Social media platforms have complex implications on self-image for young adults

In recent years, young adults have become more aware of how social media is affecting their self-identity. Apps like TikTok, Twitter and Instagram welcome public discussion and have become creative outlets for users in many ways. However, they have also allowed for toxic language and hate comments on online profiles to grow. 

Dimitri Jesse, 21, from Plymouth, Massachusetts, has had to navigate through the negativity that can arise from social media. As someone who identifies as part of the LGBTQ+ community, Jesse has had to deal with hate both online and in his personal life. 

Jesse has seen how easily homophobia can spread and negatively impact content creators, as well as the average user. 

“There are a lot of toxic aspects to TikTok and Instagram. TikTok, for one, allows for a lot of low-key homophobia. Queer-baiting is huge on this app,” Jesse said. 

“Creators will act fruity or homosexual, but when a gay man does the exact same things they are hated on because they actually are gay and aren’t acting. This and like the little trends, like being ‘suspect’, you’re essentially just using gay as an insult again but using different terminology.”

As Jesse mentioned, being “suspect” has become a term that online users created to call out people who they believe to be queer in some capacity. While not outwardly derogatory, comments like this share the same connotation as other slurs used toward individuals in the LGBTQ+ community.

Homophobia and transphobia are some of the main battles the LGBTQ+ community faces. So, when body shaming and negative self-talk are piled on-top it can take a toll on a person’s overall well being. 

Connecting with communities

Amongst the hate online, there are popular influencers who counter such negativity by spreading self-love and support to marginalized communities.

Nikkie de Jager, “NikkieTutorials,” a makeup artist and transgender woman who has been creating content since 2008, has spoken out against transphobia, homophobia and racism in the beauty industry on her public social accounts.

For people who don’t always have the platform to voice their concerns or experiences with online hate, creators like de Jager have shown that they are willing to speak up and call out discrimination at its root. 

Users participating in such cyberbullying have many different approaches to homophobia, one of the most notable being pressuring people they have deemed “queer-baiters” or “suspect,” as Jesse mentioned, to come out before they are necessarily ready. 

A more recent case of this was when Netflix’s “Heartstopper” actor, Kit Connor, posted to Twitter coming out on October 31, 2022.

“back for a minute. i’m bi. congrats for forcing an 18 year old to out himself. i think some of you missed the point of the show. bye,” Connor said. 

Connor deactivated his account in September 2022 after Tweeting to his followers, “this is a silly silly app. bit bored of it now, deleting twitter :),” he said. 

After returning to Twitter to address his sexuality, Connor once again deactivated his profile. He did not mention in his Tweet why he felt pressure to come out, but there has been speculation online that he was facing queer-baiting accusations because of his role as a bisexual character in “Heartstopper.”

These notions were also reflected in the 2018 movie, “Love, Simon,” in which teenager, Simon Spier, played by Nick Robinson, was outed by a classmate before he was able to come out on his own terms.

This kind of representation in film and television has not always been the case for LGBTQ+ individuals. For young adults, who might be having similar experiences, seeing people like them on the big screen can be crucial to their own journey.

These types of artistic works can also counter online hate within the LGTBQ+ community, something that has been a hurdle for people like Jesse to overcome.

“I used to compare myself a lot,”Jesse said. “Especially within the gay community, upholding a certain body type is a huge toxic trait that is embodied in almost all gay men. There is pressure to look like this six-pack, sexy model when the reality is models don’t even look like that.”

“It is definitely an everyday challenge to not compare myself to the million Instagram models daily, but that’s what it takes to mentally get through media,” Jesse said.

Another issue Jesse has found with social media is how normalized misinformation about health and beauty standards have become, and how it can influence people to seek cosmetic procedures or edit pictures to reach such expectations. 

“We see these attractive people in social media, and assume this is what a healthy person looks like,” Jesse said. “Where these things these people have done to themselves is not required in order to look healthy.”

Social media culture

Social media is a complex world filled with communities and audiences who can connect over any distance and share pieces of their lives with just about anyone. There are 4.9 billion social media users worldwide—302 million are in the United States. 

Like many corporate companies, online platforms have wide-ranging genres of content catered to specific markets. Topics like fashion, art, marketing, music, finances and more each have a place to fit in. 

As much as social apps can be positive forums and inspire political, cultural or social action, they can also give platforms to individuals to spread hate—specifically those who criticize other people's bodies and personalities. 

