Tag: social-media

Recognized as an example of outstanding academic research and writing, this paper received the Suffolk University, Excellence in Honors Award in May, 2020.

Abstract

The thin ideal has been integrated into Western culture through advertisements, film and television, and most notably social media since the mid-twentieth century. As the number of
adolescent females who use social media has increased over the past decade, thin ideal internalization has emerged and eating disorder development has increased as a result of this
exposure. Adolescent females, being at a crucial state of both physiological and psychological development, are at risk for developing eating disorders based on thin ideal internalization
propagated by these platforms.

In an exemplary literature review, this paper uses research from content analyses, surveys, and health statistics to identify how thin ideal internalization among predominantly Western adolescent females has led to the development of eating disorder symptoms due to their significant consumption of social media. Due to its highly accessible and potentially secretive nature, social media has played a notable role in the development and rise of eating disorders in adolescent females and has enabled pro-eating disorder communities to develop through use of hashtags and search engine optimization.

This research demonstrates that in order to reduce eating disorder development and body dissatisfaction from thin ideal and pro-eating disorder content on these platforms, social media
sites need to have better systems in place to prevent the dissemination of this potentially harmful material.

Furthermore, this research also argues that the current generation of adolescents who have grown up on social media, known as the “digital generation,” must be digitally literate in order to safely navigate social media during such a crucial, developmental stage in their cognitive development. It is the role of parents, health educators, and social media sites to ensure adolescents understand how to safely navigate mediated content from a digitally literate perspective.

Read the entire paper below, shared on May 6, 2020.