A new study by Dove has shown a strong link between social media and anxiety – and we can’t say we’re too surprised.
The online survey, conducted by Edelman Berland for Dove, quizzed 1,016 young women aged 13-23 across the UK about their attitudes towards social networks and selfies.
Interestingly, it showed that when girls first get online, their experience is usually a positive one, with 70 per cent of those aged 13-17 saying it’s an environment where they can express themselves.
Unfortunately, as they mature and become more aware of how they look, that same environment leads them to compare themselves to their peers and potentially impacts their self-esteem.
The survey found 60 per cent of women aged 18-23 wouldn’t post a photo of themselves online if they weren’t comfortable with their appearance, compared to 39 per cent of girls aged 13-17.
It was also discovered that 18-23 year-olds expect three times more ‘likes’ than their younger counterparts – and the worse their body confidence is to start with, the more likely they are to feel disheartened if they don’t get the right number.
Scarily, the average girl takes 1 hour 24 minutes to prepare for selfies each week – but after all that, one in four would also delete a photo if it didn’t get enough likes.
With half of young girls saying they’re on social media “all the time”, we couldn’t agree more with Dove’s Self-Esteem Project mission – to encourage girls to realise the only ‘like’ that counts is their own.
#NoLikesNeeded.
Do you worry about young women being affected by social media? Has social-networking ever impacted your self-confidence?
It’s nice of Dove to come up with this. I wish I knew this sooner. Someone I know might need to know this, but I lost contact with her.
OMG! Most of the first two pages of this article is SPAM!