The Truth Behind What Your Daughter Sees on Social Media
By: Melody Lau from Apricotton
When you’re scrolling through social media platforms, do you ever catch yourself feeling jealous from your friend’s vacation photos or wishing you looked more like your favourite celebrity?
Take a second to think about how your daughter must feel, with most tweens and teens spending up to nine hours a day on social media.
Though you may not know what she’s reading, it’s clear many unrealistic images in the media surround her. She may be subconsciously comparing herself to others without realizing what she sees on social media beyond reality, whether it’s a selfie of her friend or a celebrity.
It’s hard to think that even celebrities and influencers would edit their photos, but you can easily find lists of common photoshop mistakes online. If you ever catch other Photoshop mistakes from celebrities you or your daughter like, please show her. Not only will you both laugh together, but you can also teach her how the media she consumes are complex constructions. A celebrity may have taken the photo over 500 times with 50 different angles and a professional makeup artist at their disposal.
Social media influencers and celebrities work to sell a perfect life, but your daughter needs to understand how it doesn’t exist. Some days may be great, but other days may be a struggle to get through for everyone. A personal example to leave you with is if you’ve ever experienced taking a family photo where everyone was bickering a few seconds before. Still, you all put on a smile for the camera and then went back to a straight face or frown right after.
Moving aside from celebrities and influencers, I used to possess more negative thoughts and compare myself to my friends’ Instagram posts. I used to continually check and compare our engagement rates from the number of likes to the number of comments they received. Even if it were a close friend, I would wonder why our mutual friend had commented on her post and not mine.
Over time, I realized I wasn’t even enjoying using social media anymore since the platforms were becoming unhealthy to my well-being and a waste of time to worry about something that was simply a product of social construction.
Your daughter can hopefully see beyond the constructed images and move away from crafting an idealized version of themselves with your guidance. For tweens, teens and adults, social media is a great tool to keep in touch with family and friends while acting as a platform to showcase who you are. However, it’s important to remind your daughter that she sees the highlight reel of people’s lives.
Social media may not be real, but we are.
This blog was co-written by Apricotton, an online tween and teen bra brand that designs bras with features specifically for growing girls. They’ve started a movement to guide girls and improve their confidence during puberty by offering older sister advice that empowers girls to achieve and feel their best during this sensitive life stage. If you have any comments or questions or want to learn more about Apricotton, contact them through their website’s contact form or Instagram!
