Proposal

For this project I created a proposal to social media companies on how they should change their terms and policies in hope to stop social medias contributions to body dysmorphia.

Proposal to Stop Social Media’s Contribution To Body Dysmorphia

Caroline Meili
The University of Arizona ENGL 102 Professor Lycke March 25, 2020

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Introduction

As a teenage girl body dysmorphia is something that is a familiar topic to me and most other people my age. Instagram and snapchat are popular platforms that people of ages 13 and up have access too. They have features such as posting pictures of yourself and communicating with your friends through pictures of yourself. One of the features on these apps is filters that change the way you look, sometimes with funny features and other times with subtle changes such as making the way your skin look smoother or making your eyelashes longer.

These subtle edits, known as filters, can appear harmless but are actually causing problems among the users of the applications such as instagram and snapchat . They become so used to looking at themselves portrayed one way, either through filters or the use of editing to alter their appearance that they become dissatisfied with the way they look in real life. I propose that applications such as Instagram and Snapchat raise the age limit to 16, and remove the use of filters, an alternative to completely taking away the filters could be putting in an option to indicate whether the photo has been edited. The user should notify their audience that their photo has been edited, that way the audience knows that what they are looking at is not real.

Literary Review

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Before I begin talking about the role that social media has on body dysmorphia I want to define those key terms. Body dysmorphia is a mental health disorder, in which someone constantly thinks about the way they look, and more particularly the flaws that they have. It leads to avoiding people and social interactions and with body dysmorphia anxiety and depression can commonly accompany it. Media literacy, on the other hand, is the ability to critically analyze the material and content that you are viewing online, so you understand what the purpose and or message of the content is, it could reduce the amount of people with the mental health issue that is body dysmorphia. Another positive about media literacy is that people would be more conscious of what they post or say about others online, hopefully
creating a more positive environment. The main issue contributing to body dysmorphia is the
use of filters, that platforms like snapchat and instagram promote users to use. While these
filters can make one look fun or silly, they can also alter appearances to make one
look more desirable.

The reason this becomes such an issue is because the use of these filters have led people to want to get their faces physically altered to match a fake image of themselves. The amount of cosmetic plastic surgeries has increased for things that are purely cosmetic, such as lip filler or rhinoplasty. The real issue becomes when these people get their appearances altered and are still unhappy with the result of their surgery only leading to more self hatred. This all been caused by the idea that a filter had made them look so much more attractive.

Another problem that stems from social media and contributes to body dysmorphia is consuming so much content of other people editing their photos to look completely unrealistic, with all the praise these people get for their fake looks it makes others feel as if they must mimic

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this behavior in order to feel beautiful. This results in a lack of self love, and a lack of authenticity. People are so consumed in themselves and how they are portrayed online that they are making the problem only worse. The media is creating an ideal standard of what someone should look like, therefore most young teenagers are being influenced to look a certain way. Oftentimes this results in eating disorders, and a wish to change the way they look. This is common in teenagers and others who frequently use social media. Willingham stated that “Now, we’re in this world where people are exposed to their own facial image thousands of times per year.” (Willingham, 2018). The world is so consumed by new technology and new devices that people spend the majority of their day looking at images of themselves. This causes more insecurities and more reason to want to alter one’s appearance. There is also the issue of group think, which is the practice of doing something that discourages individuality, if someone gets cosmetic surgery others are bound to follow. With the increased use of social media, the use of filters that make your lips bigger or your face thinner has influenced people to change the way they look. Willingham also states when referring to the view people have of themself online versus what they see in the mirror , that “​This perception gap, combined with the natural tendency to intimately critique one’s own oft-viewed face, can cause serious psychological problems that can’t be addressed in a plastic surgeon’s office, the article says. The JAMA article describes body dysmorphic disorder as “an excessive preoccupation with a perceived flaw in appearance, classified on the obsessive-compulsive spectrum.” (Willingham, 2018).