Young adults, or individuals part of Generation Z, born from 1997 to 2012, and millennials, born from 1981 to 1996, grew up in a digital age where endless content was easily accessible by the tap of a screen. Older generations adjusted to these technological advancements, but it was the teenagers and young adults who excelled at the internet. 

To understand how body-image on social media has become such a relevant part of online culture, you have to go back to the beginning. 

Platforms such as Myspace, Facebook and Twitter, released in the early 2000s, were blueprints for the digital world. Throughout the years social media websites have evolved as creative spaces for people all over the world. Nowadays, platforms like Instagram, owned by Meta, and TikTok, owned by ByteDance, have become key players in social media. 

The layout and functionality of these apps tend to vary based on user and audience needs. People can post virtually anything online, as long as they adhere to community guidelines—which also varies based on a number of factors like the nature of comments, engagement rates, user suggestions, algorithms and more. 

The accessibility and interactive aspects of apps like TikTok and Instagram allow for anyone to post what they want. Although these apps are popular public forums, they often allow for toxic communities to thrive. 

There is not always a fine line between comments that are positive, negative or a combination of the two. Some people take advantage of their online profiles, especially if they are a private or anonymous account. 

These groups of people are often referred to as “trolls.” Online accounts associated with “trolling” have become increasingly toxic over the years. They began with memes, humorous or ironic images, videos or text, posted to satirical accounts, but eventually moved on to cyberbullying tactics like body shaming.

Doom-scrolling and making comparisons

This also relates to the “doom-scroll,” in which users get lost in the endless content available to them online. When doom-scrolling, people can sometimes stumble upon internet trends like “#Fitspo,” “#Thinspo,” “Diet Tips and Tricks” and more. These trends capitalize on being fit, but they can often shame people to lose weight or change their appearances to fit into this category.

Binge-watching or doom-scrolling can be especially harmful to people experiencing mental health issues, eating disorders or feelings of self-doubt, according to a study published in the Psychology of Popular Media journal, for the American Psychological Association. 

When people get stuck scrolling through the TikTok “For You Page” or the main feeds of Instagram and Twitter, they begin to make comparisons based on what they believe the standard of beauty or health to be. 

In a study conducted by Heather R. Gallivan, PsyD, LP, for the Park Nicollet Melrose Center, it was reported that around 30% of adolescents aged 10 to 14 are actively dieting, which correlates to social media usage. Gallivan also found that 53% of 13-year-old girls in the U.S. are dissatisfied with their bodies, and by age 17 that rate rises to 78%.

For children and teenagers, it is not always obvious to them that the beauty standards they are trying to achieve might not be based on factual images.

Dr. Nancy Worthington is a media studies department chair and professor of women’s gender studies and media studies at Quinnipiac University. She is an expert in the field of social media and teaches students about the correlations and effects of social media on self-identity. 

In her classes, Worthington points out how manipulated photos and videos can be detrimental to children, teens and adults. 

“The research especially is very much focused on kids because it's harder for them to kind of distinguish or understand that things are edited, or that what you see on social media is a partial representation of someone's life,” Worthington said. “But I think even for adults who know that, I think it's still harmful. I think the younger you are, the worse it is.” 

While examining topics like gender violence, binge-watching behaviors, audience models and more, Worthington educates her students on theories such as the cultivation theory. 

The idea is that after consuming online content, you begin to associate what you’ve seen on the internet with what you see in your personal life. This theory can be applied to many forms of media, but in her courses Worthington focuses on streaming services and social media platforms—an idea also reflected in Gallivan’s research.

“It sounds to me like it was cultivation theory applied to just a new kind of media environment, with respect to streaming, but it's pretty consistent across different kinds of media,” Worthington said. “For people whom it sort of monopolizes their cultural life or even their social life, they believe that the real world is the same as the representation that they're seeing in this case on social media.” 

She also noted that even though social media can be a toxic environment, especially for youth, it does not mean that the platforms themselves are toxic. 

“My sense is that it's not the only thing from social media,” she said. “I wouldn't say that social media is bad because of this, but this is a bad thing about social media. I think it's definitely an effect.”

This is seen with manipulated images and how they can influence people to seek out cosmetic procedures. 

Getting plastic surgery is not necessarily a negative impact of social media, especially for people seeking gender-affirming surgeries or a fix to a medical problem. However, it can influence people to change their appearance to fit into the ideal beauty standard. 

