Dove: Social Media, Filters and Digital Distortion
With over a third of us spending three hours a day (or more) scrolling on their feeds, it’s safe to say social media isn’t going anywhere. It can help us stay connected to friends and family, record memories, learn about people from different backgrounds and even master the latest dance craze. But the more time we spend on social media, the more likely we are to experience low self-esteem, mood and body confidence.
Actively engaging with others and sharing content can make us feel connected and boost our mood. But spending lots of time passively scrolling can make us feel lonely and disconnected, too. It can also make us focus on how we look and feel like we’re not good enough if we don’t look a certain way. When it comes to the relationship between social media and low body confidence, seeking validation via likes and comments, and making comparisons to others can also have a negative effect. One of the main causes for this is that many of the photos we see online are digitally distorted and not representative of real life.
We tend to see only the highlight reels of people’s lives on social media and most people only share the ‘best’ photos of themselves. If the images we are seeing online are all digitally distorted – carefully curated, edited and filtered, this can negatively impact our body confidence. With four out of five girls saying they compare the way they look to other people on social media, posting the ‘perfect selfie’ can feel like an obligation rather than a bit of fun. Dove’s recent research shows that we take on average up to 14 selfies in an attempt to get the right ‘look’ before choosing one to post. Filters also allow us to alter our appearance to mimic unrealistic beauty standards by removing blemishes, brightening skin, making eyelashes longer – the list goes on. Taking selfies and using filters can be a source of creativity and self-expression. But when they’re used to conform to society’s beauty standards, or because your child doesn’t feel confident posting unedited pictures, it’s a sign that it might be a problem. In fact, a quarter of us think that we don’t look good enough without photo editing. Start thinking about how you use social media and improve your self-esteem, confidence and wellbeing by using Dove’s tips below:
- Understand digital distortion
Think about the techniques and tools people to edit their images, you can check out Dove’s short film, ‘A Selfie’ to helps to reveal the posing, camera angles, special lighting, make-up, filters that go into the supposed ‘perfect Insta-shot.’ - Avoid the comparison trap
When you’re scrolling, remember them that you’re seeing someone else’s carefully curated highlights reel. Develop a healthy relationship with social media by thinking about whether or not social media images are a fair target for comparison (hint: they’re not). If you’re a teen, try watching ‘Girls Room’, a 6-episode drama series that addresses social media, body image, and comparison. - Put the ‘social’ back into social media
Think about ways to use social media more purposefully to actively connect and interact with other people. Remember them to unfollow accounts that don’t make you feel good, or use the ‘hide’ function on apps like Instagram. - Create diverse, real content
Think about ways to create a more uplifting, diverse and positive online space for yourself and others and about how you can spend more time posting things that reflect your interests, activities with friends and personal qualities (without digital distortion – photo editing, of course). - Learn how to spot advertising
With social media influencers becoming more popular than ever, it can be hard to spot what’s an ad and what’s not, be sure to look out for the #ad on posts to identify what influencers are being paid to share. - Log out
Be sure to take a break if you feel overwhelmed or are not enjoying using social media. Set screen time limits and take a walk, call a friend, or try to get creative off-screen. - Curate a positive feed
Remember to unfollow the accounts that make you feel bad, use the ‘hide’ function to remove posts from your feed and make social media your own space to enjoy.
Parent/Carer or Professional/Teacher supporting a young person?
Dove have developed #SelfieTalk resources you can use to have conversations which support children and young people to think critically and cleverly about how they use social media and improve their self-esteem, confidence and wellbeing.
Click here to download their parents/carers conversation pack
Click here to download their professionals/teachers single session pack
