Roddy 1

Alexis Roddy

Jennifer Rodrick

English 115

9/26/17

Technology Influence

Have you ever logged onto the internet and seen the latest trend of what the social world

considers attractive? Lets face it, at one time or another we have all wished to look like those

people that are photoshopped and what the world calls attractive. In many cases people are

dissatisfied with themselves because they do not look like those people who are considered

attractive on social media. This has been going on for many years and even though some people

are doing things to try to change the ideal body shape, people are still influenced and still

continue to want to look that way. Social media/ technology has a negative impact on people

through the importance of image, the unrealistic image that is given, and the lack of morality that

leads one to to only pay attention to the mere surface instead of demonstrating one's true identity.

Since we have technology at our fingertips and easy access to social media it can play a

big role on how you feel about pictures that are shared with you in them. Some people feel as if

they are not so photogenic in all pictures. People's self esteem is able to fluctuate if they lack

confidence with how they look in pictures that are shared with everyone their social media

platform, because they are concerned with how others view them. This would not be a problem if

social media did not put pressure on people to look a certain way. This is why people have

adapted to using an avatar ,which is a person or image you create online, when they are not so

confident in the pictures that they take or that et taken of themselves. David Brunskill argues that
the internet broadly allows us to re-invent portions of ourselves which we are not happy with

therefore seems abundantly clear, and social avatars can be expected to reflect this by being

predominantly concerned with self-promotion(pg 4). What this is saying is that people get to do

whatever they want when making this avatar. They can make it look however they want even if it

is not exactly what they look like. They tend to just put good features of themselves because they

do not want to showcase their features that they are not confident with. I agree with this because

you never really see avatars that have acne or that are overweight because they want to be

accepted by society, otherwise there would be no need for avatars. This is important because it

shows how much the media pressures people to look a certain way, to the point where people

have to create something where it usually only showcases the features that the media idealizes.

Whether you are male or female you have probably seen at one time or another a picture

of a super hot model and felt a little self conscious that your body is not as ideal as the models.

Most of those models in the pictures are photoshopped, and even though we know that, we still

feel the need to try and look that way even if it brings self harm to the body with unhealthy

habits. Richard Perloff analyzes that men and women see these models on social media with the

unrealistic bodies and their confidence goes down because they will never be able to achieve the

perfect body,which can lead to eating disorders.For example this picture shows a woman that is

dissatisfied with her body and looking ashamed even though she actually has a really nice body.
 As stated in his article young adult women who are low in self esteem, or depressed, and for

whom thin ideals or appearance- based self-worth are important, are dissatisfied with their bodies

and even suffer from anorexia will be particularly likely to pro-ana sites and similar social media

sites(pg 8). What this is saying is that people who focus on looks, see these models and ideal

body shapes and become less confident because they compare themselves to models in those

pictures. People who are dissatisfied with themselves are more likely to visit websites that

contain information about harmful body habits or how to eat less to create the body type that is

shown in pictures on the internet. I agree with this statement because there are some humans out

there who idolize famous people because of how they look and not for what they do. People are

always trying to get into the latest trend of what the media considers beauty and throughout

different time periods, including now, the media has idealized skinny people. This makes people

want to be like what the media idealizes just so that they can fit into society. This quote is

important because it stresses the fact that people will do whatever they can, even if it means

destroying you bodily health, to look like how the media idealizes as beauty.

As the media pressures people to look a certain way it also tests their morals. Some

people will do whatever they can to be recognized on the internet. This brings me to the disaster

selfie. The disaster selfie is people willing take pictures of themselves in some crazy disaster site
even if it has death involved. An example would be a disaster site such as the twin towers on 9-

11, even though so many deaths occured people still felt the need to take photographs that shows

them at the horrible situation. Yasmin Ibrahim suggests that beyond the media event, the

production codes of a selfie also thrive on voyeurism where the selfie may not recognize any

boundaries- it does seek to contextualize against political events or contexts, rather it seeks to

draw on the residual energy, narratives and attention the media event has already created.(pg 7)

what this is saying is that people take these selfies at disaster sites to just get people to feed off of

the attention and energy the media gives to it. Even though it brings attention to the disaster, it is

mainly taken to just get the attention that you were at the disaster site. This is important because

it shows how the media can affect the morals and boundaries of people and makes them blind to

what is really going on just to get attention from others on media.

People could argue that social media has a positive effect and it could teach humans how

to interact with others if they are not so outgoing in person. Also it could teach them how to be

outgoing in person and establish friendships with others. They could then work their self

confidence up through time. If media did not put these pressures on us then there would be no

need to feel like they could not talk to others in person. Media and technology make it to where

society judges others for not looking a certain way. Media is the reason for those being too shy to

talk to others, just for the reason that they do not want to get put down because they just do not

look like others. It is sad that society puts so much pressure on people to all look basically the

same when our differences and individuality is what makes us beautiful not what media tells us

that we need to look like. Media should be about showcasing our true selves without having to

worry about being judged by others.

 In conclusion media shapes people's identities tremendously online and in real life. It

pressures people to look and act a certain way just to be accepted. With effects brought from

online, people are sometimes too afraid to post a picture of themselves because of the fear of

being judged. They are so afraid of being judged to the point where they create avatars that

showcase different features than themselves because media puts so much pressure on people to

look a certain way. For it being affecting people in real life is that people can develop eating

disorders just to look how the media expects them to. It also tests the morality of people and

what they will actually do to get attention from others. The truth is, media affects us more

negatively than positively and humanity needs to do something to change that way of thinking

because individuality makes us beautiful. If we lose our individuality then we lose ourselves. We

should not let the media shape our identity or tell us what we need to look like or do. People

need to focus on what it really important instead of focusing on how we look.

Work Cited

Brunskill, David. "Social Media, Social Avatars and the Psyche: Is Facebook Good for Us?."
 Australasian Psychiatry, vol. 21, no. 6, Dec. 2013, pp. 527-532. EBSCOhost,

doi:10.1177/1039856213509289.

Ibrahim, Yasmin. "Self-Representation and the Disaster Event: Self-Imaging, Morality and

Immortality." Journal of Media Practice, vol. 16, no. 3, Nov. 2015, pp. 211-227.

EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/14682753.2015.1116755.

Perloff, Richard. "Social Media Effects on Young Women's Body Image Concerns: Theoretical

Perspectives and an Agenda for Research." Sex Roles, vol. 71, no. 11-12, Dec. 2014, pp.

363-377. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1007/s11199-014-0384-6.

Alamy.Girl looking at herself in the bathroom mirror: Teenage girls skip meals amid

weight concerns.2012. The telegraph.

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