Blog Post #2: Social Media Algorithms, "Influencers", and Mental Health by Stella Aisenshtat

In class, we viewed graphs that showed the rise of social media usage among teenagers, as well as the impact these practices of communication and media consumption have on their users. 
In the past decade, mental illness rates have increased significantly and studies, such as the ones we read in class and the one mentioned by The Guardian in the article "Finally, we have evidence that hell is other people on social media", show evidence that this increase is directly correlated to an increase in social media usage. 
The Guardian article proposes that this effect is due to "social comparisons" and that platforms like Facebook and Instagram, among others, allow for their users to feel excluded by and to compare themselves to their peers. This ties in with the affordances of the communication technology that give shape to such social media platforms. In other words, Facebook's, Instagram's, even Tiktok's algorithms allow users to "show off" in a sense and create a false, romanticized image of their lives and of themselves. These algorithms structure our "feeds" in such a way that impacts, and renders virtually unattainable, the utopian dimension that makes up our "shared truth" or cultural ideology. For example, a photo has surfaced online not long ago highlighting how Kim Kardashian edited out her trap muscles in a photo she posted on Instagram: 
It goes to show the extent of which the beauty standards propagated by the media, whose main purpose is to store and convey information, are ridiculous and rooted in falsehood. 
"Influencers", such as the aforementioned Kim Kardashian, are key players in the maintenance and rationalization of the hegemonic ideologies presented throughout social media platforms, whose algorithms in turn privilege the influencers' textual and visual messages above others, thus increasing their cultural power. This begs the question: are "influencers" the core reason behind the population's declining mental health? If so, what compels us to continue supporting and empowering them?

I would love to hear your thoughts on this matter in the comments below and thanks for reading :)

Stella A. 

Comments

  1. Mahaila MilneOctober 3, 2022 at 12:11 PM

    Hi Stella,
    I enjoyed reading your post and definitely agree with you that what is depicted on social media is ultimately false and very misleading, especially in terms of the photos people post. Kim Kardashian has an extremely large impact and has been a person that people deem as the ultimate beauty standard, with many people envying her and ultimately comparing themselves to her. I think that this is incredibly damaging since a lot of what she shares on social media is edited and not authentic, and because of this people are going to compare themselves and dislike their own looks and body image because of it. I think that the unauthenticity of influencers and the extremely unrealistic standards that they are promoting can be directly related to the populations declining mental health, and these people placed in positions of power need to be more aware that what they share is going to alter the perceptions that people have.

    ReplyDelete
  2. PoojaOctober 4, 2022 at 6:48 PM

    Hi Stella, Great post! The idea of engaging with influencer content academically is a significant conversation. We are able to see how Kim Kardashian and other influential figures on social media are tied to what users believe and form their opinion about shared truth. To answer the question you pose, I believe that the job of an influencer is to market themselves to audiences and compel them as their audience to agree with their truth through the projection of authenticity. Whether an influencer's authenticity is genuine or not is a more significant discussion. Still, to this point, influencers are essentially the creators of the social media world and thus are accountable for the message that is received. If they consistently brand themselves as exhibiting a particular body shape, for example, the audience, if influenced by them, will often believe what is shown. Thus, the false reality can be easily damaging. We continue to support for many reasons, such as groups we associate with, shared interests and values, or entertainment.

    Thanks,
    Pooja S.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Alexa NicolleOctober 5, 2022 at 8:58 AM

    Hey stella,
    I really enjoyed your blog post. I totally share an understanding of the title and content of the article Finally, we have evidence that hell is other people on social media because there are many people I know who distance themselves from social media because of the feeling of comparison between themselves and the people they see on social media. People on social media can paint a picture of what their life looks like but in many cases they are just putting on a show.

    ReplyDelete

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