Unveiling the hidden impact of social media on body image

A narrow waist, curvy buttocks, and slim legs: many young people can't free themselves from the beauty ideals omnipresent on social media. This includes hazardous trends such as the "thigh gap," which young women showcased online about a decade ago. It refers to a well-defined gap between the thighs, supposedly achievable through ascetic eating and training.

"Thigh gap" is often referred to nowadays as "legging legs" because this gap is evident in tight leggings. The fact that for the overwhelming majority of women with a healthy body mass, such a gap is neither achievable nor worth striving for is not yet common knowledge. Google searches, for example, ask questions like "Is thigh gap healthy?" or "What do you do to have a gap between the thighs?" In the "waist challenge," on the other hand, one must have a waist so narrow that another person can wrap their hand around it and drink water from a bottle held in that hand.

Sometimes, the pressure is subtler: "What I eat in a day" is a long-lasting and popular trend, especially on Instagram and TikTok. Young women diligently film everything they claim to eat throughout the day. Typically, indulgences are not showcased; lots of protein-rich and sugar-free meals are displayed. There's also the "body positivity" trend, which is about having a positive approach to one's body, whether large, skinny, or disabled. However, search engines may not show such content at all - because only the algorithm suggests what users themselves search for and view as following content.

Some analyses have already shown that such self-presentation also affects self-esteem. A study by researchers from York University in Toronto recently demonstrated the effects of refraining from using social media for a short time. A week's break positively affected self-esteem and young women's positive attitude towards their bodies.

In the project, whose results were published on ScienceDirect, 66 female students were divided into two groups. One group used social media as usual, while the other had to abstain entirely for a week. Participants were asked beforehand how satisfied they were with their bodies and whether they would like to look like models. After a week, these questions were asked again. For women who took a break for a week, their attitude towards their bodies improved. This effect was particularly evident in women who had taken the idea of a slim figure closest to heart.

According to the authors of the analysis, the effects are as clear as is rarely observed in psychological tests. However, the improvement may be due to the break itself and changing how free time is spent. Instead of using smartphones, participants could spend more time outdoors, with friends, or playing sports. All these activities have a beneficial effect on mental health.

The balance of actions against this problem so far seems lacklustre. Many young people would likely have difficulty parting with social media, even though usage time has been steadily increasing over the years. Meta announced in January of this year that it would hide inappropriate content on Facebook and Instagram from teenagers if they provided their real age.

Regulations often fail to achieve their intended purpose. The European Digital Services Act, for example, is supposed to protect minors on the internet from particularly problematic content, such as glorifying eating disorders. It mandates network operators to remove or hide such content. However, an analysis conducted by the organisation Reset showed that a maximum of 30 per cent of such content is removed. TikTok, in particular, performs poorly, removing much less of it – despite receiving relevant information. Nevertheless, #legginglegs has already been blocked.