Inquiry-Based Research Essay

Inquiry based research essay

The role of social media in influencing teenager's lives is tremendous. It affects almost every aspect of modern society. For example, one could find adolescents discussing various aspects of health, nutrition, beauty, fitness, or control on platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. One of the most popular topics that many users discuss on these websites are related to dieting. There is a wide variety of posts concerning this topic, including "what I eat in a day" videos, various detox routines, intermittent fasting, and clean eating tips. Although these posts may appear to be quite useful at first, one could easily see that they do much more than only inform their audience. They spread particular ideas about an ideal body, create unrealistic expectations, and make comparisons inevitable. As a consequence, social media could potentially encourage some health-promoting habits, yet it mostly causes restriction and negative impacts on adolescent body image.

One of the best examples showing the impact that social media has on teenager's lives could be seen in the popular "what I eat in a day" videos. Usually, users post a video in which they capture all of the food they eat during a whole day. These videos often get names like low-calorie, high protein, or clean eating. Although they may sound rather informative, the content is usually created for an aesthetic purpose. Thus, the person would start a video with a cup of black coffee, followed by smoothie bowl, a salad for lunch, and a light dinner in the evening. Moreover, portions will be quite small, food would be pretty, and there could be a shot with a body that would prove the fact that the particular routine works. Even though the person does not necessarily state this fact, he or she wants to prove that by adopting such habits, a user would be able to get an identical body.

The power of such videos lies within the fact that they combine personal experience with general guidelines. Although they are not always true since influencers rarely account for factors like genetics or resources available, they do not necessarily need to be true to become influential. Unlike scholarly sources, which are written by professionals, are supported by numerous studies, and reviewed by editors before being released, influencers offer personalized information that may sometimes be misleading. However, they do so in a way that would make this information seem more reliable. They use visual content and a casual tone that seems to be more convincing to teenagers. Thus, one should not doubt that this information would become the basis of future decisions.

There is enough proof showing that social media has a great impact on health behaviors in individuals. For example, in one of their experiments, Vaterlaus et al. have discovered that a number of young adults consider social media to be their main source of information regarding dieting, exercise, and healthy habits. Such data is crucial, as it proves that the influence that this medium has is significant. Thus, when influencers encourage people to engage in restrictive behaviors or adopt an extremely tight regimen, they actually make it appear reasonable and correct. Moreover, although people creating these posts lack the necessary knowledge, they manage to persuade thousands of users.

Another factor that should be taken into consideration is the functioning of algorithms used by social media websites. They are aimed to ensure that content which could potentially draw more attention would become viral and widespread. As a consequence, videos containing dramatic weight loss, extremely tight routines, and other similar content would be preferred over information based on studies or research. Therefore, teenagers would face not only a wide variety of eating habits but also the most extreme versions of them. In other words, if one starts watching dieting or body image videos, soon enough his or her timeline will be filled with such videos as well.

Consequently, one could predict that such content would affect teenagers' psychology, including body image. According to the study by Sidani et al., a relationship exists between frequent social media use and developing eating concerns. Thus, apart from getting health-related information, teenagers' perception of food could change under the impact of social media. Adolescents do not only view pictures and videos but also think about the food they see. They compare their bodies to other people's bodies, evaluate attractiveness, and judge according to social status. As a result, one could expect that comparing constantly to others would affect their self-perception.

Moreover, the visual component of this medium also influences the way adolescents perceive food and their body image. Since social media is mainly focused on pictures and videos, they have to pay special attention to visual aesthetics. The life of influencers tends to be highly curates and controlled in order to seem more appealing to viewers. Thus, regardless of whether teenagers recognize it or not, such videos could impact the way they think about their bodies and eating habits. Moreover, some of them start perceiving food in terms of good or bad, and eating as a practice of either self-indulgence or discipline.

In this case, one could assume that teenagers may adopt certain behaviors that would harm them in the long run. Influencers do not necessarily ask their followers to starve themselves or engage in unhealthy practices. However, they may influence them to engage in practices such as counting calories, fear of particular products, or belief that thin people are happier and healthier. Again, it may not happen immediately, but the constant stream of the same ideas would impact them eventually. Thus, the combination of these factors may cause disordered eating behaviors in some teenagers.

Finally, public health organizations also pay a lot of attention to this problem. For example, the National Eating Disorder Association explains that the media could cause body dissatisfaction and negative perception of eating and appearance. Similarly, in one of their reports, the University of Rhode Island highlights the influence that social media has on nutrition and emotions. Therefore, one should admit that teenagers are exposed to information affecting their eating and health in multiple ways.

It seems natural to conclude that not every health-related video on these websites causes any harm. On the contrary, there are many influencers who promote clean eating or body positivity. Thus, it seems that social media can serve as a source of support and encouragement as well. However, it is hard to deny that these platforms mostly tend to prioritize information that seems simple and exaggerated. As a result, accurate and evidence-based health information cannot compete for users' attention anymore.

Thus, dealing with this problem means working not only with teenagers. On the contrary, more should be done to improve their level of media literacy and knowledge. Teenagers need to know how to analyze the content properly, what kind of things they should keep in mind when watching particular videos or reading blog posts, and whether they could trust influencers. Getting insight into the functioning of algorithms could also help them realize the difference between reality and fiction. Parents, educators, and other people could assist with this process, and health organizations should create more evidence-based materials for teenagers.

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