Do you think the constant comparison on social media is damaging for young people?

[stracci2000]

But this is not a new phenomenon. We women have always been made to feel ugly by society.
When I was a teen (late 70's- early 80's) we had the fashion mags. Seventeen, Glamour, Cosmo, Bazaar, Vogue. Even the Sears catalog was making us feel bad that we didn't look like the models.
All those photos of Christy Brinkley, Kim Alexis and Cheryl Tiegs made us feel worthless. Tall, blonde and blue? We were short, brown and brown. We were sure the boys hated us. We would never measure up to the beautiful people.
But yet boys were always calling and we always had dates. And we lived through it, but with low self esteem all the way.
Even now, I have to remind myself that real people don't look like the models. And that there's nothing wrong with me.
The models don't even really look like their photos, due to the magic of photoshopping.

Of course it was not today's omnipresent internet. I'm sure it is even harder for teens today.

 

[MaisOuiMadame]

Hi @missy , I have contacted you on IG, I hope that's ok with you!

 

[missy]

Hi @missy , I have contacted you on IG, I hope that's ok with you!

Of course! Off to check IG.

@kipari i didn’t receive any message from you...

 

[missy]

But this is not a new phenomenon. We women have always been made to feel ugly by society.
When I was a teen (late 70's- early 80's) we had the fashion mags. Seventeen, Glamour, Cosmo, Bazaar, Vogue. Even the Sears catalog was making us feel bad that we didn't look like the models.
All those photos of Christy Brinkley, Kim Alexis and Cheryl Tiegs made us feel worthless. Tall, blonde and blue? We were short, brown and brown. We were sure the boys hated us. We would never measure up to the beautiful people.
But yet boys were always calling and we always had dates. And we lived through it, but with low self esteem all the way.
Even now, I have to remind myself that real people don't look like the models. And that there's nothing wrong with me.
The models don't even really look like their photos, due to the magic of photoshopping.

Of course it was not today's omnipresent internet. I'm sure it is even harder for teens today.

I agree. There has always been and will always be, imo, negative influences. It’s up to us to see it for what it is and internalize who we are and not let it affect us. I agree also that young people are bombarded from so many different directions these days. Much more than we ever experienced. But yeah our role models were skinny and had flawless everything so all generations deal with this idealized beauty that doesn’t really exist irl and even if it did it doesn’t make one beautiful. What makes one beautiful is who they are. Not what they look like. That’s what we need our kids to internalize and get. Above all else. Who you are, how you treat others, your actions-that is what makes you beautiful. No ifs ands or buts. IMO.

 

[missy]

Hi @missy , I have contacted you on IG, I hope that's ok with you!

Ok found your message. Replied.

 

[MaisOuiMadame]

Ok found your message. Replied. ❤

Thanks so much for your insight! Feeling better now! Hugs to you and your DH and furry family

 

[Rockdiamond]

But this is not a new phenomenon

I was speaking with another dad the other day, and asked what he thought of the violent video games virtually all the kids are playing now.
He replied that there was a study showing that violent video games don't cause people to be more violent. In fact, I remember that study from years back.
The thing is- there's really no comparison to what we face today.
Magazines surely had an impact on people's self-esteem.
But how long could you look at a magazine- and how could you know the many thoughts of other people who were looking at it?
With the video games....used to be a person played alone ( many of us remember the time being limited by how many quarters we had)
But today, you don't even need a video game console- you can play, and get totally addicted, on a cell phone.

My point- and fear- is that we are trying to gauge damage or potential damage based on factors that no longer apply. It IS a new phenomenon.

 

[Gussie]

Scary article on this subject.

Plastic surgery inspired by filters and photo editing apps isn't going away

For years, a number of publications have covered the controversial new trend of plastic surgeries inspired by social media filters, calling it "troubling," "disturbing" and "desperate."

www.cnn.com

 

[MaisOuiMadame]

Scary article on this subject.

