Student ID: 11422012

Name: Zhang Zhuoya

Course: Study Skills and Academic Writing EF
Instructor: ROUX
TA: Nguyen Ha Uyen
Date of submission: November 15th, 2022

The effect of social media on appearance anxiety

According to a questionnaire survey conducted by the China Youth on appearance anxiety in 2021,
among 2,063 college students across the country, 59.03% of them have a certain degree of appearance anxiety.
And 13.05% of them are suffering from severe appearance anxiety. It has become a social issue greatly affecting
young teenagers (Tang, 2022).
In recent years, sensational news reports have emerged one after another, such as "appearance-anxious"
parents using helmets to correct the shape of their babies' heads (Global Time, 2021). One of the essential reasons
for this phenomenon is that people are affected by beauty standards on social media. Comments such as “Be
slimmer. Be whiter. Your skin is not smooth enough!” are common to see on the internet. These high standers
make the idea of beauty less healthy and natural, as more women are using weight-loss drugs or taking cosmetic
surgery (Hai & Yang, 2022). Moreover, people resort to technology when their physical appearance cannot be
changed easily. With the support of photoshop software, people are enabled to “reshape” their faces to meet social
beauty standards, thus gaining attention from social media, which is an essential way to socialize online.
Generally, a good appearance attracts more followers on social media, and it will spread to more people. This has
encouraged more visual videos on appearance performance, which costs less energy and time compared with
other kinds of educational or documentary videos. Also, the convenient personal recommendation algorithm
system creates a Survivor-ship Bias for users, which leads to more facial comparisons and appearance anxiety
reinforcement (Tang, 2022). Through distorting social media lenses, it is easy for anyone to feel as if their
appearance does not match the standards of celebrity idols or influencers.
The interactive nature of social media has allowed a large number of netizens to participate in the
evaluation of others' appearance. And the fear of being negatively evaluated is the main cause of severe anxiety.

Sever appearance anxiety may lead to real mental illnesses like body dysmorphic disorder or eating disorder
(Holland & Tiggemann, 2016). To solve this issue, the psychiatrist suggested that we should build confidence,
practice self-compassion and self-care and engage in mindful movement.
In fact, the public will not pay great attention to one’s appearance if it’s not an occupational demand.
Physical appearance is not decisive in an adult's work and life. A stable social relationship should be established
through one’s knowledge, ability, and personality rather than a hypocritical image you made up in cyberspace.
“Real beauty" lies in self-confidence, accepting one's imperfections, and discovering one's unique beauty. To cite
a case, some influencers from different platforms have launched a hashtag about rejecting appearance anxiety,

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 Student ID: 11422012
Name: Zhang Zhuoya
Course: Study Skills and Academic Writing EF
Instructor: ROUX
TA: Nguyen Ha Uyen
Date of submission: November 15th, 2022

which has attracted widespread participants, and the event has pushed several platforms to adjust those excessive
filters and stickers (Caner et al., 2022). Pursuing beauty is human nature, yet social media has exaggerated the
value of physical appearance and distorted our self-cognition. By remaining a rational and critical perspective of
beauty standards under the current social media environment, young people can drive out the gloom of
“Appearance Anxiety”.

Word count: 518

References:

Boursier, V., Gioia, F., & Griffiths, M. D. (2020). Do selfie expectancies and Social Appearance
Anxiety Predict Adolescents' problematic social media use? Computers in Human Behavior.
Retrieved November 1, 2022, from
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0747563220301485

Caner, N., Efe, Y., & Başdaş, Ö. (2022). The contribution of social media addiction to adolescent life:
Social appearance anxiety - current psychology. Retrieved November 9, 2022, from
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12144-022-03280-y

Global Times. (2021, November 16). Appearance-anxious parents correct baby head shapes with
helmets. Retrieved November 9, 2022, from
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202111/1239105.shtml

Hai, R., & Yang, Y. (2021). Social network site appearance comparison's prediction of anxiety among
Chinese females: The mediation effect of body area satisfaction, overweight preoccupation, and
self-esteem. Retrieved November 9, 2022, from
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.775782/full

Holland, G., & Tiggemann, M. (2016). A systematic review of the impact of the use of social
networking sites on body image and disordered eating outcomes. Body Image, 17, 100-110.
doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2016.02.008

Tang, J. (2022). The effects of social media on Chinese undergraduate students. Retrieved November 9,
2022, from
https://www.clausiuspress.com/assets/default/article/2022/02/20/article_1645359312.pdf

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 Student ID: 11422012
Name: Zhang Zhuoya
Course: Study Skills and Academic Writing EF
Instructor: ROUX
TA: Nguyen Ha Uyen
Date of submission: November 15th, 2022