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The effects of social media on adolescent self-image in the digital age
In July 2021 Dr Marianne Trent of Good Thinking Psychological Services was in Conversation with Suzanne Samaka of the #HonestyAboutEditing Campaign. Here's their chat.
Marianne:
So, tell me a little bit about the Honesty for Editing Campaign and why that's so important?
Suzanne: The best way to start might be just to give a little bit of context around me and my life and where this kind of came from. So just to explain, I'm the stepmother to four children. I've got a two-year-old. And I'm 30 weeks pregnant with my second (which is exactly why I can't get to the end of a sentence without a deep breath). And I work full-time in corporate banking. And sadly for the past three and a half years or so, a close family member of ours has suffered with anorexia. And it's fair to say that we might never know the root cause of that and neither will she potentially. But it's also quite evident that she's not alone in the anxiety, depression, physical and mental health challenges that come with that and the fact that they face these in the adolescent years.
I've been to a number of eating disorder clinics and I'm always surprised and shocked by how full to bursting they are firstly. And secondly, full to bursting with girls and boys alike. So this isn't the stereotypical white middle-class teenage girl anymore, and it may never have been to be honest. And I think over the past 18 months, the pandemic has meant that young people spend a lot more time at home, a lot more time online, and they're seeing more content than ever before that is edited or filtered. And it's having a disastrous effect on their self-esteem, their body image and how they feel about themselves. And it's given them a lot of unachievable goals and unachievable views of how they should be flawless, which is contributing to many mental health challenges. So whilst my family member is my firsthand experience, I've just seen and heard examples of this too often to not try and do something about it.
Marianne: So that's the why, but what's the thing? So what are we trying to do about it?
Suzanne: So nine weeks ago, I set up this campaign to label content online that's been digitally edited again to protect young people's self-esteem and body image from trying to obtain something that's not life like. So this is something that at the time when I set it up, I wasn't aware of whether it was even possible from a technology perspective. But actually since setting the campaign up, I found out it's already the law in Israel, in France and very recently in Norway. And France, for example, it's been the law since October 2017. So if, for example, anyone has a commercial post and benefiting, so that includes advertising, that includes influencers and they have an edited photograph or video, and it's not labeled then there is prosecution and a fine for non-compliance.
And the interesting part about that is their health minister cited the reason for putting this in place was self-depreciation and poor self-esteem and the fact that that can impact health-related behaviour. So the reason they've put this in place is to protect people of all ages to be fair from challenges in their mental health and body image. For me, the focus is young people, and I think that's because I built my confidence and my resilience in my younger years, I certainly didn't build it in my 30s. And I think also if these challenges come about then they can leave lifelong scars, it’s not something that goes away overnight. So I think it's all of our responsibility to protect our young people.
Marianne: I think we're seeing some of that playing out on Love Island as well, I don't know if you watch it? But I am a bit of a fan. In one episode, they talk about the ‘fake debate.’ So, one of the guys certainly didn't really like the ‘fake’ look, but he'd said it a few times and some of the girls got very offended because they've had plastic surgery. But the way it boiled down was that the girls were very upset because they were saying, “Well, I've felt awful about myself for so long and actually I did something about it, and this is me empowering myself.” But had the Honesty About Editing Campaign been around before then actually the images they would have been subjected to would have been more realistic possibly?
Suzanne: Yeah, potentially. And I think one of the key things to point out is I have absolutely nothing against social media, I think it's hugely powerful in the right way. That's been seen with a lot of the racism issue, I think that's come to light through social media. And to be honest, I haven't got anything against editing or filters or anything like that.
Marianne: It's the honesty about it.
Suzanne: But it's the lack of transparency I think for young people who've been brought up in a world where this exists. I was brought up in a world before phones, before that kind of technology. So I do know in my heart of hearts that is not real, but even then it's still hard sometimes not to feel down about yourself when you are already in.
Marianne: It is. I shared something on my socials, it was really powerful, of a lady in her bikini and she's taken it 15 seconds apart. And in one of them, she looks incredible then another one it's different, it’s just posture, isn't it? So sometimes it's not about editing, sometimes it's about the lighting and the angle. But if editing is layered on top then that needs to be clear. Suzanne, do you know in France and Israel, whether it's led to less edited images? Are people being more open about their processing or are they just saying we've edited it?