Gallivan’s study and the points made by Worthington give strong context for how young adults might feel encouraged or shamed to physically alter their bodies, despite there being communities on social media where users preach body positivity and self-affirmation. 

As a junior undergraduate student studying public relations and sociology at Quinnipiac University, Jesse has had the opportunity to take courses where he can learn more about topics such as beauty and body standards. These classes have also taught Jesse how deep social media is weaved into societal norms. 

“We talked a lot about dentistry in my sociology class, and the fact that our teeth do not need to be straight nor white to be healthy teeth,” Jesse said. “This belief was inspired by our social media, and heavily impacts our decisions when it comes to cosmetic surgery.”

Despite all the online negativity Jesse has sifted through over the years, he has learned how to see posting on his socials as something positive and even empowering.

“I personally love a confidence boost from a social media post,” Jesse said. “If I feel insecure about how I look, getting that awesome reassurance from friends that I look good feels great. I just feel loved and appreciated when people do give me gratification over social media.” 

Although Jesse has managed to find how good it can feel to share glimpses into his life on social media, he is still mindful of how fast things can turn ugly. 

“Then there are the toxic aspects, where we are so wrapped up in everyone else’s lives and then comparing ourselves to one another,” Jesse said. “The pressure there is to post can be extremely negative, but with everything there’s a balance.” 

The influencer perspective

Social media influencers have taken a lot of heat in recent years when it comes to responsible posting and setting examples for their audiences. This also comes after mainstream cancel culture in which users are publicly exposed for wrongdoings or misleading their viewers. 

This past January, beauty influencer Mikayla Nogueira was accused of falsely advertising the L’Oréal Telescopic Lift mascara in a TikTok paid promotion. 

Users quickly noticed Nogueira appeared to be wearing false eyelashes toward the end of the clip. Nogueira denied claims that she had used falsies to exaggerate the effect of the mascara.

As seen with Nogueira, online users are quick to call creators out when they feel they have been misled or even lied to.

Amber Gryzbowski, 20, from Hebron, Connecticut, has been an active influencer for four years. She started using social media in high school to share relatable content with people her age. 

Once she established a steady following, she began posting about her ongoing journey with mental health as a young adult. 

Much like Jesse, Gryzbowski also has concerns surrounding edited or manipulated pictures, as well as users seeking cosmetic or plastic surgery because they felt influenced by social media.

She also touched on how product promotion from influencers can hurt audiences rather than help them.

“Because of the power some influencers have, they promote products that are harmful to others,” Gryzbowski said. “I wish that people would be honest about getting work done instead of promoting products that are harmful.”

As an online personality, Gryzbowski is in a unique position compared to the average user. She has the platform to impact her followers, but also be influenced by other accounts. Unlike the average user, she has to navigate feedback on her own accounts while also observing hate comments on other profiles.

“I often find myself comparing myself to other influencers. I tend to wish I had something they have, or realized things I don’t like about myself,” Gryzbowski said. “People point things out about me that I never really noticed or had a problem with before. It makes me feel insecure sometimes and like I have to be perfect.”

As a content creator, Gryzbowski can receive hundreds or thousands of comments on one of her posts. In such large comment sections, there are bound to be users, public and anonymous, who use the space to ignite conflict.

“I think that the bullying on socials is out of control,” Gryzbowski said. “It doesn’t matter who you are or how successful, pretty, confident you are, people are going to rip you to shreds which I think is horrible.”

This mindset can make users second-guess what kind of content they want to put online, which goes against one of the main reasons people post on social media: to capture and share life experiences.

The modern digital age

There is no simple solution to stopping cyberbullying or toxic culture on social media, but Worthington believes the issue may start with the U.S. housing media companies.

“The fact that the major social media companies are located here I think is problematic. Cause I think there's just not enough push for them to do anything. The law is trailing behind the technology,” Worthington said. “These new situations arrive and it's sort of like, oh, first amendment. But they weren't thinking about this.” 

Being weary of social media can be a natural response for people who have seen how quickly online discourse can turn ugly. Although Worthington expressed concerns over the U.S. having too much control over social media companies, the government continues to push for platforms to be owned and operated within the country. 

The Biden administration and Congress have recently called for TikTok to be sold to American companies. The alternative would be a nationwide ban of the app.

This decision came after politicians in support of this ban claimed that TikTok CEO, Shou Zi Chew, and his employees were responsible for leaking user data to the Chinese and Singaporean governments.

