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My Body, Your Say: Exploring Social Media and Body Image

Blog Post #1

Body image refers to the way an individual perceives their own body. Weight, skin color, body shape, or form (Brazier, 2020), as well as issues of self-worth, esteem, and confidence in relation to one’s own body image, are central to this concept (Oakes, 2019). In the present-day context, social media is arguably the most prominent source of information where we base and/or compare our body image to that of others. According to a related article, studies have shown that “88% of women [and 65% of men] compare themselves to images they observe on social media, with over half of them emphasizing that the comparison is unfavourable” (Emotion Matter, 2018). Among various social media platforms, Instagram, Facebook, as well as Tiktok are the ones identified as the most used and accessible platforms when it comes to discourses on body image (Jennings, 2021).

Given the vast amount of information that circulates non-stop around social media, this computer-based technology readily serves itself as an avenue for creating and shaping people’s knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes towards body image. While media content on body positivity and acceptance are prevalent, exposure to toxic social media posts is, for the most part, inevitable. As people become highly dependent on digital media, they also immerse themselves in a mediated reality. A reality where information is being controlled by powerful media entities. These dominant forces have the power to dictate what is conventionally acceptable and not acceptable, who is included and excluded (Croteau and Hoynes, 2019). In body image, social media has set unrealistic standards of beauty and somehow convinces users, who do not look like ‘normal’ people with snatched waist, pointed nose, and glass skin’ to keep up or be left out.

Although people with exposure to toxic media content know that it will generate negative effects on their body image, they still cannot help themselves but be affected. Hence, people eagerly follow what social media has told them: to subscribe to ‘fitness journeys’ (which is a euphemized term for excessive diets and exercise regimens); to use digital face filters to make you look more attractive (which is totally okay if that makes you feel good about yourself but not if it forces you to seek out cosmetic procedures to replicate altered online images) (Wigmore, 2019); to religiously apply skincare routines achieve ‘glass skin’; to do ‘everyday’ or ‘no makeup’ makeup to conceal ‘irregularities’ on your face; to mimic fashion hacks to make you look ‘slimmer’. On a healthy level, such social media tips are actually helpful to encourage people to look after their well-being, especially if doing so makes them feel good about themselves. However, unhealthy subscriptions to these can do more harm than good. Constant exposure to an ‘endless carousel of beautiful faces and perfect bodies’ (Jennings, 2021) can lead to decreased body satisfaction, lower self-esteem and self-confidence, and to greater extent, psychological problems.

Social media is indeed a powerful tool. It has all the power and potential to influence a vast number of people across the globe. So why not capitalize on its advantage? Subscribe and promote social media accounts that share genuine body positivity and acceptance, and at the same time unfollow those that make you question your worth and cripple your confidence. Try to be more involved in conversations that discuss issues on social media and body image. Speak up for yourself and for others. And please remember, all bodies are worthy bodies.

PS: I’ve been following @bodyimagepositive and @wetheubran on Instagram. When it comes to dealing with issues about my own body image, I’m also a work in progress, and these social media accounts help me go through this journey. I’m rooting for you <33

References:

Brazier, Y. (11 October 2020). What is body image? Medical News Today. Retrieved March 10, 2022 from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/249190

Croteau, D. & Hoynes, W. (2019). Media/Society (6th ed.). Sage Publications, Inc.

Emotion Matters. (2018). How does social media influence body image? Retrieved March 10, 2022 from https://emotionmatters.co.uk/2018/10/04/how-does-social-media-influence-body-image/

Jennings, R. (13 January 2019). The paradox of online “body positivity”. The Goods by Vox. Retrieved March 10, 2022 from https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22226997/body-positivity-instagram-tiktok-fatphobia-social-media

Oakes, K. (12 March 2019). The complicated truth about social media and body image. BBC Future. Retrieved March 10 , 2022 from https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190311-how-social-media-affects-body-image

Wigmore, I. (February 2019). Snapchat Dysmorphia. WhatIs.com. Retrieved March 11, 2022 from https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/Snapchat-dysmorphia#:~:text=Snapchat%20dysmorphia%20is%20a%20body,altered%20images%20they%20present%20online

Comments/Feedbacks:

• Hi K! I agree with your points on how media can be both a beneficial and detrimental to media consumers. For some, it can be a great way to find inspiration towards healthy lifestyle but, it can be disheartening for others who tries but can never reach such unattainable goals and standards. Moreover, it is quite concerning how social reeling influences our perception and behavior and many of content creators or influencers capitalizes on these contents for self-serving reasons- Genevieve <3.

