POST #2

Producing these artefacts and conducting my own small scale research has most definitely altered my understanding of social media. I am a frequent user of social media myself, thus I figured that I’d be well equipped within this realm, however, I had discovered that there is still so much left to examine.

I purposefully concluded my study by questioning participants whether they themselves believe that these images contribute to a larger societal issue, such as perpetuating unrealistic beauty standards, 97% agreed. This further demonstrates how social media can be a very powerful tool in shifting societal norms.

Implications include:

Urging social media ‘stars’/ content creators to be more truthful with lifestyle choices/ appearances. Social media began as a platform to share aspects of your life with others, thus it appears to be a quintessential medium of which to present an unfaithful portrayal yet still have it remain believable. It evokes a sense of realism yet in actuality individuals tend to exhibit a very skewed portrayal. Advertising groups have recognised this sense of trust and closeness established by the content creator and their followers, thus have quickly adapted in accordance and have cleverly harnessed the existing relationship in order to bolster sales. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Guidelines, influencers must disclose any time they are endorsing a product because of a paid partnership or personal affiliation with the brand. However, this declaration can be somewhat unclear and this can be difficult for social media platforms to closely monitor. Due to this, vulnerable users will continue to believe that they require a product in order to be considered desirable/ acceptable. Henceforth, more diverse and realistic representations of beauty must be placed forefront on social media.

Ultimately, more education on social media should also be conducted in order to help users better understand its potential negative implications. Social media is a growing force, it allows content to be easily accessible and directly visible on a large array of modes. The internet also acts as a democratising tool, whereby the normalisation of this medium has permitted anonymous individuals to exchange user-generated content, providing a shared space that encourages a greater quantity of users to partake in affective engagements. Research only further indicates a long-term trend toward our dependence upon this medium and claims of it further becoming a social norm, thus users must better understand that how it operates in actuality can be very different to how it may appear.