 Instagram has reached over one billion active users, and is one of the most used social media platforms available. People use Instagram to connect with friends, family, and even celebrities across the world. Many people follow their favorite professional athletes on Instagram as a means to be closely connected to them, and support their teams. Professional athletes have the power and platform to help create their own image online, and reach a large audience because of their fan base. Athletes use Instagram as a way to reach their fans, and create their self-presentation through the means of pictures along with captions.
So what's wrong with this? Supporting professional athletes and following them online isn't necessarily bad, but research shows that viewing lives of others may create a culture that self compares, and may even reduce self-esteem in social media users.
Self-esteem
Researchers have studied self-esteem in regards to social media, and some concluded that viewing pictures of people who have a more positively perceived self-image actually makes others feel inferior and have reduced self-esteem. This could be seen through the presentation of professional athletes, and social comparisons with body image. Athletes on Instagram majorly post pictures of their bodies, which brings attention to their muscles. This may cause non-athletes to feel less self-esteem based off of comparing them to the professional. With over a billion users on Instagram, people are spending more time documenting their lives, rather than living it. Connecting this back to professional athletes, there is a strong emphasis in perfection throughout their Instagram account, which can lower viewers reported self-esteem. In one research article, some participants reported to feel unhappy, and become more concerned about their own weight, and some even felt a reduction of self-esteem after viewing pictures of slender models and athletes.
As there is still much to learn about the correlation of Instagram and self-esteem, with the amount of users on Instagram, it is important to be aware of the self comparison happening within the social media platform. Shining light on the negative effects of the use of Instagram could be beneficial, because it has become so prevalent in our society today
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Author Neil Postman predicted the end of the world was near in 1985. He perceived that television would be the cause of a problematic future. Though negative in his views on the future of humanity, he had profound predictions, regardless of the time gap between now and then. When the television takeover emerged, Postman wrote, Amusing Ourselves to Death as an informational warning to society. He feared that writings would vanish and people would rely on the entertainment industry for their news and discoveries rather than learning about history about those who wrote it down. Today, not only is the television prevalent, it is a necessity for every home. The elderly, adults, teens, children, toddlers and infants are watching screens nowadays and the effect it has on the American society is substantial. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, the video deficit, or the recommendation of moderate usage for infants under the age of two, is being defied by guardians. When offi...
I agree that more needs to be looked into on social media and the levels of self esteem and mental health. I think because of how visual and appealing Instagram is with its use pictures and filters there is a much stronger drop in self esteem and mental health than more text based posting sites. And also because we tend to post the positive and fun milestone parts of our life there is a strong sense of FOMO and exclution that can emerge.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting perspective of following celebrities on social media. I don't personally follow any athletes on social media, so I've never thought about how their increased quantity of posts about body image affect people's self-esteem. I think following celebrities in general can affect self-esteem, but it is interesting to think about athletes in particular!
ReplyDeleteI too have never really given thought to how following different categories (if you will) of famous people would change your thoughts about your own body. I wonder how the effect differs from celebrity to celebrity and also if those effects of self deprecation are even stronger when it is one of your peers that appears to be successful.
ReplyDeleteI really like this topic. I follow a large number of NBA players on Instagram, and I can confirm much of what was wrote about what is being posted. I realize my experience isn't the same as other people (obviously), but I notice much more of the fashion and travel rather than athletic bodies. Players love to wear designer jeans and coats when they arrive to games because they know they will be photographed, and they can post to their Instagram. Its almost like a runway.
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