How Instagram Is Negatively Affecting the Minds of Young Adolescent Girls

Abstract

Technology has evolved heavily over the decades. Internet use is our primary means of information and navigation in the world. From communicating with loved ones to finding work; the internet has become our daily agenda to rely on the internet for our everyday lives. Social media use has increased drastically, especially with millennials having various social media platforms. The most popular outlet is the infamous Instagram. It is a very active site gaining millions of users by the day. What needs to be transparent is how the usage of this app is affecting already sensitive young girls' livelihood. As soon as one wakes up, they immediately go to their phone and open the app and scroll endlessly. This cycle of wanting to be relevant and beautiful causes more depression in a vulnerable young girl than any other individual. Influencers of this platform raise the beauty standard in a very unhealthy way. This makes girls of very young ages already have a vision of what they want to be and not wanting to accept who they are. This has resulted in turning to cosmetic surgery at an unusually young age to achieve their assumption of what beauty is supposed to look like and also developing eating disorders at a very underdeveloped age. In a world of filters and photoshop, it has become apparent how girls view themselves and compare themselves to these unrealistic expectations of physical appearance. Instagram was first originated to share photos with others, but now it has become very dark and twisted. This research's purpose is to depict the problems of social media platforms and the after effects with adolescent girls and to offer solutions to help prevent more girls becoming negatively influenced by social media.