Do I look good in this?
If you are a high school girl, you have likely heard this question many times before.
Taking pictures has become central to high school events. Especially for events like homecoming, where Instagram feeds are flooded with posts following the event. What dress people wore, who their date was, and what pre-party they attended became public information. Does the pressure to post add to the weight of expectations placed on teenage girls?
As Homecoming was last weekend, many students had thoughts to share about how social media and taking pictures impacted their overall experience.
“I feel like taking pictures is a stressful event because I am worrying about how they are going to turn out instead of enjoying the moment. It is also stressful because you compare yourself to the people you’re with and it becomes degrading to yourself,” junior Mia Morse said.
When curating your own post, which is easily seen by hundreds or thousands of people you know, it becomes easy to wonder about the perception of the content. “I wonder if people are going to think this is bad or not going to like it, worried about being judged basically,” sophomore Addie Marzella said. Especially when everyone is posting at the same time, the pressure to post becomes greater.
“When I am off social media I am not seeing a bunch of other people who I compare myself to. And I don’t feel like I need to change myself to be like them. And less doomscrolling so I don’t sit in my bed for two hours eating at my brain. Therefore when I am off social media my brain is resting. And sometimes I feel ‘behind in life’ so it can take a toll on my mental health,” junior Tia Poulton said.
This pressure reflects a larger problem among many teenagers- mental health and perception of self image have gone down. According to the mental health foundation, 40% of young people have body image issues from social media. Comparison, especially during adolescents, is already rampant. When so much media is present online, it is easy to compare your life to someone else. 60% of teen girls and 40% of teen boys reported experiencing negative social comparison on Instagram in research conducted by Facebook.
Teenagers in general are vulnerable to mental health issues, so the addition of social media only adds fuel to the already intense fire. Insecurity about oneself and how they exist in the social world of their high school is a common anxiety among students. The feeling that one has to have perfect grades, appearance, social life, and extracurriculars can often make people feel as if their efforts are not enough. Before, this pressure came from parents or peers, but now social media.
Social worker Maggie Harmsen has seen the effects that social media has had on students firsthand.
“Every day. We deal with social media drama all the time, it’s constant. A lot of parents reach out to help their kids manage it better. And I think some students are also starting to realize that they need to take a break and that it’s becoming an issue in their daily life,” Harmsen said.
Though she thinks social media affects girls’ self image and confidence, it is broader than that. “I think social media generally creates anxiety for everybody: boys and girls. The whole FOMO thing is real and so is feeling less than if someone is doing something they are not doing,” Harmsen said.
Apps like Instagram present the highlights of someone’s life- users showcase all the best parts of themselves. “There is a sense of comparison but I know that is not necessarily all of their life. People may be really pretty and may have a good post but just because they are looking perfect doesn’t mean they don’t have problems in their own life and don’t have their own struggles. You have to look past the surface,” junior Alessandra Dehays said.
It is important to remember that even though someone may look perfect online, what is posted barely scratches the surface of who they truly are. Everyone is going through things that they don’t share with the general public and it is important to note that everyone has flaws regardless of what is posted online.
