With the natural human desire to fit in, someone could very likely continue to attempt to get this type of body in order to hop onto the bandwagon and gain some praise on these apps. It is a harsh reality when a young person looks at their screen and realizes they don’t have the “right” type of shape to participate in the trend. Constantly seeing videos of people participating in this trend is likely to encourage those watching to join in, too, and spark a desire to emulate a certain body type they might not naturally have. While this empowers those who are “lucky” enough to have this body type, it inherently puts down those who don’t. This includes videos of young girls wearing baggy shirts, pulling it tight on their body to reveal their figure, or people using tracing tools to draw their body figure on the screen in white ink. Within a few months, videos of people attempting to emulate, or show off this body type suddenly appeared all over social media. For example, the presence of socialites like Kim Kardashian popularized the “hourglass” body type – a body in which someone’s waist is small enough to make one’s torso appear like an hourglass. Over the last few years on social media, I have observed the way in which certain body shapes seem to go in and out of style. I don’t think anybody has a problem with these people being confident or showing off their bodies on the internet the problem comes in when the same exact type of feature is constantly being praised. With just a few scrolls on TikTok, you are almost guaranteed to see someone showing off their side profile, or using some sort of beauty-enhancing filter. To start off, there’s no denying that one’s physical appearance has started to be a dictating factor of whether or not they are able to gain widespread praise on the internet. ![]() ![]() But I believe there is a bigger effect behind the patterns – behind the likes and the shares – and the way we as a society respond to what is seen as “popular” at any particular point in time. These algorithms have the power to spread ideas, creators, or topics all over the internet, popularizing certain ideas and establishing trends. While I know I personally have used these features to find new content creators or engage with content I typically gravitate towards, I have also seen the way these engines boost certain things over and over, and not always for the best interest of the users. This type of content that is customized to a user’s interests finds an outlet on things like the “For You Page” on TikTok or the explore page on Instagram, both of which fuel a video or photo’s chances of reaching a widespread audience. This creates somewhat of a domino effect: the more people interact with a video or photo, the more people are going to see it as a result of that. With the use of “cookies,” these social media apps’ algorithms are able to place certain videos in front of target audiences that are sure to interact with the video, and boost the video on that platform. Unlike news websites, or cable TV, social media gives people the opportunity to create their own content, as well as somewhat customize the content they see. An arguably large part of why social media has gained such a widespread following is how interactive it is. Nearly 60% of the world’s population uses social media – there’s no doubt that social media plays a massive role in our global society today. The endless cycle of social media trends is extremely damaging to users’ self-image.
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