Cognitive Implications of Engaging With “Fitspiration” Content on Social Media

The popularity of social media has grown considerably over the past few years and has taken a foothold in society. This study examined the connection between extensive social media use and the way people view their bodies in relation to what is seen in the images and messages portrayed on social media. Emphasis is placed on social media and whether it has a negative impact on body image and if it leads to body dissatisfaction. A mixed method approach was taken to collect data on females residing in Tobago and how they perceive body image. Survey participation was both voluntary and anonymous. Participants were females above the age of 15. Additionally, focus groups were conducted among Tobago women ranging between ages 16- 56 to further supplement the statistical data collected. The study and the data collected examined how social media influenced the way that women view themselves. The data collected and the research took into consideration how the participants were affected by their exposure to the various social media platforms and their messages. While the information gathered shows there is a correlation between social media and negative body image, there is no evidence to prove that social media has a direct impact on one’s body image.

In our paper we tried to classify food images using convolutional neural network. Convolutional neural network extracts spatial features from images so it is very efficient to use convolutional neural network for image clasification problem. Recently people are sharing food images in social media and writing review on food. So there is a lot of food image in the social media but some image may not be labeled. It will be very helpful for restaurants if they can advertise their food to those people who is looking similar kind of foods they offer. Food classification system can help social media platform to identify food. Food classification system can enable an opportunity for social media platform to offer advertisement service for restaurants and beverage companies to their targeted users. It will be financially beneficial for both social media platform and beverage companies. Food classification is very difficult task because there is high variance in same category of food images. We developed a convolutional neural network model to classify food images in food-11 dataset. We also used a pre-trained Inception V3 convolutional neural network model to classify food images.

In an article in this issue of Sex Roles, I proposed a transactional model of social media effects on body image concerns that emphasizes the role played by individual vulnerability characteristics, gratifications sought from social media, and a host of mediating psychological processes. Commentators offered thoughtful responses to the model, pointing to strengths, but also targeting a number of areas for additional emphasis and ameliorative attention. This article, with a focus on the U.S. context, reviews each of the papers. It summarizes their main suggestions, and pulls together the host of forward-looking ideas, including the role played by cultural forces, the interplay between social and conventional mass media, and an emphasis on the salutary effects of social media on body image processes.

INTRODUCTION Social media platforms are commonly used worldwide, affecting every-day living of billions of people. It may impacts both self-esteem and self-evaluation of its users. Formed by social influence, the ideal beauty standards lead to an unhealthy comparison, need of external validation and pursuit of ideal appearance. Induced body image dissatisfaction could be the cause of many different eating disorders or rigorous exercises. Promoted by media, ideal body-image creates unhealthy focus on BMI, weight and shape of one’s own body. PURPOSE The aim of this study is to present the current state of knowledge on the impact of social media on evolving dissatisfaction with body image, followed by eating disorders. METHODS For the purposes of writing this article, the available literature was reviewed. The database of medical publications – PubMed database and publicly available books was searched, using keywords such as social media and body image disorders, eating disorders. RESULTS According to reviewed studies, spending more time on following social media intensifies body image disorders among both young women and men, as a result of negative upward comparison of their external appearance. A problematic social media use, passive and focused on image-related platforms, heightens a risk of developing a self-dissatisfaction and body concerns. Disordered eating behaviors are significantly connected to a frequent use of an image-related social media platforms. CONCLUSIONS Maintaining a healthy relationships with peers and parents protects self-esteem of adolescents and lowers the risk of body-image and eating disorders. A greater focus should be put on educating young people about their value, self-assessment and healthy relations.

