User:Lougmae7/sandbox

[possible edits to Body Image article]

Social media
Beauty standards are being enforced and shaped by social media. Users are constantly bombarded by notifications, posts, and photos about the lives of others, "sending messages about what we could, should, or would be if we only purchased certain products, made certain choices, or engaged in certain behaviors". Despite the ability to create and control content on social media, the online environment still enforces the same beauty standards that traditional media promoted. Over-engagement with social networking platforms and images will lead to unattainable ideas of beauty standards which ultimately results in low self-esteem and body image issues.

A study by the Florida Health Experience found that "87% of women and 65% of men compare their bodies to images they consume on social and traditional media." They also found that users felt like they got more positive attention towards their body if they altered it in some way. A study by the University of South Australia discovered that individuals who frequently uploaded or viewed appearance-related items were more likely to internalize the thin ideal.

Applications such as Instagram have become a "body-image battleground", while the "selfie" is now the universal lens which individuals use to criticize their bodies and others. Facebook and Snapchat also allow users to receive appearance approvals and community acceptance through the ratio of views, comments, and likes. Since individuals who use social media platforms often only display the high points of their lives, a survey by Common Sense reported that 22% felt bad if their posts were ignored, or if they did not receive the amount of attention they had hoped for. Instagram is ranked at the most detrimental to mental health according to a study done by the Royal Society for Mental Health. The increased use of body and facial reshaping applications such as Snapchat and Facetune has been identified as a potential cause of body dysmorphia. Social media apps that have body altering filters contribute to body image issues which most often result in eating disorders and body dysmorphia. Recently, a phenomenon referred to as 'Snapchat dysmorphia' has been used to describe people who request surgery to look like the edited versions of themselves as they appear through Snapchat Filters.

Many users digitally manipulate the self-portraits they post to social media. According to research by the Renfrew Center Foundation, 50% of men and 70% of 18 to 35-year-old women edited their images before uploading. 35% of respondents were also actively concerned about being tagged in unattractive photos, while 27% fretted about their appearances online.

Reports have also shown that the messages delivered by "fitspiration" websites are sometimes identical to the "thinspiration" or pro-anorexia types. This is evident through "language inducing guilt about weight or the body, and promoted dieting". The marketing of restrictive diets to young women as a form of self care can cause "increasingly disordered eating", and orthorexia, an obsession with the right and wrong types of food.