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As defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary, social media consists of forms of electronic communication through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (Merriam-Webster, 2024). A significant rise in the use of social media was seen in the early 2000s after the launch of Facebook. The founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, created the app to rank girls' physical attractiveness on his university's campus. Despite Facebook being rebranded, the foundations on which it was made remain present in every social media app with a female present. Access to technology has become more accessible for all people worldwide. Parents are inclined to provide their young children with technology for their safety. However, providing children with technology aids their access to social media. One app that contributes substantially to the low self-esteem of preteen girls is TikTok. After Tiktok's relaunch in 2016, young girls nationwide rushed to download the app as it quickly gained popularity. Contrary to its mission statement to inspire creativity and bring joy, TikTok has influenced conformity and low confidence among preteen girls.

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The Negative Impact of Social Media on Preteen Girls 

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The Negative Impact of Social Media on Preteen Girls 

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Being born a woman means automatically being given a list of expectations you must live up to. From being empathetic to physical attractiveness, women feel constant pressure to conform to gender roles. Over the past decade, the age demographic affected by these unrealistic standards has declined. This shift in the age demographic affected is mainly due to social media, specifically TikTok. Social media has endless adverse effects on preteen girls, including depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, eating disorders, and online harassment.

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Sociology studies how individuals behave in groups and how their behavior is shaped by the groups they interact with. The issue of the effects of social media on preteen girls relates to the concepts covered in Chapter 12 of the Introduction to Sociology Textbook. According to the textbook, gender roles are socially defined roles in which society expects men and women to look and how they must behave (Conerly, Holmes, Tamang, 2024). Gender roles are based on standards and norms created by society. Expected gender roles for women include dressing feminine, being polite, and nurturing. People integrate expected gender roles as they learn the process of socialization, which teaches them how to behave according to social norms properly. Children typically begin understanding their expected gender roles at around 2 to 3 years old. They exhibit expected behaviors by choosing certain toys, colors, and clothes that are associated with their sex. The issue of the effects of social media on preteen girls relates to this course because girls are assigned gender roles and socialized to conform to their expected gender roles.

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In a peer-reviewed journal article, "Social Comparisons on Social Media," published by Cambridge University Press, authors M. Scully, L. Swords, and E. Nixon shed light on social media's contribution to lower levels of body satisfaction in adolescent girls. Researchers conducted a case study researching young girls' perceptions of beauty standards. The 210 participants ranged in age from 13 to 18 and had diverse social media experience. Researchers hypothesized that social comparisons and internalizing the ideal thin female body would mediate the association between online appearance-related activity and the participant's body dissatisfaction. The Comparison scale was used in the study to measure the extent to which girls compare themselves to their peers and celebrities. Participants used a four-point scale (0 = rarely to 4 = frequently) to rate how often they compare their body features to others. The categories included female family members, close friends, distal peers, and celebrities. The participants' results showed they are 10% more likely to compare themselves to celebrities than female family members, close friends, and distal peers. The authors concluded that social comparisons to peers rather than celebrities result in different outcomes for body image concerns because peer appearances are evaluated as more attainable due to similar lifestyles, while celebrities' lifestyles are often glorified and inspire girls to strive for their lifestyle (Scully, Swords, and Nixon, 2024). Young girls begin to praise the unrealistic appearances of celebrities, blind to the fact that celebrities have undergone surgical procedures to obtain the "perfect body." Celebrities' non-transparency leads developing girls to set unrealistic body standards for themselves, and when they do not meet these standards, their self-esteem takes a toll for the worse. As mentioned in Social Comparisons on Social Media, body comparison to those of unrealistic celebrity bodies leads to disordered eating and low self-esteem in preteen girls.

