Research
Study: Social media is not real: The effect of ‘Instagram vs reality' images on women’s social comparison and body
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This study, conducted by Flinders University in Australia, analyzed how "Instagram vs. Reality" posts made women feel about themselves and if they had any effect on their self-esteem.
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While people usually try to post only the most perfect pictures on Instagram, over the last few years, "Instagram vs. Reality" posts have become popular. These posts consist of two pictures, one in which the subject is posing and looks their best, and another that shows what the subject naturally looks like without any editing, posing, or good lighting. According to the study, these posts are meant to expose the falseness behind Instagram pictures and social media in general and are also meant to encourage women and social media users to stop comparing themselves to others.
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For this study, researchers recruited 305 women between the ages of 18 and 30, which is the largest demographic of Instagram users. The study was created to analyze the effect of exposure to "Instagram vs. reality" posts on women's body image and urge to compare themselves to the person in the post. The researchers showed the women both pictures of "Instagram vs. reality" posts but also showed them posts with just the "perfect" picture and posts with the "realistic" picture. After seeing the picture, the participants were able to indicate their weight dissatisfaction and appearance satisfaction on a scale from zero to 100. Participants were also asked to indicate how much they were comparing themselves to the picture on a scale from one to seven (Tiggemann et. al.)
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RESULTS:
The results of the study clearly showed that when participants only saw the edited and perfect picture, they were more dissatisfied with their own appearance. These results were constant throughout the study. Almost all participants were more dissatisfied with their weight and appearance after seeing the perfect picture. When they saw an "Instagram vs. reality" picture, they didn't compare themselves to the photo as much and were more confident in their own appearance. Participants also recognized that "Instagram vs. reality" photos were trying to convey a message, which made them feel better about their own appearance (Tiggemann et. al.)
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WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR SOCIAL MEDIA?
If people used social media as a way to post natural and real pictures of themselves, fewer people would compare themselves to others online. Of course, not everyone has to post "Instagram vs. reality" pictures all the time, but if everyone edited their pictures less and tried to look more natural it would significantly improve people's self-esteem and mental health. Many influencers heavily edit their pictures and videos, showing body types that are almost unachievable. As shown through this study, this can affect people negatively and make them feel bad about themselves. A clear solution to this issue would be not editing Instagram pictures, but another way to help could be by clearly indicating when a picture is edited so people don't compare themselves to it.
Study: Psychosocial well-being and social media engagement: The mediating roles of social comparison orientation and fear of missing out
This study, conducted at the University of Münster in Germany, looked at how loneliness, anxiety, and depression are connected to social media use and how much impact social comparison has on these factors.
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Frequent Facebook interactions have been found to cause increased psychological distress. Depression and anxiety are often connected to social media usage and the amount of time spent online. Another issue that could be caused by social media is the tendency to compare yourself to others. Usually, the people who compare themselves the most have lower psychological well-being (Reer et. al.) Since psychological well-being can be negatively affected by social media use, it is clear that using a lot of social media can make people more likely to compare themselves to others. According to the study, people frequently compare themselves to others while scrolling through social media.
"Social media grounds offer an ideal ground for social comparisons (Reer et. al.)" People can post anything about their lives on social media, whether it's just a selfie, or a picture from an important event like a wedding, or even a vacation picture. People prefer to present themselves on social media in the best way possible, which is why social comparison online doesn't only lead to negative self-esteem, but can also cause feelings of jealousy, depression, anxiety, and a negative view of yourself (Reer et. al.)
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To conduct this study, German internet users between the ages of 14 and 39 were surveyed about experiencing "FOMO" online, social comparison online, their psychological well-being, and their social media engagement. Like in the previous study, participants were able to use scales to indicate how they felt about each topic and various scenarios.
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RESULTS:
The results showed what the researchers had already predicted: that those who tend to compare themselves to others more are those who spend significantly more time on social media. The researchers stated that social media sites are attractive to people who often compare themselves to others because they provide a lot of information about other people, making it an easy way to compare lifestyles and appearance. The study also found that social comparison was able to indicate whether someone would experience FOMO or not. Those who constantly compare themselves online, are more likely to feel like others are doing better and are more successful, which is a strong sign that someone is experiencing FOMO. Another aspect that the study found was that some people tend to compare themselves to others to try and make them feel better about themselves. If they see that others are more involved in various things and are posting more, however, comparing themselves can worsen their self-esteem instead of improving it.
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It is very clear that anxiety, depression, and stress caused by social media are directly linked to the urge to compare. Limiting the time spent on social media could be a helpful way of improving mental well-being and also makes people less likely to compare. The negative effects that come with using social media can be hard to improve or fix because of how normal it is to use social media constantly. It has become part of many people's routine and the mental health problems that come with it have become a normal part of life as well. It is important to make people aware of what is going on because plenty of people are probably comparing themselves to others without even realizing it.
Why do we compare?
Younger people are not the only ones using social media and comparing themselves online. According to an article from WellBeing, Gen X are very frequent social media users. One of the issues older social media users face is wanting to stay relevant and youthful. When you're constantly seeing photos of younger and "more successful" people online, it makes you feel worse about yourself and affects your mental health negatively (Rowland.)
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Another major issue is the validation that people seek online. When we post a picture we expect people to like it and maybe even comment on the post. We compare how many likes our friends get and how many followers they have. According to the WellBeing article, people are stuck in a comparison feedback loop. It is so common to compare yourself to others while using social media that it has become second nature and doesn't even bother people anymore (Rowland.) On sites like Facebook, however, popular posts are meant to show up more in someone's feed. This means that posts that get a lot of likes, for example, birthday posts, wedding posts, and other important events, are shown to users more often. To many, this makes it seem like their friends' lives are perfect and fun, while their own seem less important. It is important for social media users to remember that people are sharing the best version of themselves online (Poling.) People often forget that social media is designed to keep its users engaged and interested. Users are supposed to see other people's photos and be interested in their lives. Using social media can be fun and entertaining, but it is designed to make our minds compare our lives to someone else's because that's what keeps us engaged with the app.
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