showing their entire body in photos.
These are facts and figures that will make you think. Young women in particular are repeatedly warned of the consequences of social media on self-esteem. Such comprehensive surveys, which also take into account the middle and elderly groups, have not yet been conducted. In addition, not only is the pandemic increasingly pushing young people into the virtual world, exchanges on social networks are replacing real-world connections, and increasingly sophisticated apps and photo editing software are making it difficult to tell what is fake and what is real.
However, it is interesting, as the study also showed, that only Instagram and Co. are responsible for such negative developments. On the other hand, classic media and online print magazines, in contrast to social networks, increase the well-being and body awareness of young women. In Norway, this meant that influencers recently had to flag retouched images on social media. The United Kingdom will ban advertisements for plastic surgery in all youth media from 2022.
Our podcast gets the real word on the big and small questions that matter in life: What do selfies have to do with feminism? How to keep a long term relationship happy? And what can you learn from “The Bachelorette” TV? Subscribe to the podcast at spotifyAnd DeezerAnd Itunes or google podcast Or subscribe to us directly via rss feed.
“Certified gamer. Problem solver. Internet enthusiast. Twitter scholar. Infuriatingly humble alcohol geek. Tv guru.”
