Social Media, Self-Esteem, and Eating Disorders

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“Self-esteem refers to a person’s positive or negative evaluation of the self; i.e. the extent to which an individual views the self as worthwhile and competent… Self-esteem is the evaluative emotional component of the self-concept… can be conceptualized as both a mostly stable trait that develops over time as well as a fluid state that is responsive to daily events and contexts” (New York Behavioral Health, n.d.).

So does social media really play a role in self-esteem and eating disorders? Yes. It does.

According to Brittany Tackett (2018), the more time a teen spends on social media, the more risk there is for developing an eating disorder and negative body images. The National Eating Disorder Association Blog asked adolescents what it takes to be liked. They all responded on how they would have to objectify themselves in order to get attention on social media. One of them wrote, “The less clothes you have on, the more popular you are”, and another one wrote, “To get positive attention via Facebook, you have to over-sexualize yourself” (National Eating Disorders Association, 2018). They then move on to talk about comparisons and reality. The teens wrote that the comparisons are automatic. It makes them feel horrible about themselves, and they even tried to photoshop their own photos, but remembered that is not who they are. They also talk about how people online create ‘a fake self”, and how most believe they are looking at raw pictures or ‘real girls’. All of this information shows the negative effects from social media in teens.

The teens move on to answer questions about the consequences of ‘body snarking’. Body Snarking is talking badly about a person’s body. They asked a girl, Jen, who said, “I know a ten-year-old girl who stopped eating after reading comments online that people had made about a picture of teen star Demi Lovato. Things like comments or tweets may seem simple, but they can really impact girls in a negative way by causing them to have unrealistic expectations about what thin is” (2018). People are creating unrealistic expectations about how they should look in order to fit in and not be bullied. According to Perloff (2014), communications, political science, and psychology professor, it is believed that social media, negative social comparisons, and peer normative influence can enhance body image concerns. He wrote, “It is important to appreciate ways that social media can influence perceptions of body image” (Perloff, 2014). This statement proves accurate because the teens above said the same thing. Perloff also believes that unrealistic expectations, comparisons, and peer normative influence can lead to eating disorders. According to New York Behavioral Health (n.d.), Comparisons can “often cause people feel inadequate, have poorer self-evaluations and negative affect”.