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This book is 1 of 3 in a project titled Influence. As a part of my Senior Project, I researched how Social Media has played a large role in influencing body image. This book is completely based on survey results and their responses. The question on the cover is answered throughout this book.
On February 24, 2020, I took to Facebook and asked a group called Beauty & the Toast, a beauty subgroup of the popular podcast The Morning Toast to fill out my survey the results would be 100% anonymous. I received 256 responses from people ranging between ages 15-35+. 10 Questions were then asked. How old are you? Do you use social media What social media platforms do you use? What age did you start using social media? Do you think social media has affected your body image? Do you think social media affects OTHER’s body image? List anyone who you look up to on social media for body/beauty image goals. Does social media have a positive or negative impact on body image? Has the ideal body image changed because of social media? Do you have any other thoughts on this topic you’d like to share?
The contents of this book include quotes and photos from the survey. The photos are selected from the question ”List anyone who you look up to on social media for body/beauty image goals”. The spreads are designed so the quote takes the color palette of the Instagram photo & is treated as if it was a post itself. The intent of this project is not to make light of the responses or diminish the meaning by the playful design. Rather, it is to show that the highlight reel available to us on social media is not always as perfect as it seems.
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Color Index These color palettes have been selected directly from each Instagram photo in this book. With the growing number of influencers creating their own line of ‘Filter Presets’ popular Instagram accounts want to have the best ‘flow’ and ‘feed’. Creating aesthetically pleasing color presets seems like a small detail to you, but to the person posting they will spend hours getting the color perfect.
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Additional Survey Answers The 10th question on my survey said “Any other Thoughts” Here are the answers.
—Stars like Ashley Graham have continued to fight for a more positive image —I think social media is a good way to connect with friends and can be fun but likes and editing pictures take away from posting moments and make it more about image. —The idea of how social media most of the time is fake so people are getting false information —It depends who you follow some healthy athletes are positive but some models and influencers are negative and have eating disorders —Instagram creates an unrealistic expectation of what beauty is and what is attainable by the general public. Small waist and big butt, small arms, long legs and big boobs. It’s just not real and not attainable even if you are working out and eating right. You can get close but everyone is different. —I think that social media can do a lot of help but right now it’s such a filter of people and their perfect lives. I think with the abundance of models and influencers and their perfect bodies and no seemingly concrete jobs it will do a lot of harm eventually —This is really important research —Instagram has only been around for 10 years and has already managed to effect so many young girls, and boys’ body image. It also promotes people to wear less clothing. The less clothing, the more likes. It feels like no one has self respect, privacy or decency anymore.
—I’m a teacher and I have seen a massive shift in our kiddos over the past few years because of social media. It has not been positive. I wish we could encourage our kids to follow more positive accounts or have influencers encourage them to go be kids/be outside/ explore. —I think eventually it’s a person choice on how he uses social media and to avoid to be negatively influenced especially body wise he has to make active choices every day —People only put out there what they want people to see so it should be taken with a grain of salt. —Parents need to spend more time teaching their children about being healthy and strong. Monkey see monkey do. If you worry about dieting and how you look, your children will grow up to do the same. Be a stronger influence on your children than strangers on social media. —Whether it is from your filters, your self tan, your clothes, or your food, there is influence everywhere and we all want to be perceived as liked. —I feel like magazines, years ago, started the body image debate. Social.media just adds to it. —Thanks for letting me be a part of this! —I believe social media has a ton of negative impacts on people. Not just body image but also personal goals. If that’s career, friends, followers, literally anything. It’s so easy to compare yourself to anything and anyone in