When Social Media Turns Political: Media Organizations Facilitating Political Propaganda

Blog Post #2

Only 20 days before the 2022 Philippine National Election, aspiring candidates intensify campaign-related activities to gain more support from the public. Posters with names of politicians in bold occupy most of the public spaces. Candidates also make the most of their three-month campaign with grand rallies, caravans, and on-the-ground campaign activities aimed to convince millions of voters to support their candidacy. Other than the traditional way of campaigning, candidates maximize digital resources to increase their reach. For instance, presidential, vice presidential, and senatorial candidates in the country have been actively participating in a number of debates. Powered by the country’s giant media companies such as GMA Network, CNN Philippines, ABS-CBN, and Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas, these debates are organized for them to show Filipinos their political platforms and stances on societal issues. Aside from mobilizing mass media, online media has also been a hotbed for political campaigns.

A survey from Pulse Asia conducted in 2021 reported that nearly half of Filipino adults acquire political news from the Internet (Macaraeg, 2021) with Tik Tok, Facebook, and YouTube as the top social media platforms (Hilotin & Lacsina, 2021). Media organizations such as these are typically utilized by aspiring candidates to boost their campaigns. One of the key components of campaigns, in this case politics related, is coordination (CrashCourse, 2018) - whereby politicians work with multiple entities to amplify their political motives and have the biggest impact (Hilotin & Lacsina, 2021). An article entitled “Philippine elections: Will Tiktok help pick the next president” by Gulf News noted that “the best campaigns, and biggest ad spenders, would have much wider potential access to the crucial age 18-40 crowd, the bulk of 64 million Filipino voters registered for the May 2022 vote” (Hilotin & Lacsina, 2021, para. 3). However, campaigns lose morals when they are used by certain people to put their selfish interests over the public good. When this happens, propaganda takes place. Propaganda is a tool employed by “bad actors to manipulate the public” to support and engage with particular things (CrashCourse, 2018). It is also closely related to disinformation and misinformation whereby actors intentionally or unintentionally use false or misleading information to confuse, distract, and control the target audience. Supporters of Bongbong Marcos, for instance, are obviously fond of using Tik Tok, Facebook, and Youtube videos, which are often unreliable, to back and champion their chosen candidate. Unfortunately, these videos are more often than not a source of false information.

In a time where everything seems to be tied with media and technology, it is only important for media and tech companies to take accountability for their content, especially when the future of a country is at stake. They have to give the public the assurance that issues of political advertisements, disinformation, misinformation, hate speech and the like are being accordingly addressed by, for instance, mobilizing fact-checking organizations (Elemia et al., 2021). Giant media and tech companies such as Facebook, Tik Tok, and Youtube must aggressively counter these threats to the informational ecosystem as when left unaddressed, a wide array of negative consequences come into play, such as endangering democracy. The government, public, and society at large must ensure that facts dominate narratives especially in the realm of politics, and that they must act upon any threats against it. With this, I would like to quote Maria Ressa as an end to my blog:

References:

CrashCourse. (02 May 2018). The Dark(er) Side of Media: Crash Course Media Literacy #10. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rR7j11Wpjiw&list=PL8dPuuaLjXtM6jSpzb5gMNsx9kdmqBfmY&index=12

Elemia, C., Baizas, G. & Isinika, A. (17 May 2021). Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, still open for abuse in PH polls. Rappler. Retrieved from https://www.rappler.com/nation/elections/tech-social-media-platforms-policies-abuse-disinformation-polls-philippines-2022/

Hilotin, J. & Lacsina, N. (08 October 2021). Philippine elections: Will Tiktok help pick the next president. Gulf News. Retrieved from https://gulfnews.com/special-reports/philippine-elections-will-tiktok-help-pick-the-next-president-1.1633625293877

Macareg, P. (12 October 2021). Nearly half of Filipinos get news from internet, Facebook - Pulse Asia. Rappler. Retrieved from https://www.rappler.com/nation/nearly-half-filipinos-get-news-internet-facebook-pulse-asia-september-2021/

