Teen social anxiety is linked to appearance concerns on social media

What is it about?

Teens who are more preoccupied with how they look in photos posted to social media tend to feel more self-conscious/anxious during social interactions with peers, both in-person and online. We found that revisiting or looking at posted photos or editing pictures of themselves was linked to spikes in social anxiety in the moment for youth. We also learned that teens' social anxiety and concerns with appearing physically attractive on social media may fuel each other over time.

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Photo by SumUp on Unsplash

Photo by SumUp on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Much attention (including a recent lawsuit against Meta resulting in a ~$17.1 billion settlement) has been dedicated to how social media may harm youth mental health. However, there is still much to understand about how and why social media may have this negative influence. Our study used an advanced method that asked teens throughout the day, on their phones, about their social media use and emotions in real time, providing a snapchat of their experiences as they are actually happening. Our findings highlight that teens' social media symptoms are tied to how concerned they were with appearing physically attractive online. This provides us with new and specific insight into which social media experiences to target so we can help young people use these platforms in a healthier way, such as limiting features that are known to increase appearance focus.

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