Additional research-Pressure for girls through social media

During my research I found pressure through media for girls an interseting topic as i thought it could link to the reasons why girls don't participate in sport.

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/aug/22/girls-on-social-media-do-you-feel-pressure-to-be-perfect

Girls on social media: do you feel pressure to be perfect?

  The Guardian wanted to know what it was like being a girl growing up online. They wanted to know if girls feel pressure to look or act a certain way, so certain websites or social media platforms make them feel worse, features they feel should be removed and if they have received any nasty or negative comments towards them. They wanted to know if they felt pressure to be perfect and if they have ever turned to anyone for support. 

"As a young girl, I do feel I need to be perfect and compare myself to others all the time. My sister is stunning, so I look at her and think: I need to look like her. It’s so negative. In reality, everyone is perfect just the way they are.

Girls are on social media all the time and follow celebrities and friends. But everyone portrays their “best self” on social media and it’s not accurate. They can use Photoshop and can change their appearance, and that sets people up to fail as they think they should look like that, but it’s not a realistic image.

There is always an unspoken feeling that you need to be better than other people and that creates a negative environment.

I think Instagram is the worst because it’s not live, so you can change pictures once you have posted them and you can buy followers. This creates the idea that someone is perfect as they have loads of likes and followers, but that is not always the case."

"I got Instagram and Snapchat in the past year and notice a lot of girls worry about comparing themselves with others online. For me, there is “fear of missing out” – you see other people’s lives and what they are doing. People only put good bits of life online and, even though you know this, you still see their “perfect” lives and it makes you think yours isn’t.

You get people who are famous for being on social media. Young people idolise them, but actually these social media stars have the same problems as everyone else.

I know there is an attitude of “if this photo does not get this many likes then I will delete it”. Some people get 70 or 150 likes. I wouldn’t expect to get that many, but for some that is the norm. Some people make sure their account is not private to get more likes."

My view on the topic
I feel that being a teenage girl through this generation is very difficult, with smartphones and apps like instagram its hard to not be exposed to celebrities with perfect bikini bodies, along with fitness videos and advertisements of quick weight loss techniques, which most of the time are just a load of rubbish. I feel social media encourages girls to try and lose weight but for the wrong reasons. Social media encourages girls to go the gym and exercise but not for the enjoyment of participating in sport but just purely to loose weight to achieve a  certain body physique which is just unhealthy and unrealistic. Girls being exposed to 'perfect bikini' bodies also decreases girls self esteem as they feel they don't look as slim as these people, which can lead to anorexia and over exercising which is mentally and physically awful for a teenage girl.
However, social media  for sport isa great way to inspire young people into sports. Athletes with instagram pages can share their experiences and what they get up to through snapchat, instagram stories and posts. Younger people can gain an insight into what athletes get up to with their training and all the places they go which could inspire younger people. Sponsorships, clothing and teams can be advertised through the media which may appeal to younger people and they would like to look the part so they may feel more confident in wearing certain sports clothing,which may typically not be seen as socially acceptable normally.