Your Feed and Your Body Image

Most of us scroll for a few minutes at a time without thinking about what it does to us. For body image, those minutes may matter. Researchers have run experiments showing that what you look at can change how you feel about yourself right away. This is general education, not medical advice, and not a substitute for professional care.

Ten minutes on a feed

In 2015, Fardouly and colleagues published an experiment in the journal Body Image. They randomly assigned 112 young women to spend 10 minutes browsing their own Facebook account, a magazine website or an appearance-neutral website, and then measured mood and how they felt about their appearance. Women in the Facebook group ended up in a worse mood than those on the neutral site. Women who tend to compare their appearance with others’ also reported more concerns about their faces, hair and skin after time on Facebook.

The wider picture

A 2016 systematic review in Body Image by Holland and Tiggemann looked at 20 studies on social networking sites, body image and disordered eating. Overall, heavier use was linked to more body image concerns, with photo-focused activities and appearance comparison standing out. Most studies were correlational, so they cannot tell us which comes first: people who already feel worse about their bodies may also scroll more.

A brighter finding

In 2019, Cohen and colleagues randomly assigned 195 young women (ages 18 to 30) to view body-positive, thin-ideal or appearance-neutral Instagram posts. Women who viewed the body-positive posts reported better mood, body satisfaction and body appreciation than those in the other groups. The researchers also noted that both the thin-ideal and body-positive posts increased self-objectification, a focus on how the body looks rather than what it does, so the picture is mixed and more research is needed.

Small changes you can try

• Notice how you feel afterward. If a feed leaves you feeling worse, that is useful information.
• Tidy who you follow. Mute or unfollow accounts that make you feel judged, and add ones that feel kind, informative or funny.
• Focus on what your body does. Walking, lifting and stretching feel different when you notice strength and energy, not only appearance.
• Take breaks. Our article on taking a break from social media describes what a short pause did for mood in one trial.

Caring about health without self-criticism

Feeling at ease in your body and caring for your health can go together. Research on weight stigma shows that shame tends to backfire, and our guide to being kind to yourself after a slip offers a gentler approach. Writing about what is on your mind can help too, as in expressive writing.

Sources

• Fardouly J, Diedrichs PC, Vartanian LR, Halliwell E. Social comparisons on social media: the impact of Facebook on young women’s body image concerns and mood. Body Image, 2015;13:38-45 (figures from the abstract and university summaries).
• Holland G, Tiggemann M. A systematic review of the impact of the use of social networking sites on body image and disordered eating outcomes. Body Image, 2016;17:100-110.
• Cohen R, Fardouly J, Newton-John T, Slater A. #BoPo on Instagram: an experimental investigation of the effects of viewing body positive content on young women’s mood and body image. New Media & Society, 2019;21(7):1546-1564.