By Durund Elzey

President Theodore Roosevelt once said, “Comparison is the thief of joy.” Humans tend to compare themselves to everything and everyone in life sometimes without even realizing they are. The Social Comparison Theory states that 10 percent of our thoughts involve comparisons of some kind. The active thought of comparison puts almost everyone in a self conscious mindset. Humans are constantly judging themselves because of their own insecurities and the fact that they are around people everyday. 

One of the most common mental health conditions people suffer from as a result of comparison is body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). Which is commonly known as body dysmorphia. Many people don’t know what body dysmorphia is.? Sophia, a Benjamin Franklin High School New Orleans student, describes body dysmorphia as people thinking their body is less than others because of their perception of what is perfect in society today. Mayo Clinic states that body dysmorphia is a mental condition in which one can’t stop thinking about the flaws in their appearance. People that suffer from body dysmorphia focus solely on their appearance, mainly the flaws. They will try to do everything in their power to resolve these flaws to make sure no one perceives them the way they perceive themselves. The Anxiety Institute reports that body dysmorphia affects 2.5% of males and 2.2% of females in the US. Mayo Clinic states that some symptoms of body dysmorphia may be being extremely preoccupied with a perceived flaw in appearance that may be seen as minor to others, strong belief that you have a defect in your appearance that makes you ugly or deformed, constantly comparing your appearance with others, and attempting to hide perceived flaws with styling, makeup or clothes. These are symptoms that affect many people today, but they don’t even know that they may be experiencing body dysmorphia.

The evolution of technology has drastically influenced body dysmorphia. Especially with the development of social media. Since the late 2000s, social media has transformed into the biggest form of communication throughout the world.  Our World in Data stated that the number of US adults who used social media increased from 5% to 79% during 2005-2019. Social media’s popularity began with the launch of MySpace in 2003.  It quickly became the most popular social media site because it allowed you to communicate with your friends and share music with them. MySpace was soon overshadowed by the launch of Facebook by Mark Zuckerberg in 2004. During 2008, Facebook became the most popular social media site ever. It is still the most popular site with over 2.3 billion users throughout the world. Worldwide communication throughout the present day has been limitless with the emergence of social media sites like YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Tik Tok, Reddit, etc. In rich countries (United States, Sweden, Portugal, Canada, United Kingdom, Denmark, etc.) the interest of social media has seemed to grasp children and teens more than any other age group. According to Our World in Data, about 90% of people in the age range of 16-24 use social media in rich countries. Social media has many positive aspects. It has allowed youth and young adults to communicate with their friends, make friends, raise awareness on topics, and showcase their creativity. It also has many negative aspects. Social media has increased cyberbullying, body dysmorphia, depression, and anxiety among youth and young adults. The Pew Research Center stated in 2018 that 59% of US teens have experienced cyberbullying. Many youth and young adults get bullied for the things they post and the way they look. This makes them self conscious about the things they post on social media and their normal interactions in day to day life.

Social media has been the driving force of body dysmorphia in teens today. Sophia 100 percent agrees that social media drives body dysmorphia in teens today. She states, “That the things people see on social media really influences their opinions on themselves. When they see other people they think that is how they should look and how they should be.” Benjamin Franklin student athlete Cameron Mogilles spoke about how social media prompted him to lose weight. “Social media made me self conscious about me being overweight. People would always laugh at me. This made me want to get skinny,” said Cameron. He is one of the many cases of how social media has negatively impacted a teen. Cameron felt this way because of the beauty standard set by social media. Starting wide receiver for Benjamin Franklin’s football team, Devin Leaper stated that, “A lot of teenagers struggle with body issues because of a certain beauty standard that everyone wants to reach, but it is not obtained easily.” Social media promotes body types that are desirable to teenagers to achieve when they should promote all body types to make everyone feel accepted. 

There are many ways teens can reduce the negative effects of social media.  Teens need encouragement from people close to them telling them that they are beautiful and that they are enough. This can stop the search for fulfillment from social media and can encourage them to reduce the use of social media. One way that they can also reduce the negative effects of social media is by reducing the amount of time they use social media in a day. Social media consumes a lot of time throughout teen’s days without them realizing. Reducing the amount of time on social media will force teens to focus on the positive aspects of their life. Another way could be turning off social media notifications. This can limit the thought of going onto social media throughout the day. One last way teens can reduce the negative effects of social media is getting hobbies that don’t involve cell phone use. Hobbies like playing sports, going on walks, and hanging out with friends are all ways teens can shift their focus off social media to do something they enjoy.

Body dysmorphia is a serious topic that especially affects teens today. Social media encourages teens to compare themselves to others. Which negatively affects their self esteem and self image. Reducing the use of social media and body positivity will make sure that body dysmorphia will not be the thief of joy in teenagers today.