Negative Influence of Social Media

Today, Mass Media is notoriously known to project a negative influence on teens and society. It manipulates several aspects of our lives including, but not limited to, the choices we make about our overall physical appearance, how we perceive beauty, healthy decisions we make regarding drug and alcohol use, engaging in premarital sex, and our peer and social interactions. We emulate what the media portrays as acceptable and desirable, though it goes against the norms and values put forth from society. As we mature, our goals and values seem to change as we break from the traditional values and connect with those portrayed as cool and current, through the media and pop culture. During adolescence, one often struggles with choosing between what is right from wrong and the media often accentuates the lives of celebrities. Young children are known to emulate their role models, unconscious of the consequences that may result in their actions. The media has been proven to be detrimental to the health and lifestyle of the youth. The media has a strong impact on the appearance satisfaction of today’s youth. Young women are constantly comparing their bodies to the ones seen advertised on television commercials. Around 10 million females and 1 million males in the United States are suffering from eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia, etc. After seeing these beautiful and flawless models on billboards and advertisements, many women are disturbed with their personal body images. This is known to be a main contributor to eating disorders around the world. Thus, the media has the effect to change one's mental set up. “Beauty and Body Image in the Media” is an article that explains the negative affect the media has on young women and how they view themselves. Images of female bodies are seen in films, TV, magazines, ads, etc. These models are engraving the perfect body image into the minds’ of the youth. Women’s magazines are full of ads influencing women that if