Is Facebook Making You Feel Bad About Your Body?
by Anna Maltby
Short answer: if you want to lose weight, probably.
A study being presented next month at the International Communication Association Conference in Seattle notes that Facebook time could draw your attention toward negative feelings about your physique.
The researchers surveyed female college students between April 15 and May 15 of last year -- AKA prime time to check out your super-fit friends' toned and tan Spring Break photos -- and asked them about Facebook, body image and habits related to weight, dieting and exercise. They found that for the for the 86 percent of college women who want to lose weight, more time spent on Facebook related to more attention to physical appearance and more negative feelings about their body. (Women who did not want to lose weight didn't report either of those types of feelings, FYI.)
See more: 6 Moves To Resize Your Butt and Thighs
The good news: The women were also given two standard tests used to screen people to determine whether they may have an eating disorder, and the researchers found that time spent on Facebook had no relationship to disordered eating among their subjects.
Still, no one wants to feel negative or think more about their body issues than they have to. So should you ditch the FB altogether? Not necessarily, study author Petya Eckler of the University of Strathclyde told SELF.
"Facebook is an extension of daily offline communication for many young people today and is an important part of their lives," Eckler says. "And some research suggests that it may even be helpful in motivating people to become healthier and exercise more. So my message would be, 'Don't cut off Facebook, but manage it.'"
See more: Look Better Naked
How? Eckler offered these tips:
If you feel bad about your body after a Facebook session, know that you're not alone--many others feel the same way.
- "Take the photos on Facebook with a pinch of salt," she says. "Many women try to present their best self there, and what you see is not always what you get."
- If one or two annoyingly perfect bikini-wearers (or dieting-whiners!) on your feed are coming to mind right about now, there's no shame in jumping into Facebook's settings to reduce the number of posts you see from them. You're happy for them and all, but you don't need to see those abs every day.
- "Be the change you want to see in others, and don't focus so much on your weight or body in Facebook discussions," Eckler says. "Instead, talk about these issues in positive terms, such as sharing healthy recipes, fun or new exercises you're doing--focus more on being healthy than on losing weight or changing your body for its own sake. I think this is something we should all be doing more of, both online and offline."
Couldn't agree more.
More from SELF:
Drop Two Pounds in One Week!
The 24-Minute At-Home Boot Camp
20 Superfoods For Weight Loss
Secrets To Firing Up Your Metabolism
