Student ID: 11422012

Name: Zhang Zhuoya

Course: Study Skills and Academic Writing EF
Instructor: ROUX
TA: Nguyen Ha Uyen
Date of submission: December 20th, 2022

The effect of social media on appearance anxiety

Appearance anxiety is a type of social anxiety that refers to the extreme lack of confidence in
one's appearance, the feeling that one does not look good, and the repetitive behavior of constantly going
to the mirror to confirm one's appearance. Moreover, the fear that their appearance may be negatively
evaluated. (Dion, Dion, & Keelan, 1990). This anxiety can put individuals in a state of worry, annoyance,
and tension. According to a questionnaire survey conducted by the China Youth on appearance anxiety in
2021, among 2,063 college students across the country, 59.03% suffer from a certain degree of
appearance anxiety. The data shows that it has become a social issue greatly affecting young people, and
some studies indicate that this is inextricably linked to the use of social media (Caner, Efe & Başdaş,
2022).
In recent years, with the development of technology, social media plays an increasingly
significant role in our lives. The interactive nature of social media has allowed a large number of netizens
to participate in the evaluation of others' appearance, especially when selfie posting is one of the essential
ways to socialize online. Some research shows that photos involving faces are 38% more likely to get
likes and 32% more likely to get comments (Bakshi et al., 2014). Among the selfie group, most of them
expect to increase their popularity via positive feedback, in contrast, when they receive negative
comments which do not meet their expectations, a sense of anxiety occurs. However, the whole
evaluation system is highly subjective since it is based on the personal view which is changeable and
prejudiced. Further, being “selfie-obsessed” may destroy one’s mental life. The International Journal of
Mental Health and Addiction (2017) recently published research and suggested that taking excessive
selfies and posting them online may be a mental disorder. Researchers confirmed the existence of selfie
addiction and developed a selfie addictive behavior assessment scale against which each person can self-
test their score to assess whether they are addicted to selfies. Danny Bowman was a teenager who tried to
commit suicide because he failed on taking a perfect selfie. “People don’t realize that posting a picture of
themselves on Facebook or Twitter can quickly spiral out of control. It becomes a mission to get approval
and it can destroy anyone,” he said (Independent News, 2014).
 Student ID: 11422012
Name: Zhang Zhuoya
Course: Study Skills and Academic Writing EF
Instructor: ROUX
TA: Nguyen Ha Uyen
Date of submission: December 20th, 2022

When shares cannot change their physical appearances, they resort to technology. With the
support of Photoshop Software, they can “reshape” their faces to meet the social perception of beauty
easily.

Source: ParentsTogether Social Media Beauty Filters Survey Results (2021)

A new survey conducted by ParentsTogether, a community of more than 2.5 million parents
across the U.S., found out that nearly half of the teens (49%) use beauty filters at least once a week and 1
in 5 use them on every single post, which indicates plenty of pictures we see on the internet might be
retouched pictures. The New Yorker (2022) says we’re in “the age of Instagram face,” a look defined by
“a wrinkle-free forehead,” “catlike eyes and long, cartoonish lashes,” and “a small, neat nose and pouty
lips.” Those who have Instagram face look like beauty clones after using the same editing tool. It is
because of the emergence of those beauty filters that people started to deny their true appearance and
breed a desire for the “perfect face” in the filter. Most teens (61%) say using beauty filters even makes
them feel worse about how they look in real life and that beauty filter use is correlated with low self-
esteem and poor body image (ParentsTogether, 2021). This cognition has driven them to cosmetic surgery
directly. According to the Personal Care and Beauty Shopping Report (Ypluse, 2022), social media
influencers rank as the top sources of inspiration for young women’s beauty care or cosmetic surgery.
Surgeons also mentioned that people would come with photos of their famous clients, and social media
 Student ID: 11422012
Name: Zhang Zhuoya
Course: Study Skills and Academic Writing EF
Instructor: ROUX
TA: Nguyen Ha Uyen
Date of submission: December 20th, 2022

royalty like Kim Kardashian, Megan Fox, and Halle Berry who set the typical example of the “Instagram
Face”. People would define the rise in certain cosmetic procedures such as Brazilian butt lifts as “The
Kardashian Effect”.
Last but not least, the convenient personal recommendation algorithm creates a “Survivor-ship
Bias” for users, which means the part they do not want us to see has been naturally hidden, and that leads
to more facial comparisons and appearance anxiety reinforcement (Tang, 2022). A good-looking
appearance usually attracts more followers on social media, consequently, it will be spread to more
people. After several influencers got success with this “shortcut”, it encourages more visual shock content
on the internet like good appearance or body shape which costs less energy and time compared with other
kinds of content. As a result, what we can approach through the internet are just related contents that
make people vulnerable to appearance.
In conclusion, the causes of appearance anxiety are complex and multifaceted, but the
development of social media has aggravated this phenomenon significantly by promoting appearance
comparison and exaggerating the value of appearance. Through the support of distorting social media
lenses, it is easy for anyone to feel as if their appearance does not measure up to the standards of celebrity
idols or influencers. The key thing to keep in mind is that, like any technology, social media is a tool. By
setting boundaries with social media, young people can drive out the gloom of “Appearance Anxiety”.