Apparently too much time on social media is hurting more than your social skills. A new study suggests that women who spend too much time on Facebook are often displeased with their appearance.
A team of researchers at Live Science, in partnership with the National Science Foundation, is linking the amount of time spent on Facebook to negative body image in women and have concluded that women who spend a lot of time on Facebook are more likely to damage their self-esteem.
"We focused on women, and particularly college women, because they are under increased pressure to look a certain way, and for their bodies to have a certain shape," study author Petya Eckler, a lecturer at the University of Strathclyde in the United Kingdom, said in a press release. "This pressure comes from both media images and interactions with peers."
In the study, researchers at the University of Strathclyde, Ohio University and University of Iowa surveyed 881 college women, with an average age of roughly 24. The scientists questioned them on their eating and exercise habits, body image and Facebook use. About 86 percent of women said they wanted to lose weight compared to 61 percent who wanted to lose weight in a national survey.
"The attention to physical attributes may be even more dangerous on social media than on traditional media because participants in social media are people we know," Eckler said in a press release. "These comparisons are much more relevant and hit closer to home. Yet they may be just as unrealistic as the images we see on traditional media."
Researcher found that more Facebook time can lead to more women feeling negative about their appearance after having just seen someone else's images or posts. The study notes the women often times compare their own bodies to those of Facebook friends. A previous syudy found that college-aged women would untag" themselves from Facebook photos if they don't like the way they look in those pictures. Time spent on Facebook had no relation to eating disorders.
"Poor body image often leads to shame and embarrassment about certain parts of one's body," Eckler said. "The larger message here is not to cut off Facebook, but to manage it and to take what you see there, especially the photos, with a pinch of salt."
This study will be presented at the 64th Annual Conference of the International Communications Association in Seattle, WA. in May.
