Leah Smith is a 17-year-old senior. She has a passion for event planning and social work. She likes surfing the internet for new ideas or topics she never knew existed.
How social media is affecting young girls is something that Sisterhood Agenda believes we all need to know.
How social media is affecting young girls, generally
Most people in today’s society have at least one social media profile whether it’s Tiktok, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or something else.
Many of us scroll down some sort of timeline each day. When you look at the news you would see there is a lot of controversy around social media and the people that use it.
I think it’s safe to say that too much of anything is bad.
And with teens, especially young impressionable girls, indulging in this type of media frequently is bound to affect them.
How social media is affecting young girls, more specifically
The growth of social media usage by young girls is growing every day and the age of social media users is getting younger and younger. In the media, there is a lot of pressure to look, feel and act a certain way and girls constantly scroll social media and compare themselves to what they see.
This is a disaster to them and their self esteem.
When looking at the news you can see that depression and anxiety are at an all-time high in teenage girls. A lot of these feelings can be attributed to social media.
Also, rates of body dysmorphia are higher in teen girls due to the fact that they see celebrities and social media influencers who look a certain way. Not knowing if the body they see is natural or is the result of plastic surgery is warping their young brains to chase a body type that isn’t even attainable without having some sort of plastic surgery work done.
Oftentimes, young girls will feel that they aren’t pretty enough or skinny enough due to current beauty standards. The major problem is that with social media there are so many beauty standards going on at once that teen girls are left in a loop.
What’s next
The best thing to do if you are a mentor, parent, or guardian of a young girl is to communicate. Simply talk to them and let them know that social media isn’t reality, it’s only a snippet of it.
If you are a young girl reading this, I would advise you stop comparing yourself to others because more likely than not, the person you want to be wants to be someone else.
How do YOU think social media is affecting young girls? Share in the comments below.
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