Plastic surgery inspired by filters and photo editing apps isn't going away

For years, a number of publications have covered the controversial new trend of plastic surgeries inspired by social media filters, calling it "troubling," "disturbing" and "desperate."

www.cnn.com

 

[MaisOuiMadame]

Unfortunately I can't find it anymore, but I have read a neuroscientific article which explaining how the human brain processes perceived beauty of oneself.
The conclusion was that basically the brain will process all faces it is confronted with (real, picture, film) and so be able to say what the average in good looks is, approximately.

one will then have a notion of where oneself and new people fall within this system (considered beautiful or ugly).

This is explicitly a measurement for relative beauty. Absolutely beauty as in which features are considered beautiful by most humans are a different set of experiments.

So in, say medieval times this
explains why princesses were always beautiful: at the time you'd see the villagers around you. Crooked, bad teeth, sun damage, malnutrition. Plain clothes. Anyone not working physically in the field, not sunburned and well dressed would be in the upper echelons of "beautiful" if they didn't have any specific malformations.

Within the last, say 50 years we were constantly flooded with the pictures of the upper10% most beautiful people worldwide in pictures (movies/magazines).

And now the heavy editing has sped up this effect. Society as a whole has become much more visual and the pictures less authentic.

I found this very logical...as many posters said above we all KNOW the filtered pictures are not real, but they often make us feel inadequate nonetheless. Id this theory is true, this trend is impacting our children to an unknown degree... Food for thought..

 

[stracci2000]

Unfortunately I can't find it anymore, but I have read a neuroscientific article which explaining how the human brain processes perceived beauty of oneself.
The conclusion was that basically the brain will process all faces it is confronted with (real, picture, film) and so be able to say what the average in good looks is, approximately.

one will then have a notion of where oneself and new people fall within this system (considered beautiful or ugly).

This is explicitly a measurement for relative beauty. Absolutely beauty as in which features are considered beautiful by most humans are a different set of experiments.

So in, say medieval times this
explains why princesses were always beautiful: at the time you'd see the villagers around you. Crooked, bad teeth, sun damage, malnutrition. Plain clothes. Anyone not working physically in the field, not sunburned and well dressed would be in the upper echelons of "beautiful" if they didn't have any specific malformations.

Within the last, say 50 years we were constantly flooded with the pictures of the upper10% most beautiful people worldwide in pictures (movies/magazines).

And now the heavy editing has sped up this effect. Society as a whole has become much more visual and the pictures less authentic.

I found this very logical...as many posters said above we all KNOW the filtered pictures are not real, but they often make us feel inadequate nonetheless. Id this theory is true, this trend is impacting our children to an unknown degree... Food for thought..

This is very interesting, and seems accurate as to who we think is "beautiful".
Very thought provoking.

 

[dk168]

Not just the young, anyone who is emotionally vulnerable and/or lacking in self esteem and confidence is affected by being compared, IMHO.

DK

 

[GliderPoss]

Yes absolutely I think it’s massively damaging, particularly for young girls. I am soooooo glad I grew up without it - being a teenager was hard enough as it was!

 

[YadaYadaYada]

It's bad for children and adults alike. I've been off Facebook for two years now I think and I don't miss it. The only part that is even slightly a problem is other people assuming I know things that were posted on Facebook becsuse they forget not everyone is on there.

I tell my older son all the time that he's better off not being on social media and he agrees so far. I miss how things used to be before all of this technology, people were more connected despite not having 500 "friends" online.

 

[missy]

Unfortunately I can't find it anymore, but I have read a neuroscientific article which explaining how the human brain processes perceived beauty of oneself.
The conclusion was that basically the brain will process all faces it is confronted with (real, picture, film) and so be able to say what the average in good looks is, approximately.

one will then have a notion of where oneself and new people fall within this system (considered beautiful or ugly).

This is explicitly a measurement for relative beauty. Absolutely beauty as in which features are considered beautiful by most humans are a different set of experiments.

So in, say medieval times this
explains why princesses were always beautiful: at the time you'd see the villagers around you. Crooked, bad teeth, sun damage, malnutrition. Plain clothes. Anyone not working physically in the field, not sunburned and well dressed would be in the upper echelons of "beautiful" if they didn't have any specific malformations.