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Body dysmorphia is a mental illness involving obsessive focus on a perceived flaw in appearance. According to The Mirror Lies, an article published by the American Family Physician, Italian physicist Enrique Morselli first defined body dysmorphic disorder in 1891 as the fear of having a physical deformity (Hunt, Thienhaus, and Ellywood, 2024). Body dysmorphia was later classified as a distinct somatoform disorder in 1987 by the American Psychiatric Association. Body dysmorphic disorder usually begins in ages 12-13, and there are no FDA-approved medications to treat it. It is human nature to compare ourselves to our peers; therefore, body dysmorphia has been prevalent since the creation of humankind. However, there has been a ramification of body dysmorphia in our youth population. According to Body Dysmorphic Disorder published by Lumen, in 2010, 2.4% of the general female population of the United States had body dysmorphic disorder (Barlow, Durand, 2010). Women stated their self-esteem declined after flipping through a supermodel magazine. Social media is far more effective in outreach than magazines, and it is much more accessible. According to the Journal of American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, in 2024, body dysmorphia affects two in every 100 teens. It is six times more common in girls than boys, affecting 1.8% of girls compared to 0.3% of boys. Social media aids the spread of false body standards much faster than magazines ever did. According to a 2019 report by Common Sense Media, girl preteens (8-12 years old) spend an average of four and 44 minutes daily (Rideout and Robb, 2019). Women tend to post photos of themselves in which they appear perfect; this creates the notion that vulnerability and flaws have no space on social media. Young girls then compare their bodies to those of grown women they see on social media without considering that they may have altered their bodies through surgical producers or that they are fully developed women. Women described feeling insecure after flipping through a supermodel magazine, but the solution is simple: set the magazine down. Technology is more challenging to get rid of. Of course, one could delete social media apps to avoid the insecurities they cause. However, body dysmorphia can still affect young girls through viewing advertisements, personal photos, or photos of peers.

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As a sociologist, Emile Durkheim believed that society should be analyzed and described in terms of functions. Durkheim focused heavily on sociological study of objective social facts and is most widely remembered for his social theory of structural functionalism. Structural functionalism views society as a multigroup system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability. The five social institutions include politics, economy, religion, family, and education. Roles are the rights and obligations that society members must fulfill as they perform in society. The glue of this framework is called social cohesion. The purpose of social structures are to maintain stability, harmony, and promote evolution. According to Chapter 8 of the Introduction to Sociology textbook, structural functionalists believe that media serves the purpose of socializing people allowing them to share norms, values, and beliefs (Conerly, Holmes, Tamang, 2024). Despite this perspective being accurate, many of the beliefs shared are hurtful towards people’s self esteem. Durkheim would argue that social media’s negative impact on preteen girls serves a purpose to maintain balance in society. Despite media not being a major social institution, it affects many institutions included in the structural functionalism theory, specifically family and education. Social media often portrays women in the family to be nurturing and graceful, especially mothers. This notion leads girls to believe that they must fulfill their future role of becoming a wife and mother. Many mothers enjoy posting raw footage of them raising their children, cooking for their families, and cleaning their homes. Regardless of their vulnerability, other women will criticize anything that is different from what they do. Seeing this constant criticism leads girls to believe they must be perfect mothers and wives in their future. Durkheim would claim that the promotion of ideal mothers contributes social stability and evolution by preparing preteen girls for their future role in their family. As women, girls are expected to become nurses, teachers, and cosmetologists. Social media only contributes to education expectations for women. Social media promotes the post of women who work in care-giving careers. This creates the idea that girls must be interested in careers that promote the well-being of others. On social media girls are exposed to careers in which they will work as providers, not leaders. Durkheim would argue that the promotion of ideal careers for women contributes to social balance in society by ensuring that care-giving careers will remain fulfilled.

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The effects of social media on preteen girls impact their teen and adolescent years and mental health. Unrealistic body standards cause girls to feel insecure about their body during their teenage years. According to a fact page posted on the National Organization for Women website by an anonymous author, 53% of girls are unhappy with their bodies by the age of 13 and 78% of teenage girls are unhappy with their body image by the age of 17. The insecurities girls feel only worsen as they are exposed to additional social expectations in high school and beyond. Not only do the negative effects of social media impact girls' futures, but they can also terminate it. According to Lumen, suicide attempts in women with body dysphoria is 5.2 times higher than within the general U.S. adolescent population (Barlow, Durand, 2010). It is clear that the negative effects of social media on young girls lingers throughout their adolescence. The impact of social media on preteen girls is an important matter that must be acknowledged because it creates an everlasting consequence on women’s lives. As a society we must promote realistic and inclusive media. Social media users, especially celebrities, can do this by not hiding their flaws or insecurities. As young girls are exposed to the imperfections of others, they will realize that no one is perfect therefore they should not be insecure about their bodies or self's. This issue matters because I have a preteen sister who I want to see succeed, but understand how insecurities can diminish her self esteem and discourage her from reaching her full potential. As a society we must promote realistic media to reveal that bodies and personalities are unique and girls should not feel inclined to conform to unrealistic expectations.

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