Do you ever wonder why your child just won’t put his smartphone aside even though you’ve asked him to do so three times? Maybe you’ve even caught yourself just checking something and ten minutes later you still have your phone in your hand.
On the one hand, this is due to ourselves: Social media offers are diverse and therefore exciting for young and old. Second, the companies behind the offerings want us to spend time with them. Only if many people make intensive use of their offerings will it be profitable for them. Accordingly, it is exciting to take a close look at the mechanisms of social media.
One strategy to make money is to run personalized ads. The longer we use an offer, the more data the app can collect about our usage habits and interests. That’s why apps and social media offerings are programmed so that we like to use them a lot.
Some people find it particularly difficult to put their smartphone aside from time to time. Some psychological tricks can even enhance this effect. This includes flashing lights and sound effects, the signal color red, the endless scrolling, the swipe function and a lot more.
To relieve negative feelings or boredom, we distract ourselves. Sweets, for example, are popular good-mood makers. Through them, hormones such as endorphins are released in the body, which make us feel positive. A Like on the latest selfie also makes you happy.
Especially for young people, the knowledge of belonging and being liked is important. They are still figuring out who they are. That’s why feedback from peers and role models is paramount. So positive feedback on a photo or a post makes you happy.
Scrolling and swiping in certain apps can also be fun or exciting. Playful elements can therefore also trigger positive feelings, which is why people keep picking up their smartphones. In addition, the latest posts on TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat & Co. are entertaining. Especially when people are not doing so well, apps and social media are a popular way to distract themselves and feel better. However, these offers do not solve the cause of the unpleasant feeling.
But negative feelings such as stress can also be associated with media use. Young people are downright afraid of missing out on something because they haven’t checked their news for a while, for example.
You can’t get enough of positive feelings. This can lead to some people having the smartphone in their hands all the time and neglecting other things. Social media offerings, in turn, are developed so that we like to use them a lot. This can lead to “too much” in interaction. But addiction involves more than excessive use. One speaks of addiction only when the behavior continues over a long period of time (about a year), the affected person has no strategies to change anything about it and neglects everything else.
So if you or your child spends a lot of time on your smartphone, know that social media and apps can support certain behaviors. Talk to your child about this and consider together rules and strategies for dealing with media and for media-free times.
Self-discovery plays a major role during puberty. That’s why likes on the latest photo on Instagram or video on TikTok equal confirmation and recognition. Influencers serve as role models. However, the perfectly staged and edited images of the Instagram make-believe world can have a negative effect on satisfaction with one’s own body. Body positivity is the name of a movement on the web that aims to make different images of bodies visible.
Body positivity does not mean always having to find yourself and others beautiful. Rather, it’s about not feeling bad about your own body because of the bodies portrayed in the media. This is because most people do not conform to the standard of beauty set by the media in particular. Body Positivity wants to show that beauty can be perceived very differently.
You rarely see fat people or people with disabilities on magazine covers. Also, people with dark skin are not the rule, as well as women who do not have smooth legs and tight skin. But not only in magazines or on news sites on the net, also in many series and movies the actors and actresses correspond to a very strict beauty ideal.
It seems to be the same on social networks like Instagram to be. The Body Positivity movement wants to show different people who are often left out of the media. Such images are tagged with the hashtags #bodypositivity #teambodylove or #formorerealityoninstagram. They are intended to draw attention to the fact that an unrealistic image of beauty prevails in the media and to create awareness of the diversity of our society.
Young people in particular are strongly influenced by the mostly edited images on Instagram. They get the feeling that their own body is not normal because it does not correspond to the image from the social networks. The pressure is increasing to upload even perfect images. Through apps and filters, many rework their images. Unfortunately, this leads to the fact that hardly any real bodies can be seen on Instagram. A vicious circle that Body Positivity wants to change. Serious psychological problems, such as eating disorders, can also result in some individuals, as they have not yet developed a stable personality.
Help your child feel comfortable in his or her body. Get your daughter or son’s role models on Instagram,YouTube and the like and talk about how these people present themselves there and how realistic the portrayals really are. Deliberately show your child influencers, movies and series that don’t fit the typical stereotypes.
Even if your child does not have model measurements, it does not mean that he is abnormal. Of course, you can motivate your child to eat healthy and exercise. It’s best to set a good example. But don’t teach him that you necessarily have to be thin to feel beautiful. Body positivity helps us to perceive the diversity of people as something beautiful.
No one is free from prejudice. Sometimes it helps to be aware: Am I or my child using words like gay or disabled in a pejorative way? Why do we do this and how does it make others feel?
A DIN A4 sheet is 21 cm wide or narrow. On Instagram, young people strive to be so thin that their waist disappears behind a sheet of paper. As proof, they post the corresponding photo. The A4 Waist Challenge is just one of the absurd weight loss contests on social networks. Such challenges not only convey a completely unrealistic ideal of beauty, but also lead young people to perceive their own bodies as too fat and, at worst, to follow risky weight loss trends.
Tall, thin, athletic: this ideal is conveyed to young people as desirable, above all through the media. Videos on healthy eating and fitness are very well received on YouTube. However, healthy here often also means being thin and thus supposedly attractive. There is a fine line between a healthy diet and an unhealthy diet. It’s not always easy for young people to tell the difference. Some YouTubers who make fitness videos also deal with fashion and beauty. So for some, it’s more about showing a certain image of beauty rather than portraying a healthy lifestyle. Under the hashtag #WhatIEatInADay, YouTubers show, for example, what they have eaten in a day and count the calories. These usually remain well below the necessary and recommended numbers by doctors.
On Instagram, young people can get active themselves and show off by taking part in challenges. Besides the #A4Waist challenge, various weight loss trends have been circulating on Instagram for years now. The #thighgap challenge is about who has the biggest gap between their thighs. The thinner, the more “beautiful” you are supposed to be.
Challenges are among the most popular content that young people follow on social networks. There are regularly new challenges, some of which attract a lot of attention and encourage many people to join in. However, the weight loss challenges on Instagram are not a funny gag, but here young people compete with others for the thinnest legs or the slimmest waist. Thus, a completely unrealistic and partly unhealthy ideal of beauty is conveyed. Teenagers can feel pressured to look the same in order to be attractive and popular. Instagram is taking a first step to protect against problematic beauty ideals: In the future, minors will no longer be shown ads for weight loss or cosmetic procedures.
Not all fitness videos or challenges pose a problem. Exercise and healthy food are a good thing. When young people are motivated to exercise regularly with the help of influencers, it’s a good thing!
It is important that you support your child in being able to distinguish which content is realistic and which is problematic. Talk to your child about it and let him or her show you what he or she likes about certain social media channels.
Even independent of media, you should talk to your child about the changes in his or her body – especially during puberty. Feeling comfortable in your own body is an important prerequisite for not being influenced by others. Attractiveness usually has little to do with a particular look. If you feel good in your own body and enjoy life, you will radiate this – and this is more attractive and interesting than a perfect body alone!
