What have your socials done for your sense of self-worth lately?
Do you usually feel better or worse about yourself after you scroll?
Knowing fully that you are likely reading this on your phone, where you also look at TikTok, Twitter and IG (and maybe, if you are old enough, that platform that was originally a website created for college kids), let’s look at how social media affects your thoughts and feelings about your body.
Sure, it feels like you can be connected to people through social media- maybe some who you actually see IRL. And social media helps you know what is going on- in politics, in pop culture, perhaps in a friend group or specific circle of interest. And, social media is also a threat to mental health. Not just being dramatic: Dove Self-Esteem Project's Research for Kids Online Safety has shown that 80% of youth mental health specialists say social media is fueling a mental health crisis.
The "Cost of Beauty” campaign, created by Dove and the National Alliance for Eating Disorders highlights the impact of social media use on mental health. This campaign urges for protection of young people through supporting the 2023 Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA). Dove consulted, alongside Fat Liberation Therapist and Mental Health Coordinator, Dani Bryant, MS, LMHC, RDT, and received consultation from friends at Project HEAL and Active Minds.
A few of the gems that are worth clicking on are:
The Selfie Talk: to see how drastically photo retouching alters the images that we see again and again on screens from the real life people who the images are actually depicting. You may know this, but most children and adolescents don’t. Let’s be more explicit about the difference between posts and what the subjects look like walking down the street.
The Real Cost of Toxic Beauty Standards is an interactive report on research details gathered including $500 billion per year that appearance discrimination costs our country.
Project #ShowUs is highlighting more than 10,000 images of inclusivity for the examples of beauty that media offers.
And CLICK HERE to check out what Dove is doing to make acceptance of our looks more attainable for everyone.