Navigating Social Media in #Ophthalmology

Objective: Body image influences well-being and encompasses cognitive, emotional, and idealistic aspects. Adolescents often experience body image dissatisfaction (BID) because of societal pressures caused by excessive social media (SM) use. Studies in France and Saudi Arabia link SM to BID, but the protective role of parent-adolescent relationships in Saudi Arabia remains unclear. This study evaluated whether positive relationships counteract the effects of SM on BID among Saudi adolescents. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Saudi Arabia on 377 adolescents from April 2023 to October 2024. Data were collected via an online questionnaire sent to the guardians for consent and forwarded to the adolescents. The questionnaire covered demographics, BID, SM usage frequency, and parent-adolescent relationship quality. Results: The study participants were predominantly female (79.6%), with a mean age of 16.7years. In our sample, 23.4% of the participants had psychiatric disorders, mainly anxiety (36.4%) and depression (25.2%). TikTok (60.7%) and Instagram (48.8%) were the most commonly used SM platforms. Body mass index (BMI) and pre-existing psychiatric disorders significantly influenced BID (p < 0.05). SM use was significantly associated with BID; however, a positive mother-adolescent relationship moderated this effect. The father-adolescent relationship had no such effect. Conclusion: This study highlights the impact of SM on BID, with positive maternal bonds mitigating its negative effects. Strengthening familial bonds has emerged as an important intervention for minimizing the extent to which SM causes BID among adolescents.

<sec> <title>BACKGROUND</title> Highly visual social media (HVSM) platforms such as Facebook (Meta Platforms, Inc), Instagram (Meta Platforms, Inc), TikTok (ByteDance Ltd), and Snapchat (Snap Inc) have become central to the digital lives of adolescents and young adults. While these platforms have been linked to body dissatisfaction, they are also increasingly used as vehicles for health promotion. However, the evidence on interventions delivered through HVSM to address body image issues remains fragmented. </sec> <sec> <title>OBJECTIVE</title> This review aimed to synthesize available evidence on interventions using HVSM platforms to reduce negative body image in adolescents and young adults. </sec> <sec> <title>METHODS</title> We conducted a systematic search across 5 electronic databases (Scopus, MEDLINE, APA Psynet, Embase, and Web of Science) for studies published between January 2012 and October 2025. Eligible studies included experimental or quasi-experimental designs evaluating the effect of an HVSM-based intervention on body image outcomes in individuals aged 13 to 35 years. Risk of bias was assessed using the Risk of Bias Tool 2.0 (Cochrane) and was conducted independently by 2 researchers. </sec> <sec> <title>RESULTS</title> Eight studies met the inclusion criteria with 4975 participants (2612 in intervention groups and 2363 in control groups). Most studies were conducted in high-income countries and had predominantly female participants. The interventions varied widely in format, duration, and theoretical basis. Microinterventions, brief interactive strategies such as gamified chatbots or short videos, were the most common and had moderate effects. Stimulus-based interventions using content with a positive body image or that did not focus on appearance were also identified, achieving moderate effects (η&lt;sub&gt;p&lt;/sub&gt;²&amp;lt;.07), as well as combined approaches that integrated digital and face-to-face components to reduce negative body image (&lt;i&gt;P&lt;/i&gt;&amp;lt;.001). The use and functionality of interventions using social media platforms were also compared by gender. </sec> <sec> <title>CONCLUSIONS</title> Body image management platforms offer an emerging avenue for implementing body image interventions in adolescents and young adults. While current evidence suggests modest benefits, the high heterogeneity among presentation formats and the variability in duration make comparisons between these studies difficult. This review synthesizes social media–delivered interventions for body image disturbance, going beyond broader digital approaches centered on websites or apps. It identifies cross-platform, putative mechanisms of action and common intervention formats, highlighting the potential of brief interventions for scalable reach and user empowerment via content curation. These findings define targets for optimization and underscore the need for platform safeguards and supportive policy and regulatory frameworks to enable safe real-world implementation, particularly for adolescents. </sec>

Driven by the need to enhance user traffic on social media (SM) platforms for increasing their advertising revenues, SM platforms are experimenting with new content creation features. However, it is unclear if such initiatives are also beneficial for SM profile owners such as influencers, who are the prime content creators on the SM platforms who use SM posts to build their influence within their network of followers. Our study investigates the effect of introducing one such new SM feature: the “story” on the creation and consumption of SM posts. Leveraging social penetration theory, we hypothesize the influence of introducing story feature on (1) the frequency of SM post creation by profile owners and (2) the extent of follower engagement with SM posts. Employing a quasi-experimental design, we find that the introduction of the story feature reduces the frequency of SM post creation, but the enhanced self-disclosure through the story feature increases follower engagement with the SM posts. However, these effects are moderated by the situating culture of the SM communities: while low-power-distance cultures value profile owners’ self-disclosure, high-power-distance cultures exhibit a mixed influence. Advancing literature on social penetration theory and SM user engagement, our study demonstrates that new self-disclosive SM content creation features do not necessarily benefit all the concerned stakeholders and that the effectiveness of such features might vary from one community to another. Hence, the intended impact of introducing new SM features needs to be carefully evaluated by SM platforms in a holistic manner.