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social media. It can me detrimental. —Snap chat needs to be deleted. It’s toxic —I love the fact that American Eagle has taken to initiative to I corporate NORMAL looking girls in their advertisements! my feelings on body image linked to social media has changed over the year mainly because i have grown up and know what my body will never look like so i don’t hold myself to those kinds of standards —I think it also goes beyond just influencers. I see friends, family and acquaintances on social media that also influence me. This have a more negative impact to me because they are “normal” but it’s (beauty, etc.) obtainable for them, why isn’t it for me? —Unless they are flat out lying saying things like “I don’t have Botox” when they do, or “I exercise five times a week” when they don’t, or “I eat junk food all the time!” when they actually restrict themselves — people with social media platforms shouldn’t be blamed for people’s perceptions about them and how that makes the audience feels. The most important thing is truthfulness. —I think it is an important topic to discuss Good luck with your thesis!!! I’ve been a student for forever so I feel your pain haha and I’m happy to help! :) —I wish teens were taught more about how to use social media and what they are actually seeing online. I also think that celebrities or influencers need to be transparent about editing they do to photos (or some type of rule
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regarding it) —The new feminist era is definitely shifting this culture to be more body positive, especially with campaign like Aerie Real and Skims where they show all body types —I think if you are already insecure with or ar dealing with body issues social media could be a harmful place but I like to unfollow people who don’t make me feel good about myself —Social media should be more inclusive —I love social media so much. I think it brings people together in a way we have never seen. It also has allowed for a lot of bad things happen in the shadows and let’s people hide behind a keyboard. I think the net impact is good, but it’s still hard. —Photoshop also has caused a huge negative body image —I think as we age we are able to make informed decisions about who we wish to follow based on the subliminal messages they are sharing. When young kids see influencers they aren’t always aware of the impact it’s having on their expectations for themselves and others. When scrolling my feed I choose to unfollow people if I feel as though their images are going to make me feel inadequate and I’m not so sure adolescents are able to make that distinction. —I understand that social media is unrealistic, so I don’t let myself get too worked up about body standards —As someone who suffered from an eating disorder, I do not believe it stemmed from
solely social media, but social media was a factor contributing to it. —There are positive things, I often use the fitness pages to plan workouts and meals to get healthier —I honestly really only follow meme accounts because I don’t care at all about look at people’s social for fashion, glamour, body image, etc —I think it would be a way less severe issue if they got rid of likes on Instagram —My daughter is 13 and this is of concern to me. I encourage her to follow accounts that show what the original, untouched versions of celeb photos look like! —whether it’s negative or positive it absolutely has an influence —Something that has actually made me feel better is looking at Instagram accounts like celebface where they show the unedited Getty image vs the photoshopped images celebrities post on their own instagrams. It keeps me in check and realize that everyone struggles with this. —I have struggled with an eating disorder in the past, but it was before any heavy usage of social media. I think age and of course past treatment and therapy put me in a great headspace where I am able to recognize if I feel negatively and I’m able to act from there. I must say I see how it can have a negative impact, especially on girls who are my age when I had my disorder (around 15—20). —I wish this could be simple where people
could just know their worth and not feel bad by seeing “beautiful” and thin women all over social; however, we live in a society that endlessly compares themselves to others, and it’s sad. —I think you can choose positive and negative influences. Deleting people on instagram that make you feel negatively about your body is so so important. —I will say I do believe (and hope) we are headed in a better direction. We are watching Lizzo thrive and people celebrating Demi Lovato for her curves that came with sobriety and better mindset. I hope as the years go by we can digress from the Kardashian expectations and celebrate every single woman for their unique shape and size. —I think that once Instagram takes away the ability to see likes it will get better. —I think social media has definitely changed the ideal body image but I love the movement of seeing more body—positive influencers & celebrities. —This is a great topic to study, I hope you come up with some great results and can use the findings to sway some others to become less dependent on SM/the “ideal body image.” :) best of luck! —Social media floods our brains with perfect pictures, making us think that we’re the only ones without perfect pictures.
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In an ongoing effort to get more information about this topic. Feel free to scan the QR code below and take part in my survey. Your answers will be used in later versions of this book series Influence
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