Covering Burari Deaths: A case of media sensationalism

Blog Post #3

Media sensationalism is defined as a “type of editorial bias in mass media in which events and topics in news stories are over-hyped to increase viewership or readership figures” (Uzuegbunam, 2013, p. 71). Typically, it includes reporting serious issues and events in a sensational manner in efforts to woo more audiences. Sensationalized news are characterized by “dramatic, fast-paced, superficial presentations and simplistic explanations that focus on personalities, personal relationships, physical appearances, and idiosyncrasies” (p. 71). Linked to this, framing of headlines is considered as one of the major functions of sensationalism (Vanacore, 2021). News outlets use big, exaggerated words in bold fonts in constructing their headlines to invoke all sorts of emotions. While font styles and sizes draw the immediate attention of audiences, it is the content of the news that carries more significant implications in media sensationalism (Halbrooks, 2019). Journalists or news reporters have the tendency to deliver news that are blown out of proportion. This can be done by using wordings that exaggerate the nature of the actual story.

Given that most sensationalized media centers on highly evocative narratives, stories of scandal, human interest stories, personal and private lives of people are prominent subjects. As someone who is fond of watching true crime documentaries, I intend to exemplify the case of Burari Deaths. A short docuseries in Netflix, the House of Secrets: Burari Deaths, narrates the chilling case in India involving the eleven [11] deaths of a Delhi family (The Economic Times, 2018). Due to its bizarre nature, the investigation of this incident was filled with numerous theories to explain what might have happened. And as previously noted, the case of Burari Deaths is a story media organizations would fight for. In the series, media sensationalism was emphasized on one of its episodes - pointing out how journalists and news media outlets capitalized on the peculiarity of the case and sensationalized it to appear more appealing to the audience. Characteristics of sensational news such as photo enhancement, re-enactment of news events, dramatic voice-over narration and use of music, fast-editing pace, and zoom-in camera lens movements (Uzuegbugnam, 2013) were all salient in the course of covering the investigation. These were all sensationalism tactics used by different news organizations as they actively competed for viewers’ attention.

Media sensationalism can be discussed by the Routines employed by a certain media organization. More specifically, Routines are specific ways media workers follow to perform their jobs, say in the production and marketing of news (Shoemaker & Reese, 2014; Croteau & Hoynes, 2019). In order for the economy of media organizations to thrive, they must “adapt to constraints and create routines” that would enable them to “find a market for its [their] product” (Shoemaker & Reese, 2014, p. 168). One of the elements they consider integral for forming their economically viable routine practices is News Values. News values are measured through assessing stories based on its newsworthiness (i.e., news that appeals more to the audience). Factors associated with news values include (1) prominence and importance - measured by its impact on the public; (2) conflict and controversy - stresses the pressing matters that social institutions should address; (3) the unusual - characterized by the oddity or strangeness of the story; (4) human interest - focuses on gossips and human dramas; (5) timeliness - emphasizes the promptness of news updates; and (6) proximity - indicates that local events are more interesting than distant ones (Shoemaker & Reese, 2014). All of these factors are considered by journalists and news media outlets to develop sensational stories, which in turn woo the public to subscribe to their channels. In the case of Burari Deaths, most boxes, if not all, were checked - hence providing an explanation as to why it was subjected to sensational media coverage.

Media sensationalism, as indicated, has the tendency to romanticize and trivialize the real issues of the actual event (e.g., crime investigation). As much as media organizations and workers strive to obtain the highest public ratings, professional sense of journalism practice and moral ascendancy in their work must be upheld at all times. Institutions involved in the media landscape should likewise be reminded that the pursuit of profit should not be at the expense of quality journalism and news production.

Comments/Feedbacks:

Hi K! I agree with you on how media sensationalism has been so rampant as a tactic to incite a great number of readers to the point that it exaggerates things even for news stories that are supposed to be reported objectively. You also mentioned characteristics of sensational news such as photo enhancement, re-enactment of news events, dramatic voice-over narration and use of music, fast-editing pace, and zoom-in camera lens movements. I would like to add to this the click-baiting news headlines. These kinds of headlines must I say, are unrestrainedly used by social media content creators and even by the news writers which is problematic as it provides a catchphrase filled with promise that was never delivered. This often misleads readers and is often used in social media to propagate fake news, especially to those people who only read the headlines and do not bother to click on the website to read the whole news report or article. -Christine/Cj