<p indent="0mm">Volunteer geographic data, especially from social media, has emerged as a crucial resource for disaster mitigation. Particularly the included imagery can enhance situational awareness during emergencies. However, current applications of this data for disaster relief are primarily limited by a scarcity of annotated images for training, which hinders the efficacy of techniques like machine learning and deep learning, consequently restricting the data′s capacity to convey disaster information. Starting from the perspective of practical application, this paper focuses on earthquake disasters as the research subject. By integrating data acquisition, automatic deduplication, semantic annotation, and data augmentation methods, we developed a dataset of semantic segmentation in earthquake disaster detection based on social media images. This dataset mainly consists of original images collected from social media and pseudo-color images with manual semantic annotations. To ensure data quality, multiple annotators work in rotation and cross-check each other′s work. This dataset plays a significant role in improving the efficiency of social media data usage and enhancing awareness of disaster reduction efforts.

Social media has become embedded in students' daily routines, raising continued questions about how online engagement relates to psychological self-evaluations. This study examined social media use, self-esteem, and body image among Psychology students tution in Bulacan, Philippines. Using a quantitative, descriptive-correlational design, data were collected from 192 students selected through stratified random sampling. A structured questionnaire measured social media use (habitual ne, social gratification/validation, emotional and psychological dependence), self-esteem (performance, social, and appearance self-esteem), and body image (body appreciation, physical appearance, and body shape/social physique). Internal comistency reliability indices were acceptable to excellent (Cronbach's a = 0.854 - 0.94 ) Descriptive results indicated moderate social media use (composite M = 3.37 SD 0.44) and moderate self-esteem (composite M = 3.35 SD = 0.67 , alongside generally high body image (composite M 3.70, SD=0.63), particularly in body appreciationPearson correlation analysis showed no significa showed no significant association between social media use and self-esteem Cr = 0.094 p = 0.193 ) and no significant association between social media use and body image (r=0.0.38, p = 0.602 ) In contrast-demonstrated a moderate, statistically significant positive relationship with body image (r = 0.451, p &lt; 0.001) , Findings suggest that, in this cohort, body image is more closely aligned with intemal self-evaluative overall social media use as broadly measured. Implications include strengthening student self-esteem and reflective digital practices through guidance-based programming, with future research encouraged to examine content-specific exposure and social comparison processes. Based on the findings, a guidance-based program (REAL: Recognize, Evaluate, Accept, and Live) is proposed for future implementation and evaluation to support self-esteem, body appreciation, and reflective digital engagement.

This chapter examines the phenomenon of internet users attempting to report and prevent online child sexual exploitation (CSE) and child sexual abuse material (CSAM) in the absence of adequate intervention by internet service providers, social media platforms, and government. The chapter discusses the history of online CSE, focusing on regulatory stances over time in which online risks to children have been cast as natural and inevitable by the hegemony of a “cyberlibertarian” ideology. We illustrate the success of this ideology, as well as its profound contradictions and ethical failures, by presenting key examples in which internet users have taken decisive action to prevent online CSE and promote the removal of CSAM. Rejecting simplistic characterizations of “vigilante justice,” we argue instead that the fact that often young internet users report feeling forced to act against online CSE and CSAM undercuts libertarian claims that internet regulation is impossible, unworkable, and unwanted. Recent shifts toward a more progressive ethos of online harm minimization are promising; however, this ethos risks offering a new legitimizing ideology for online business models that will continue to put children at risk of abuse and exploitation. In conclusion, we suggest ways forward toward an internet built in the interests of children, rather than profit.

