Social media having a negative impact on young women

Liberty+students+use+social+media+like+TikTok%2C+and+several+have+expressed+that+apps+like+it+have+contributed+to+low+self+esteem+and+a+negative+outlook+on+body+positivity.+Photo+by+Christian+Jordan.+

Liberty students use social media like TikTok, and several have expressed that apps like it have contributed to low self esteem and a negative outlook on body positivity. Photo by Christian Jordan.

Susy Holbrook, Features Editor

Social Media is extremely popular among teens today. Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter are used daily by high school students. While social media can be fun and interactive, there is also a very unpleasant side, especially with women and young girls.

Popular teen celebrities have written songs that have to do with self image and esteem, such as Billie Eilish’s “idontwannabeyouanymore” and Olivia Rodrigo’s “jealousy,jealousy” which have resonated with teenagers because they are able to relate heavily to the words in the songs. 

Girls have always struggled with their view of themselves; however, with the rise of social media, more people posting pictures of themselves leading to many girls’ self confidence having a drastic decrease. 

“I struggle with body image when I see girls that are classified as “perfect” because I feel like I don’t look normal,” said freshman Rebecca Fowler. 

“The algorithm of social media shows us the most attractive girls first,” said junior Valeria Villarreal. 

Another issue commonly thought due to social media would be that other people’s lives are perfect compared to oneself. People post the best things they can on social media, sometimes altering a picture or faking certain things in order to make it look like they have amazing lives. 

“People only post the shiny version of themselves on social media, it is unfair to girls to compare themselves to one unrealistic picture,” said junior Elizabeth Monticenos. 

“Nobody actually lives their life how they post, including myself. I only post the fun and exciting things,” said senior Paige Adams. 

When asked how social media has impacted girls’ self esteem and confidence, here were some responses:

“I see my friends or people that I like follow really pretty girls and it makes me think that they wish I looked like that,” said Junior Valeria Villarreal.

“My confidence goes down by all the negativity that is on social media,” said Kathy Alfaro.

“If my friends post something of me that I don’t look good in, I feel like everyone is judging me and I get insecure,” said sophomore Jamie Hammond.

It is often that  girls feel like they are alone and that everyone is better than them but that has proven to not be the case. Everyone gets insecure and social media has shown to have negative effects. Content that’s posted that may be considered “perfect” is the content that is pushed more by the algorithm and many girls have a tendency to compare themselves to others, especially to those that constantly appear on their screens. 

“Society has such high standards on their ‘ideal woman’ that it is almost impossible to not compare yourself to others,” said Diana Cruz.

“It is natural to compare yourself to others, there is a lot of pressure on being beautiful,” said Fowler. 

Social media is not all what it seems to be, many people fake who they are and only show the good side, which most of the time it’s the only side most people want to see since it is the side considered . It isn’t as glamorous as people think it is and it affects everyone.