Social Media Has Direct Link to Low Self Esteem
A recent post at Times of India explains how Social Media Sites have links to Low Self Esteem.
Social media sites are used more then ever before since the introduction of smart phones, with people accessing their social media accounts several times a day, (an average of 45 minutes to 2 ½ hours per day). A group of 10 and 11 year olds were interviewed with 90% of them having a Facebook account with an average of 475 friends.
Researchers at the New Flinders University found a link between self-esteem and social media sites especially in teen girls. Over 1000 high school girls who use social media sites were interviewed with 46% saying they were dissatisfied with their weight.
Many girls looking for reassurance online post status updates about their weight. Melinda Tankard Reist said. Young girls seeking affirmation via social media were “setting themselves up for negative outcomes”
Researcher Amy Slater confirms.”Time spent on social network sites was related to lower self-esteem, body-esteem, sense of identity and higher”
Social proof is a key motivator, people originally share negative updates to gain attention and reassurance, secreting hoping that others will tell them how beautiful they are. In reality people are more likely to post negative comments, sometimes as a joke because it is easier for someone to tell you a negative comment online.
This live interactive platform, creates negative social proof, “he said I was fat..so I must be” as with all new beliefs we then easily find evidence to back up this belief, which results in lower self-esteem.
Learn more about what the researched uncovered on Times of India
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Chris Delaney 