Isabelita II Y. Jugan

Facebook; Social Platform Associated with Body Dissatisfaction among Teenage Female Users Social media has been wired to the lives of modernized people or the so-called “millennials”. Facebook currently comes on top, being the social platform with the highest number of users. Depicting a day without Facebook would probably be a challenge to its frequent users. Such attachment to the said social networking site is predictable, considering the entertainment and updates regarding society, one can acquire from it. However, awareness to its negative impacts would be advantageous too since these can range from mind to serious. Low self-esteem and depression, eventually, can be one of these side effects, a subject which is particularly timely and relevant to young adolescents nowadays. Averagely, 936 million people scroll through their news feeds on any given day, with young women being the primary users (Caley 2015). Researchers from the University of the West of England found that women averaged two hours per day on Facebook, which was about 40 percent of their daily Internet usage. The data also showed that the longer the time that is spent on Facebook led to more self-objectification (Zabell). Facebook is where comparison among appearances can be very rampant and somehow effectual. A study was conducted using a Bayesian regression model testing curvilinear effects of age and it showed that having and using a Facebook profile is associated with poorer body dissatisfaction for both men and women, across all ages. (Stronge et al,). Although, women, naturally, are more mindful of these concerns. Since Facebook contains mostly edited and enhanced photos of people, vulnerable girls may be prone to having lower self-esteem upon having beheld the alluring images. A “thin ideal” (Caley 2015) tackling Facebook and body dissatisfaction, indicates how ordinary people tend to compare their appearances to those of models, leading to a poorer view of themselves. Comparison of oneself to another and the feeling of inferiority is inevitable. Facebook gives individuals a wider set of standards when it comes to aesthetic. The rapid increase of media consumption is like an open highway for appearance-based comparison among family, peers and wider media. Humans, naturally, would aspire to reach the standards and ideals that the society has set and portrayed but these may not be applicable to everyone. As a consequence, repercussions may be encountered as failure herewith interferes with these goals. “I look fat.” “Why can’t I look like her?” “I hate how I look!” These exclamations, as a matter of fact, are actually very usual among female teenagers. Some may listen to them nonchalantly and pay no heed but the impact to the victims might be unknowingly serious. Comparing appearances can lead to low self-esteem which would then optionally motivate some people to strive but to those who feel unsatisfied, may end up frustrated. The feeling of not being good enough can consume you slowly yet affect your wholesome personality. Depression is being claimed by a lot of teenagers nowadays. It is so rampant that it would make you question whether it’s a trend. Although, some of these claims can be false, still, both the honest and the former are both disconcerting. Facebook is somewhat a rendezvous of both compliments and insults but everybody knows how the unpleasant things seem to be the ones that get stuck, set in replay inside the heads of people. Insecurities are part of us as individuals. They are ingrained in the human minds. It doesn’t have to be harmful, though. Accepting your flaws and imperfections is vital in achieving the one thing that everybody wants, happiness. You can turn your limitations into motivations as an opportunity to grow and become a better version of yourself, to be who you are meant to be. It will not be an easy process but it will be worth it. Facebook, on the other hand, was created with the sole purpose of people being able to connect widely and boundlessly. It was never made for bashing, discrimination nor for people to nurture negativity and absence of netiquette. As long as it is used properly, Facebook can be the informative and enjoyable site it supposedly is.