Suzanne: I think what it's done is change the culture. For example, if you are an influencer you have to label this content and you're then found out to not be doing so, so that's going to affect your career or the money you make through your content, because the reputational damage of that is more of a movement. And I think the fact that in these countries, they have got government support behind doing these things. And I know sometimes it's difficult because we always say it was social media's fault. And to be honest, I think if I hear that one more time, I can't think, well, if I didn't do anything, I feel partly it's my fault, I feel I have a responsibility to try and do something about this.
Marianne: And you are, aren't you? You've put together a petition, do you want to tell us about that?
Suzanne:
I have. So, the petition is to get the government to label this content similar to France, similar to Norway who very recently now brought it in. There's a number of MPs that are extremely supportive. My local MP is a gentleman called Dean Russell, and he is completely behind this. There is another MP who is a gentleman called Dr. Luke Evans, and last year he put together a 10-minute bill that was debated in parliament for exactly this purpose. Now, unfortunately, the way parliament works is when the parliamentary session changes any bills that haven't been passed they get thrown out of parliament. So no matter how beneficial it is, if you like, it doesn't go any further in the conversation. So he is trying to get the time back in parliament to talk about that and get this the ball rolling again, which is exactly why we're trying to get the public weight behind this, the signatures behind this, to understand why it's important and why it needs to be done.
And I think just to add to that, the amount of people that have been in touch in the past nine weeks since I've set this up, I've heard it from many teachers who have had conversations with the students where students feel under massive pressure from this perceived social media perfection or extreme loneliness when they feel their face doesn't fit. I've also heard from many parents, understandably, who are terrified by how body conscious their children now at ages of eight and nine and throughout their teens. So we're not necessarily talking 17 here is getting younger and younger.
Marianne: Of course! Kids at that age are on socials already, they're always on YouTube.
Suzanne: Yeah. And it's becoming a culture. I've got family that are about 10-years-old and they know all about editing, being able to edit your shape and your skin.
Marianne:
And it's amazing, isn't it? When you do see some of these before and after images. I saw a before and after video the other day, I didn't know you could edit videos like that.
Suzanne:
Neither did I. And that was part of the reason to start the campaign.
Marianne:
Maybe we saw the video at the same time, but I went, ‘oh, that's bad’ and that's as much as I did. But you responded to this, you rose to the challenge and I think that's really, really admirable. I was just thinking about, I think it's Boots Magazine, they don't edit their images anymore, I think maybe even for as long as the last sort of year or so. Are there any other media outlets or magazines who have said we're not doing this anymore?
Suzanne:
Yeah, there are. I mean, Dove have recently set up the reverse selfie campaign, which is creating amazing awareness.
Marianne:
Wow, can you tell us about the reverse selfie?
Suzanne:
So, it's an advert that they've got where they've got a teenage girl of you assume about 13 or so, and at the beginning of it, she's all made up. And to be fair, she looks much older and glamorous than a 13-year-old teenager per se. And they go backwards selfie in the video, and the makeup comes off, the hairstyling comes off and by the end of it, she just a 13-year teenager without makeup on. And it's just the fact of reiterating that message that you don't need to be what you think you need to be or trying to achieve something that potentially isn't achievable. And there's a lot of content on social media that are creating amazing awareness, and that's brilliant. And I think the campaign that I've created just wants to take that one step further and to channel this awareness and actually create action on the back of that.
I think the nice thing about this is it feels when I speak to the members of parliament, we're close to change. And I feel that's because there's precedent with other countries is not a million miles away, it's not unachievable, it is possible. And I think will be a matter of time, but absolutely every signature is a step in the right direction. And anybody that can sign this, share it, talk about it, any ideas that amplify this any further, feel free to contact me. I'm always happy to talk about it. And as I mentioned to you earlier, that since starting this, it's without exception that everybody I've spoken to about it has either said I can't believe that this isn't the law already, or this needs to be in place.
Marianne:
Absolutely. I know that they changed the law a little while ago, so that if they were like filming Mascara and they filmed it with lash inserts, they have to say filmed with lash inserts, but I always think it's a bit weird. If you're using Mascara, just use your Mascara or make it better, don’t feel the need to add inserts! Just make a better mascara! But I think it's absolutely time, it's absolutely time!
Suzanne:
Yeah. And there's so many people on social media and influencers that are very positive around creating this change. But I think the challenge that they have is their target audience isn't necessarily the people I'm campaigning for and that's the challenge, I think. Because actually they are creating amazing awareness, but the content that younger people are viewing isn't necessarily this awareness that people like myself are seeing.
