Hyperreality- Does hyperreality on social media contribute to body dysmorphia?

MCS3956

Blog 2

Does hyperreality on social media contribute to body dysmorphia?

As mentioned in the previous blog, when an audience is constantly exposed to misrepresentations of reality we start to view our own reality as less captivating. This

Most of us, if not all, tend to dislike a particular feature or attribute that we have, be it a crooked smile, small eyes, big eyebrows and so on. However, the majority of individuals simply accept their ‘flaw’, while others take a step further, and allow this aspect to consume their daily lives. Studies have shown that around 1 in every 50 people suffers from Body dysmorphic disorder, which in many times is nurtured by the same social media platforms we are so profoundly addicted to (Phillips, n.d.). Social media is no longer an escape from reality, but has now affected our reality quite negatively. Although social media is used by people of all ages, it specifically affects the growing teen. Young adults are still exploring their growing and developing body, whilst also balancing out an influx of hormones, therefore when boys/ girls are constantly fed highly curated and fabricated images of what the standard beauty type or body structure should look like, this could very easily lead to body dysmorphic disorder which could, in more critical cases lead to institutionalisation and even suicide (Adkins, 2018). Hyperreality breaks down the wall between online and reality, where social media is no longer a secondary area separate from the reality, but has now broadcasted around us and is perceived to be accurate, real and natural. Filters have become such an intrinsic part of our lives that we shy away from taking snaps without them on, as we feel something is missing, the mask is off. New york plastic surgeon, Matthew Schulman says “patients have been coming in with Snapchat filtered selfies to show what they want done to their body.” Further proving how our hyperreal world is merging with the current world.

Almost 4 billion individuals are on some form of social media ranging from platforms such as Linkedin to instagram (Dean, 2020) . Although these platforms are used as tools to share our life, we pick and choose what we want our audience to see or know us as. Many times when one casually scrolls through social media and comes across a selfie one does not usually think much about it. However, behind the ‘effortless,’ ‘natural’ and ‘no makeup’ selfie, lies hours of editing, cropping, adding presets, playing around with lighting, makeup, outfits and ultimately picking the best picture out of multiple other photos. Although harmless at first glance, what many fail to realise is that this warped reality can cause detrimental effects on one’s perception of reality. The audience of the person who posted the selfie may only wish to look like her/him, failing to realise that they are glamorising a fabricated and highly unrealistic image, therefore the distinction between reality and simulation becomes blurred, as viewers start to believe that what they are seeing is unerringly genuine. Although many are aware of this, our hyperreal selfs become so close to reality that one cannot tell the difference between the two. Many believe it is solely the ‘Instagram models’ or ‘Instagram influencers’ (Gabulaitė, 2017) who fabricate themselves, however the average person may have been so highly affected by this falsified perception or beauty and reality they may employ these factors to their own pictures in order to make themselves and their lives more attractive. This distortion has in turn resulted in “promoting anxiety and lowering self-esteem” (Ehmke, n.d.) as platforms such as Snapchat, Twitter and Instagram and Facebook “all led to increased feelings of depression, anxiety, poor body image and loneliness” (Ehmke, n.d.). Those who use social media tend to highlight the positives in their life, shying away from posting their failures, their anxieties, their unfiltered self, both literally and metaphorically. However, hyperreality isn’t solely photoshopped pictures floating through the web, it takes many different forms.

The issue lies between reality and what the media chooses to reproduce. If the media chose a more realistic side of life, things would be different. If one scrolls through a magazine, or comes across a billboard and does not see anyone who looks like him or her, this will most likely generate bleak effects, as the lack of diversity and body types is a common aspect in the media.

In 2014 Victoria secret received a large amount of backlash for a poster depicting the ‘perfect body’, which was an image of a number of white women with the ‘ideal’, ‘perfect’ body type, having no room for larger bodies, with darker skin tones, those with blemishes, cellulite, stretch marks and so on. When we create false versions of reality, we tend to forget that these unrealistic standards of beauty do not exist. When viewing content produced by the media or by the average person on social media, we tend to adopt a utopian view of reality, a falsified view that further strengthens hyperreality detaching us from the truth. However, although many may say, ‘just put the phone away’ it is not that simple, as the media is no longer an external part of life but has become an intrinsic part of who we are and how we view the world. (Adkins, 2018)

References:

Adkins, A. (2018). How Social Media Contributes to Body Dysmorphic Behavior. Retrieved 26 January 2021, from https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.thelexingtonline.com/blog/2018/5/7/how-social-media-contributes-to-body-dysmorphic-behaviors&sa=D&ust=1611668486637000&usg=AOvVaw3D2dj_jjQ9ozoK0n1Yfufc

Dean, B. (2020). How Many People Use Social Media in 2020? (65+ Statistics). Retrieved 26 January 2021, from https://backlinko.com/social-media-users

Ehmke, R. How Using Social Media Affects Teenagers. Retrieved 26 January 2021, from https://childmind.org/article/how-using-social-media-affects-teenagers/

Gabulaitė, V. (2017). 57 Celebrities Before And After Photoshop Who Set Unrealistic Beauty Standards. Retrieved 26 January 2021, from https://www.boredpanda.com/before-after-photoshop-celebrities/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic

Phillips, K. Prevalence of BDD — BDD. Retrieved 26 January 2021, from https://bdd.iocdf.org/professionals/prevalence/#:~:text=Body%20Dysmorphic%20D