Chew faced these claims in a congressional hearing in March 2023 where he gave his testimony. 

This recent case has prompted audiences to consider the benefits of the app—and others like it.

Researchers, such as experts at the Pew Research Center, have studied how the use of social media is affecting the mental health of users. 

For some people, the internet has been around since before they were born and has become a prominent part of the society they live in—whether it be online or in the real world. 

Growing up online

“As much as I am an advocate for social media, I also feel like it’s our biggest enemy,” Hayden Robinson said. 

Robinson, 21, from Pittsburgh, has spent most of her life using social media. She has seen the good, bad and toxic parts that these social applications have to offer. As a college athlete in track and field and basketball, she has worked hard to stay fit both mentally and physically. 

However, being a young athlete has obstacles. Much like other people her age, she feels that despite the good that can come of social media apps, and the influencers who promote them, it does not always mean using these apps is completely beneficial. 

“I think social media has really had a negative impact on us as a society,” Robinson said. “We are expected to reach these unattainable beauty standards and be expected to look like these models and perfect people.”

Wanting to look “perfect” is a sentiment shared with numerous young adults, regardless of the time they spend on apps like TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, etcetera.

“This is unrealistic, even these models and people on Instagram don’t look like they seem because photoshop and face tune are in the picture so really nobody knows what the perfect self-image is,” Robinson said. 

As Robinson, Worthington, Jesse and Gryzbowski pointed out, there is no clear definition for what it means to be pretty or perfect, but at some time in internet history mass audiences decided that certain beauty standards must be reached in order to fit into this category. 

Many young adults, who have been on the internet long enough to know every nook and cranny of online platforms, eventually learned that no beauty standard is worth sacrificing their own well being over. 

For people like Nic Giordano, 23, from Glen Cove, New York, swiping away for hours on an app isn’t something they necessarily chose, but rather something they grew up around. 

“Social media is the overlord it feels like these days. Everything we do is influenced by social media, whether we recognize it or not. I use my phone every day and I know my friends do too,” Giordano said. 

“My girlfriend and I are constantly sending each other memes and Tweets. I reference something I saw on social media every day, more than once, whether I saw it that day or five years ago,” they said.

Giordano recalls having social media since they were around 12 or 13-years-old. This means that they have spent more than a decade posting about their life on the internet. They have seen all different kinds of content over the years, especially when it comes to online hate or toxic trends. 

“All of social media has its negatives and positives and the realm of self-esteem and body image really goes both ways. You have influencers for all sorts of aspects of life. For beauty, health, lifestyle and so much more,” Giordano said. 

“These influencers come in all shapes and sizes, from all walks of life, all types of genders and sexualities. And what I find constant throughout it all is there will always be someone with something negative to say.”

Influencers have become a huge part of online culture and cater to the needs of whichever audience they identify the most with. As seen with Gryzbowski, being an influencer is not always easy, despite support from their viewers. 

Content creators can be canceled just as easily as they go viral. Social media influencers have had to assimilate to audience responses, but sometimes even that isn’t enough to appease users. 

“While there is this huge movement for body and self-positivity online, the hate is very much still there. You could have one million followers or one hundred and you will still have someone making comments about what they don’t like about you as a person, your lifestyle or your body,” Giordano said. 

When trolls, or people looking to knock others down, continue their efforts to isolate users, it can have a lasting effect—even if they are people they’ve never met.

“It’s really unfortunate because it opens up a whole realm of strangers saying hateful things to you for miles and miles away across the country or sea. Someone who has no idea who you truly are making such a bold and assuming judgment on your character,” Giordano said.

After spending half of their life using social media, Giordano has become well-versed in the societal norms of the internet. They pointed out that no matter who you are or what you look like, there are certain groups of people set on tearing others down.

“There really is no winning in it, whether you are short or tall, thin or thick, gay or straight, a boy or a girl or gender nonconforming, it doesn’t matter at the end of the day how you present yourself,” Giordano said.

“The idea of having people you don’t know see parts of your life important enough for you to share is a really weird concept if you really sit and think.”

Although social media has become powerful enough to change the way people see themselves, it is not solely positive or negative, just as any person is not good or bad.

By seeing through the lens of young adults and experts in the field of social media who have dealt with different forms of online discourse, you get a glimpse into what it’s like to live during a time where technology is vast and ever changing.