The Downside of Social Media: Lower Self-esteems
By: Katie Crabtree
Tags: Media Criticism

The Downside of Social Media: Lower Self-esteems

You spent the entire day trying to take the perfect picture to match your feed’s aesthetic, with no luck. The more you stare at the failed attempts, the thoughts of editing apps begin to creep into your mind: Photoshop, FaceTune, ect. After hours of editing your image, you press upload. You let out a sigh of relief, expecting for likes to come fluttering in and give you the validation you are in need of. However, this isn’t the case, you fall short of the amount of likes or comments you are expecting and are left wondering what is wrong with the picture or even yourself. This is a reality for many social media users. The content, the interactions, and the pressure of social media are constantly eating away at one’s self-esteem.

Contrary to popular belief, everything on social media is not real. People post the highs of their lives, the perfect parts. You never see what is actually happening in someone’s life, you see the parts they want to show. There’s an endless choice of presets, filters, and apps to alter your images. This is simply what social media is. You see people with social media’s construction of the perfect body or the prettiest face. You do not see these people when they first roll out of bed or their bloated bodies after finishing a Thanksgiving meal. When you’re scrolling through social media, you compare yourself to the people you follow, and wonder why your life doesn’t seem as perfect as theirs. The people who look perfect on social media have the same flaws or imperfections that you do, but you’re made to believe they don’t. Seeing only the highs of someone’s life, makes you feel inadequate when you know all of the lows of your own life.

Most active social media users have a goal or reference point for the amount of likes, comments, or shares they would like to receive. They think these interactions determine the quality of their posts. You could be completely content with your post, just for it to get less interactions than usual. Your self-esteem could immediately drop, even though you felt great about yourself moments prior. Although we shouldn’t need this validation, we often crave it. When it isn’t there, we feel as if we are not good enough.

You cannot open social media platforms without seeing posts pressuring people to be something they aren’t. You should be able to love yourself without having to conform to social media’s construction of what is good. You’re told how you should look, dress, and act. This makes people dislike their unique characteristics, when they should be proud of them. I scroll through social media and constantly see posts on what people eat in a day and what their workout routines are. This leads to people developing eating disorders because they want to be like their idols. Everyone should have their own eating and workout habits, rather than being told what they should do.

People who believe that social media is beneficial to one’s self-esteem would believe that the interactions they receive boost one’s self-esteem. I can see how someone would believe this, because when you receive likes, you get a rush of serotonin. However, in more cases than not, you won’t receive the amount of likes you are wanting and you will be left feeling badly about yourself. People who believe social media boosts one’s self-esteem believe that social media encourages you to be better. With all of the “fit-spiration” posts, it is undeniable that social media can encourage you to change, but it also puts pressure on people to change when they, themselves, do not feel a change is needed. It forces people to believe they are not good enough as they are.

In summation, social media is a very useful tool in today’s society, however it can drastically diminish one’s self-esteem in more ways than one. The interactions, the pressure, and the content of social media makes it hard to not question yourself at times. When you’re used to seeing the most ideal versions of other people, you’re guaranteed to question why your life isn’t as perfect as theirs is.