People, particularly girls, need to improve their media literacy skills on social media sites to improve their body image and self-esteem, according to one activist.
Throughout this week, Newstalk is teaming up with The Shona Project to bring issues facing young girls in Ireland to light.
The Better Life Project Founder Sarah Doyle told Lunchtime Live a major issue facing young women is the expectations put on them by social media sites.
“There's no doubt there’s a positive impact for women on social media,” she said. “It gives us a voice, it empowers us, it supports us to connect with each other.
“But we can't hide the darker side of social media which is that it does have a negative impact on how young girls and women of all ages view their bodies and themselves as a result of social media.”
Ms Doyle said she would never tell young people to delete their Instagram or Tiktok accounts, but they should be aware of the negative impacts these apps can have.
“What we can do to empower ourselves is media literacy,” she said.
“It’s one of the single most powerful ways to combat body image issues.”
Young woman taking selfie using ring-light. Image: AlessandroBiascioli / Alamy Stock Photo“If we’re looking at the telly or a movie, we have a pretty good idea that the women with banging bodies on the TV have to look that way for their job or are supported to look that way because of makeup hair good lighting etc.
“Not a lot of people have that same level of media literacy when looking at TikTok or Instagram.
“We expect to see everyday candid photos on our social media feeds, but the truth is they're not candid, they're not everyday.”
Young women on TikTok, for example, should be aware of the “production” behind many social media posts.
“A very large majority of the photos being posted for example are curated to look a very specific way,” Ms Doyle said.
“We don't have the awareness or tools to look at an image and know there’s a production behind that image, that the goal behind the image is to sell something.
“It’s the case with a lot of accounts – it's their job.”
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