An issue with groupthink is that there are people called influencers who are essentially role models to younger girls. So as a result if the influencer gets lip fillers, their fans are destined to follow suit. As Primack stated “Epidemiologic studies suggest that increased SM use is

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associated with conditions such as depression, anxiety, and sleep disturbance.” (Primack, 2017). This increase in mental health disorders is being caused by the overwhelming presence social media has, and the influence it has. There are no definite solutions to this issue, because it is a more recent problem and the fact that social media will not be simply going away. One proposed solution is to have people become more media literate. To have media literacy is actually just understanding the content you are consuming, which can benefit in starting to not believe everything you see is real. Andsager defines media literacy as training that “ educates audiences about the purposes of messages, which can increase skepticism and possibly reduce message effects.” (Andsager, 2014). It is important to note that since the demographic of people consuming this content is getting to be so young, that they will have a hard time to take this approach since they will most likely not be able to comprehend the fact that the images they see online are not real. Another solution could be to have an age restriction on social media or a time restriction on the amount of time they can use it for. Yet these solutions would require strict rules and would be easy to find ways around.

Overall, body dysmorphia is only getting worse, and especially among the younger crowds. People are consuming so much content that they are not understanding is not real
and therefore getting serious mental health issues stemming from it. While there is no definite solution, a strong possibility would be to limit the amount of social media used, and maybe filter it depending on the age of the consumer.
Proposed Solution

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The solution I propose is to completely take away filters from social media, and if this option is not possible, then at least have a notification on the image that indicates that it has been edited. Another thing that they need to do is raise the age requirement for these apps to the age of 16. It is currently at 13 which is too young to be consuming this content which can permanently harm their mental health.
Timeline

The timeline for this project should be over a span of four months. In the first month the platforms should raise their age requirement to 16. This gives some adjustment for the users to get used to these conditions and the platforms need to be responsible for banning accounts under this age. After another month of adjusting to these terms and conditions the platforms should require the users to indicate whether they are using filters or have edited the photo. People might not be happy with these changes, but if they understand why it is important, then people will eventually comply without complaints. This adjustment period should last another month, and then finally instagram should issue a warning every time a person logs onto the app that states that the images on this app may have been edited and touched up.
Cost/Benefit Analysis

The solutions proposed will have costs to social media platforms since filters and edits are an exciting part of the platform. Along with raising the age requirement, this will lower the amount of people who use these applications ultimately hurting the business. The users who profit largely off of editing their pictures will be initially upset, and those who completely alter their appearance might stop using the platforms. Despite these users who might stop using the platforms, they will still remain popular, the majority of the people who use these platforms do

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not heavily edit their photos. The use of making users indicate whether their image was edited will also promote positivity towards a more natural look, people will feel more comfortable just being themselves.
Implications

It will be hard to get these platforms to agree to doing this, since it could lower their profit margins and overall companies are against that completely. They may completely refuse this proposal due to the fact that it could lower the income that they get and the profits they make.

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The image above shows the social media platforms that affect young people the most in a negative way. The two that are at the top of the list are instagram and snapchat, ultimately showing that their needs to be a change to these apps.

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Sources

Andsager, J. L. (2014). Research directions in social media and body image. Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, 71(​ 11-12), 407–413. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-014-0430-4

Hunt, E. (2019, January 23). Faking it: how selfie dysmorphia is driving people to seek Surgery. ​The Guardian​.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/jan/23/faking-it-how-selfie-dysmorphia-i s-driving-people-to-seek-surgery

Primack, B. A., & Escobar-Viera, C. G. (2017). ​Social Media as It Interfaces with Psychosocial Development and Mental Illness in Transitional Age Youth​ (Vol. 26).

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28314452

Willingham, A. J. (2018, August 10). Social media filters mess with our perceptions so much, there’s now a name for it.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/10/health/snapchat-dysmorphia-cosmetic-surgery-social- media-trend-trnd/index.html