Quotation (with page number or parag number or time stamp if video/audio)
“Social Media platforms like Instagram have ‘helped important movements like body positivity to flourish… It has helped diversify the definitions of beauty.”
Comment (250-500 words)
I think that this quote reflects so much truth and also some misinformation regarding how social media trends develop and affect mental health. The positives and negatives of Instagram in particular are ever-present, but depending on how trends behave and change the evil can outweigh the good and vis-versa. Instagram and many other social media have for sure created some very good platforms for body positivity, and activism such as the BLM and #MeToo Movement, where victims of social, racial, and gender injustice were able to share their experiences. However, with freedom of speech and comments allowed on posts, people can receive very damaging insults that can permanently affect their mental health and well-being. Again, Instagram has become a great platform for colored women to show their bodies, but today Blackfishing has taken over many social media sources and certain “ethnic” traits have become trendy. This is similar to the aesthetic and beauty industry that thrives on Instagram. Models and athletes post their bodies and physiques on Instagram and others take them as an example, or a body image to strive towards. When in reality, these influencers often use filters, lighting, and editing to make themselves look better, and many sculpted and aesthetically pleasing bodies you see on Instagram are far from the truth. This fact can be extremely damaging to young people who look up to Instagram influencers, and the best advice I can give is to focus on your own journey. Of course, use Instagram to connect with others, but never rely on it for confidence or mental health-based support because some commenters on Instagram truly have nothing better to do than write mean things on other people’s posts.
Question
How do you think Instagram would be different if models and fitness influencers didn’t exist? Would it be a better place?
