Beauty is the combination of qualities, such as shape, color, or form, that pleases the aesthetic senses, especially the sight. How does one achieve a beauty that is desired amongst all others? Do we use our life’s savings on plastic surgery? Do we workout to the point where we are an unhealthy weight and size? What is considered beautiful? Who determines whether or not we are beautiful? These are all questions everyone has asked themselves at one point of their lives. The answer that we look for can be found on social media platforms. We look up to the people who share their workout routines, beauty routines, skincare routines, and dieting tips in order to meet society's beauty standards. Social media influencers distort and affect one’s beauty standards and builds up the desire to be perfectly beautiful, as if it were even possible for anyone to be perfectly beautiful.

The beauty standards constantly promoted by social media and the entertainment industry are unhealthy for the general population. The extensiveness of makeup and plastic surgery today is due to an unrealistic beauty standard. According to the article Why Natural Beauty Is A Social Construct it states that “the number of cosmetic surgeries performed in the United States has increased by 200% in the last two decades” (Alvarado 1). The obsession with appearance is rooted in low self-esteem and wanting to be considered beautiful in the eyes of others. Cosmetic surgery is a quick route to reach perfection for most women. For example, The Kardashians, they are the best example when it comes to the debate over what kind of beauty is desired. They have created careers for themselves based on their beauty and they are idolized and worshiped for their “naturally” good looks. In the article Social Media Is Eating Up Our Esteem a survey is performed with more than 5,000 people it revealed that “75% want to change their appearance and 53% rarely or never speak positively about their appearance” (Hennessy 2). Social media and Hollywood have brainwashed us into believing our worth as people comes from our appearance. The article also states that “nearly one in five had tried to change themselves to look like people they had seen on social media, and 41.5 percent compared themselves with other people on social media” (Hennessy 2). Beauty is meant to be aesthetically pleasing, but it is not meant to define one’s worth or success in their everyday life. Leading eating disorder charity, The Butterfly Foundation states that “body dissatisfaction can be a risk factor for depression, risk-taking behaviour, poor academic achievement, unhealthy dieting, eating disorders and obesity.” This is no surprise considering the power that social media has on our everyday lives. There is a strong link between social media and self and body positivity. According to the article Social Media Can Be Damaging to Esteem psychologists found evidence linking social media usage to “poor body image, dieting, and a drive for thinness and self-objectification in young people, according to 2017 research published by The Journal of Research on Adolescence” (Meadows 2). There are too many young people today that equate their self worth with social media influencers, and the numbers just keep growing, this  ends up having an enormous negative impact on their lives. “Social media has the ability to tear people down because it’s all about the likes and how many people look at your profiles” (Meadows 2). Social media is ruining people’s self esteem, and it should not be happening. Instead, they should start owning their self worth and looking at others to promote their happiness, not tear it down. Social media is doing more harm than good.

Now some may say that social media is good for one’s self-esteem and mental health. Just like the article Five Ways Social Media Can Be Good for Teens that states “You can help nurture the positive aspects by accepting how important social media is for kids and helping them find ways for it to add real value to their lives” (Knorr 1). This article states that the five ways social media is good for teens is because it helps them express themselves, it provides genuine support, it can offer a sense of belonging, it strengthens friendships, and it lets them do good. Although these may have some truth to it these reasons may not be good enough to believe. In the field of friendship, social media does play a big role in this area. According to the Pew Research Center’s “Teen’s, Technology, and Friendships” social media helps teenagers make friends and keep them. Social Media allows you to make new friends and stay in touch all day, everyday but this has its downsides. Such as catfishing, whether it may be in friendships or in relationships, catfishing is a common thing today. People may be “friends” with someone who is actually dangerous and they would not even know until something wrong happens. Although, friendships created through social media may be nice and fun, it might not always end up that way. Acceptance is also growing on social media, especially for LGBTQ individuals. Whether a kid is interested in an unusual subject that is not considered cool or is grappling with sexual identity, kids can go online to find other people with the same interests as them and create new friends and find acceptance and support online. This is also a big aid to those struggling with suicidal thoughts or anyone with depression. Suicidal teens can get immediate access to quality support online, one example occured on a Minecraft forum according to the article “an entire community on Reddit used voice-conferencing software to talk a teenager out of commiting suicide” (Knorr 2).  Furthermore, social media can provide essential support to children online and create new friendships and support groups. Leaving those feelings of isolation behind and becoming more socially adept.

Therefore, social media has its positive and negative effects but social media mainly has negative effects. Social media influencers distort beauty standards and lower one's self esteem. Social media should not dictate how someone feels about themselves.

 Sources

Alvarado, Andrea. “Why Natural Beauty Is A Social Construct.” Utah Chronicle, 10 Sep. 2018.

Hennessy, Annabel. “Social Media is Eating Up Our Esteem.” Surry Hills, 3 Sep. 2018.

Knorr, Caroline. “Five Ways Social Media Can Be Good for Teens.” The Washington Post, WP   Company, 19 Mar. 2018.

Meadows, Mackenzie. “Social Media Can Be Damaging to Esteem.” University Wire, UWIRE, 27 Mar. 2018.