Presenter: Iu Yu Ling Ace

The Effect of Social Media on Body Image Concerns Among Teenage Girls

Type of Presentation: Oral presentation

Abstract

This oral presentation proposed project explores how teenage girls experience comparison-based content on Instagram and how these experiences may contribute to longer-term body image concerns. My interest comes from wanting to understand how repeated exposure to body-focused social media content may shape girls’ feelings about their bodies. Researchers such as Pedalino and Camerini (2022) and Taylor and Armes (2024) identify social comparison as an important mechanism affecting body dissatisfaction and self-esteem. However, existing studies often use broad or mixed samples, so less attention has been given to teenage girls’ own experiences of Instagram comparison pressure. This project asks: how do teenage girls experience Instagram’s comparison-based pressures, and how may short-term experiences develop into longer-term body image concerns? Using ISNS International School as the research site, I would conduct semi-structured interviews and a small group discussion with teenage girls aged 13–19. My hypothesis is that repeated exposure to body-comparison content on Instagram contributes to body dissatisfaction among teenage girls, while longer-term body image concerns may also be shaped by factors beyond social media, such as social norms and gendered appearance pressure. The project would be limited by its focus on one international-school site and by the difficulty of recruiting younger participants, so it may not represent all teenage girls. The group discussion may also be influenced by louder or more persuasive participants; therefore, the findings may not represent all teenage girls.

Biography

Yuling Ace is a first-year international student with a broad interest in the humanities, including culture, society, and human experience. Outside academic studies, she enjoys exploring different foods and learning about regional cultures through cuisines from around the world. She believes food is a meaningful way to understand people, places, and everyday life across different communities.