Instagram: Empowerment or Pressure?

By -

 Instagram: Empowerment or Pressure?

 

            As a user of social media, I can firmly say that I have been on social media platforms since about fifth grade. Beginning with Facebook, where I got my first glimpse into cyberbullying and the social pressures applied right through your computer screen, I knew social media was never going to be an easy thing to use. I was relatively young when I saw the double-edged sword that was social media and the impact that it can have on people outside of the computer and phone screens.

            

            Around middle school, I was introduced to Instagram while it was all the rage within my class. From then on, I realized that social media was nothing short of a performance for your peers and people whom you do not even know. Many people can relate to the fact that social media has potentially made them feel like an outlier amongst their peers or even question their own self-perception. Movies such as Cyberbully shown light onto the issues that surround social media in middle and high school settings and the real-life impacts that it can have on one’s mental health.  Even as an adult, I still discuss how taking breaks from social media is incredibly essential to re-centering your focus and reconnecting with yourself outside of the impossible standards set by social media. 

 

            On the opposite hand, social sites can also be a source of empowerment and confidence. Posting a photo of yourself or a group and receiving positive feedback from your peers can be a great source of confidence and pride which makes you feel more connected to those in your community. Many times, mutual friends are made through interactions on social media and it can contribute to the unity of the community in which you participate in.  This empowerment is often relatively temporary with each post and can be diluted in the never-ending pressures to look s certain way at every given moment. Photo editing applications that enhance features to create a “more ideal” version of yourself only contribute to this issue and arguably worsen it but creating an illusion of oneself while perpetuating insecurity. 

 

Overall, social media sites such as Instagram can have two diverse ways to impact young people and it depends on everyone’s particular situation. Often, we get lost in the world of social media and lose touch with the reality that beauty standards are nothing short of social creation, they are not real indicators of your worth. Social media is wonderful in empowering and getting in touch with people around you while spreading positivity and compliments but can also take jabs at your self-esteem if you’re not careful when comparing yourself to someone else. Most people are guilty of self-comparison as it is a natural human behavior but taking breaks and practicing self-care is crucial to maintaining a healthy relationship with all your social media accounts.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Film Review

By -
Film Review: Mean Girls Written by Elizabeth Nesbitt This film was written by Tina Frey and Rosalind Wiseman in 2004. This movie deals with several girl issues family, friendships, body image and popularity. The movie begins with Cady played by Lindsay Lohan who had been home schooled in Africa. Her family moved to America in her senior year where she had to attend public high school. When Cady starts school she knows nothing about cliques. The first friends Cady encounters are known as the “Artsy freaks.” Cady then meets the “Plastics” a group of popular, gossiping, shopping, glamorous girls who see themselves as inferior to the other girls in school. Cady starts hanging out with the plastics, when she is really spying for her artsy freak friends. In Africa Cady had a good relationship with her parents and they enjoyed spending time together. Moving to America and attending public school Cady violates her parents trust by lying and having parties. Cady transforms into a plastic, fake
Read more

Maiden, Mother and Crone by Vianny Nunez

By -
Image
  Maiden   Soft, sweet , and silent.   She is youthful , desired by all.    She wears long, beautiful gowns. Awaiting the hand of someone who’s strong and tall.   “A lady only speaks when spoken to.”   Words that have worn her ears before she could lace her own shoes.    “ Don’t eat so much, a lady must always watch her figure.”      The maiden’s first trigger.    You see, she’s been trained and groomed to fit the needs of men.   Before she could even reach the age of ten.    Men are blessed with strength and glor y when they'r e born.    Women? We’re cursed with beauty and immediate scorn.   You want us to fit perfectly into your ideals.    But we’d rather swim with eels.    There is more to her than what you can see.   Have you even asked about her hobbies?   Yes, she can cook and clean,    but she can also create literary scenes .    She aims to soar beyond the trees.   We crave to do what we please,   Without begging for permission from a man on our knees.     
Read more

Evin Taylor's Questionnaire

By -
Image
What kind of privileges do you have?             The term “cisgender” was created by transgender activists in the 1990s to distinguish between cisgender and transgender individuals ( Groth, 2020). According to Evin Taylor in her questionnaire, Cisgender Privilege , “Cisgender people are those whose gender identity, role, or expression is considered to match their assigned gender by societal standards” (p. 80). Those that do not identity as cisgender, namely transgender, face discrimination on almost all aspects of their life. The purpose of the questionnaire was not meant for those who identify as cisgender to recognized their privilege but to also recognize what non-cisgender people have experienced of fear of experiencing. I came across this questionnaire during my first semester at UCF in the fall when I took a course on gender studies. It would actually be one of the very first reading assignments we had in the course. When you first see it, you see that it’s actually quite a sho
Read more