Through the lens of Social Comparison Theory, this thesis' research investigates the influences that the social media platform TikTok has on the body image perception and mental health of adolescent girls, aged 15-17 years. Given the rapid growth in usage of social media platforms, such as TikTok, understanding their impact on self-perception is crucial for addressing and evaluating mental health challenges among young individuals. These girls are part of the next generation, and we need to protect them from the harsh, unrealistic, and demoralizing standards often displayed on social media. Through in-depth interviews, participants shared how TikTok content, particularly videos focused on weight loss, dieting, and idealized beauty standards shape young girls' body image. Findings reveal that engagement with TikTok often leads to negative emotions such as insecurity, anxiety, and self-doubt, mainly due to the pressure to conform to unrealistic standards set by influencers. The study also highlights the role of social validation in relation to likes and comments. The study uncovers how compulsive scrolling, and the Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) exacerbate feelings of inadequacy, leading to unhealthy cycles of comparison and emotional distress. This research underscores the complex relationship between social media, body image, and mental health. Ultimately, the findings suggest that while TikTok can offer supportive spaces, its dominant content reinforces harmful comparison dynamics, which can negatively affect self-esteem and well-being in young girls.

The paper sets out to evaluate the effects that social media marketing (SMM) can have on the success and eventual sustainability of the small businesses sampled. Other specific objectives were to assess the level at which businesses adopt the usage of social media and identify the most prominent of all available social media platforms that the companies utilise. The quantitative survey method was employed to collect data from 200 employees of small-sized businesses in Oshogbo, Osun State, Nigeria. The collected data was analysed using both descriptive (percentages, mean, standard deviation etc.) and inferential (ANOVA and regression analysis) statistics with the assistance of SPSS v22. With regards to the take up of social media for marketing purposes, almost all the questionnaire items indicated a high level of SMM adoption for the businesses, to the extent that it was actively used, resources were allocated, contents were frequently posted, metrics were tracked, and they reportedly had dedicated teams to engage with the social media platforms. In terms of the types of Social Media (SM) platforms, the businesses have prominence for marketing; Instagram recorded the highest, and in descending order, followed by YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, WhatsApp, and LinkedIn. The results on the effects of SMM on the sustainability of the businesses indicated a strong correlation between the two variables. Firstly, the model was well fitted to the data, significant at F, 28.075; p ≤ .01; and Adjusted R2 = .611, implying that the predictor variable explained 61.1% of the variance in the dependent variable, even after the model was adjusted for errors. When some of the items representing the Independent Variables were disaggregated, the following constructs were very important in explaining the businesses' success with SMM adoption in descending order of importance: allocation of resources, tracking of social media metrics, having a team dedicated to monitoring the platforms, and making social media a priority for their businesses. The remaining factors were insignificant. The study concluded that Social Media Marketing (SMM) significantly impact the sustenance of small businesses if adequately managed and resourced, and for 21st-century businesses, digital marketing and online presence afford the businesses the opportunity to interact with the consumers of their products and services for future lasting engagement and potential benefits that could eventually impact the bottom line positively.

This article examines how political leaders use social media to shape their image during elections. Social media and digital platforms have changed political communication, allowing politicians to craft their image carefully. Social media has changed politics, yet misinformation and public opinion manipulation are concerns. Politicians' online avatars may misrepresent their goals and policies, overshadowing public policy discussions. This study uses a comprehensive analysis of the literature from the Scopus database to analyze how political elites shape their social media image during elections in different nations. This research examines how political leaders use social media to shape their public persona during election campaigns in several countries. The results will reveal political elites' social media image-building strategies during elections, including personalized methods, visual cues' impact on engagement, and preferred platforms for visual communication. This extensive study of the long-term consequences of visual communication tactics shows that politicians’ use of social media to convey stories has a lasting impact on public perception and engagement in politics.

While hospitals’ health promotion via social media has the potential to be a critical source of health information, research shows racial and ethnic disparities exist in health-related knowledge that may be, in part, related to media representation. The purpose of this study is to examine the racial and ethnic representation of people featured in Washington, D.C. hospitals’ social media platforms to understand how hospitals embed cultural competency into their health communication. By comparing the diversity of images on hospitals’ social media platforms with the demographics of hospitals’ neighboring communities, the researchers intend to highlight opportunities to improve targeted health messaging to underserved communities, particularly Black and Hispanic communities. By analyzing the images and videos posted on the three most popular social media platforms – Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube – for a one-month period, the researchers found that Whites and Asians were over-represented while Hispanics were severely under-represented in hospitals’ social media representation as compared to the community demographics. Increasing the diversity of minority representation on hospitals’ social media-based health promotion may contribute to addressing the social disparities in healthcare.