Within the last, say 50 years we were constantly flooded with the pictures of the upper10% most beautiful people worldwide in pictures (movies/magazines).

And now the heavy editing has sped up this effect. Society as a whole has become much more visual and the pictures less authentic.

I found this very logical...as many posters said above we all KNOW the filtered pictures are not real, but they often make us feel inadequate nonetheless. Id this theory is true, this trend is impacting our children to an unknown degree... Food for thought..

Is this the article?


Fascinating topic. I am also glad I grew up in a time we were less bombarded from all directions with this ideal perfection that isn't achievable. Who knows where this "experiment" will end up and how it will affect our children's and their children's future. :/

Perception and Deception: Human Beauty and the Brain - PMC

Human physical characteristics and their perception by the brain are under pressure by natural selection to optimize reproductive success. Men and women have different strategies to appear attractive and have different interests in identifying ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[MaisOuiMadame]

Is this the article?


Fascinating topic. I am also glad I grew up in a time we were less bombarded from all directions with this ideal perfection that isn't achievable. Who knows where this "experiment" will end up and how it will affect our children's and their children's future. :/

Perception and Deception: Human Beauty and the Brain - PMC

Human physical characteristics and their perception by the brain are under pressure by natural selection to optimize reproductive success. Men and women have different strategies to appear attractive and have different interests in identifying ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

No, but a very interested read!

 

[MaisOuiMadame]

It's bad for children and adults alike. I've been off Facebook for two years now I think and I don't miss it. The only part that is even slightly a problem is other people assuming I know things that were posted on Facebook becsuse they forget not everyone is on there.

This is me! I have to stay on it for our equestrian competitions, since they distribute the information exclusively on FB. Annoying!!!

 

[missy]

This is me! I have to stay on it for our equestrian competitions, since they distribute the information exclusively on FB. Annoying!!!

I am rarely on FB these days. And my friend list is under 100 I think. I am only FB friends with those I am friends with IRL with a few exceptions (some PSers I am not friends with IRL yet).

I use FB as a tool for me. My friends share photos with me there and it is a very convenient way to keep up to date with long distance friends in a very busy world. IOW I use it to my advantage rather than letting FB use me. If you kwim.

And I am on IG mainly for the bling (drool drool) and cats and dogs and cycling. So again it is something I derive pleasure from on my terms.

But I am an adult. I worry about the children (so much more easily influenced) on social media so many of their waking hours.

No, but a very interested read!

Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for taking the time to read it!

 

[MaisOuiMadame]

Have a wonderful day, @missy and thanks for the link, which I very impolitely didn't say the first time around. The is what a small baby and flu will do to your brain!!

 

[missy]

Have a wonderful day, @missy and thanks for the link, which I very impolitely didn't say the first time around. The is what a small baby and flu will do to your brain!!

Aww no worries! I didn’t think you were impolite at all. Far from it!
More importantly please feel better! Take good care and rest and drink plenty of fluids and go away nasty flu!!!

 

[House Cat]

This model posted this of herself.

 

[missy]

This model posted this of herself.

Wow, I had no idea you could do this. Not sure why one would want to either. I mean it's all fake. Who are they kidding? Is it just to get followers?

I prefer real and authentic and to me that is true beauty. When one is comfortable in one's own skin. Warts and all. Nothing against doing what you need to in order to feel good about yourself short of completely making up who you are. That is where I draw the line.
To what end?

 

[House Cat]

Wow, I had no idea you could do this. Not sure why one would want to either. I mean it's all fake. Who are they kidding? Is it just to get followers?

I prefer real and authentic and to me that is true beauty. When one is comfortable in one's own skin. Warts and all. Nothing against doing what you need to in order to feel good about yourself short of completely making up who you are. That is where I draw the line.
To what end?

She posted it to say that no body looks good at every angle

 

[missy]

She posted it to say that no body looks good at every angle

That's cool. Just wonder if and how many others use it for different reasons.

 

[House Cat]

That's cool. Just wonder if and how many others use it for different reasons.

Most. It’s terrible and they’re portraying a lie.