Marianne:
I think it's very difficult, isn't it? Because we are post-25, I speak for myself there. But we've got these frontal lobes that are fully developed at the front of our brain and so we've got better reasoning and better kind of logic and balance. And we also know what it was like to grow up without social media, which of course our young people now don't know that. And so we've got different abilities to make different choices, whereas they might just see that we're actually just being quite mean or ruining their fun or getting in the way of their striving for perfection when actually that perfection is not a reality?
Suzanne:
Yeah. And I think interesting, Marianne, there was a survey completed and there's a lot of research on the subject actually if you look for it. But one of the stats that I find most interesting is 16 to 24-year-olds were surveyed by the World Society of Public Health. And more than two thirds of the young people surveyed were in favour, I believe it was 68% in favour of labeling content that was manipulated. Now what that says to me is young people are actually asking for this.
Marianne:
Nobody likes being lied to, do they really?
Suzanne:
No, no completely, and that's the thing. I think also since starting the campaign, the number of young people who have gotten in touch with me and said thank you for signing this because this protects my mental health, or this will make me feel less under pressure. And that's broken my heart to be honest. I remember that it was probably a year or so ago, now thanks to the pandemic, but I was sitting on a train and there was a girl of about 13, 14 using her phone as a mirror as we've all done with a filter on and it broke my heart. Ultimately, you're the only person seeing that, but you want to see something different to what your mirror portrays or just your camera. And ultimately, social media doesn't create eating disorders, anxiety, depression, loneliness, any of these challenges, but it certainly exacerbates the problem, and that's the challenge that we've got in it.
Marianne:
If we are honest about it then people have got more choices, haven't they? They're more informed. And I think that's all we're asking for, for people to be informed and then they choose how to respond to that. Whereas if they're being told, you use this product or you wear these clothes or you do this shake and then you'll look like this. Well, that was never the reality, that's not even how the model looked.
Suzanne:
And I think it's just taking that pressure off. Like I say, everybody, and I think a big part of this campaign is very much looking at men and boys as well. But actually I've spent a lot of time researching into muscle dysmorphia, so the people that aren't aware of that, it's almost the opposite of anorexia. So it's having a fear of not being big or not being muscly or not feeling masculine. And a lot of the content of males online is edited to make them look more muscly or bigger, and that's having a real disaster.
It's a growing eating disorder, a new eating disorder that is even misdiagnosed by doctors because what they're seeing is, well, you've got a good shape, you're not massively underweight or skinny…
Marianne:
When you think at what cost? What caused that same thing?
Suzanne:
It's still an eating disorder or disordered eating has still got mental health challenges that come with it. And this is certainly something that's making the problem worse.
Marianne:
Yeah. Suzanne, I think you're doing incredible things. And I hope that if anyone is watching (reading) here that's got contacts in the media, news, television, or print radio, please do share news about the Honesty About Editing Campaign, because it really matters, it's really important. And this could save lives, it really does matter.
Suzanne:
Absolutely. I mean, as I said, these mental health challenges they leave scars for life, they don't come and go overnight. So if we can protect people that's got to be better than a cure.
Marianne:
I'm going to be signing and I will be sending out to my email list as well and getting people to sign as well; it's so important. It really matters what you've done. Well done to you because this needs to happen, doesn't it?
Suzanne:
It does. And there is social media set up for the campaign. So the Instagram for the campaign is @protectyouthmentalhealth. And again, if you put the hashtag into any of the social media platforms, you'll see it on there. Feel free to sign and share away and amplify this as far and wide as we can.
Marianne:
And I will continue talk about it and I will continue to spread the messages and share the stuff. So feel free to tag me into anything and I can just share that as soon as I see it.
Suzanne:
Thank you very much.
Marianne:
Good luck with your pregnancy and good luck with the campaign. Do keep us posted how it goes. It's so nice to see you.
Suzanne Samaka created the Honesty About Editing Campaign because she was really touched when she realized that actually people are not obliged to declare whether they have edited images on social media even when used by influencers and when people are making money from it. Suzanne has launched a petition, (see the bottom of this article) Please do sign it, it's getting attention in parliament with the MPs. We need this to go big. We need YOU to share these videos, we need you to talk about it, we need you to comment, we need you to like, because we need this to happen. We've got to protect the mental health, not only of ourselves, but of our young people, even the children that we haven't even had yet - at the time of interview, Suzanne was 30 weeks pregnant!
You can get in contact with Suzanne at:
Instagram - @protectyouthmentalhealth
Twitter - @SuzanneSamaka
To watch the original chat head to: https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=532358104575433&ref=watch_permalink
To sign the petition head to: https://www.change.org/p/change-social-media-laws-to-state-when-content-is-filtered-or-edited
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