In the early 2000s, social media began to explode in popularity; sites like Myspace and Flickr assisted in the progress of online photo sharing. Communication between long distances became more accessible to the public. In “How Social Media is a Toxic Mirror,” by Rachel Simmons, published on August 19, 2016, she examines how social media is affecting teens’ body images and how parents should handle it. Simmons states that social media sites like Snapchat and Instagram are damaging when paired with free applications that can alter their bodies. However, it has not been proven that social media causes problems, it just magnifies them. In the article, Simmons provides supplemental information in an unbiased way.
Rachel Simmons, leadership development specialist at Smith College and the author of Odd Girl Out and The Curse of the Good Girl, argues that social media has become very damaging to the body …show more content…
She claims that earlier this year, psychologists found evidence linking the use of social media to body image issues and self-consciousness in adolescents. This could be the reason why teens feel ranked and more like a “like” on social media rather than a person. Before social media, you would see celebrities on the cover of magazines when you went out, but now young people have access to endless pictures of “fit, toned, photoshopped, people. The accessibility of the photos allows for adolescents to obsess over them. This is unhealthy because it makes the youth have body goals that are unrealistic. Therefore, making social media a toxic mirror. And this is proved to be true, according to a study done by Park Nicollet Melrose Center, in a survey of American elementary school girls who read magazines, 69% said that the pictures influence their concept of the ideal body shape and 47% say the pictures make them want to lose
Rachel Simmons, leadership development specialist at Smith College and the author of Odd Girl Out and The Curse of the Good Girl, argues that social media has become very damaging to the body …show more content…
She claims that earlier this year, psychologists found evidence linking the use of social media to body image issues and self-consciousness in adolescents. This could be the reason why teens feel ranked and more like a “like” on social media rather than a person. Before social media, you would see celebrities on the cover of magazines when you went out, but now young people have access to endless pictures of “fit, toned, photoshopped, people. The accessibility of the photos allows for adolescents to obsess over them. This is unhealthy because it makes the youth have body goals that are unrealistic. Therefore, making social media a toxic mirror. And this is proved to be true, according to a study done by Park Nicollet Melrose Center, in a survey of American elementary school girls who read magazines, 69% said that the pictures influence their concept of the ideal body shape and 47% say the pictures make them want to lose