Essay Example on Since the Internet was created in 1900 it's growth has been Exponential

Since the Internet was created in 1900 it's growth has been exponential The Internet has become a universal source of information for millions of people Murphy Roser 2017 While body dissatisfaction has been shown to mediate the relationship between traditional media exposure TV and magazines and eating disorders Stice Schupak Neuberg Shaw 1994 little research had been conducted to measure the relationship between internet use and disordered eating symptomatology Some studies have provided initial evidence of the relationship between Internet use and disordered eating behaviors mediated by body dissatisfaction Tiggemann Slater 2014 These results are in line with the sociocultural theory which posits that Western society promotes the thin ideal and that this is portrayed in the media family members and peers Thompson Heinberg 1999 Attempting to look like the models from the media and achieve this ultra thin physique may lead women to body dissatisfaction dieting and finally to disordered eating Rodgers Chabrol Paxton 2011 As mentioned earlier objectification theory suggests that women are told by society to view themselves as an object and internalize society's objectifying gaze Fredrickson Roberts 1997 

The media portrays objectifying content and promotes self objectification in individuals and research has shown that traditional media is associated with an increase in self objectification Harper Tiggemann 2007 Self objectification is a predictor for disordered eating symptoms Noll Fredrickson 1998 and the use of networking sites have been associated with self objectification De Vries Peter 2013 Individuals try to present a desirable image of themselves they do this by selectively presenting certain aspects of themselves to others this is suggested by the impression management theory Leary 1992 This theory hypothesizes that individuals with a higher level of body image avoidance and disordered eating will favor social interactions as they have greater control over their self presentations Caplan 2007 Additionally body image avoidance has been associated with disordered eating behaviors and experiential avoidance of body image has been found to mediate the relationship body dissatisfaction and eating disorder symptoms Timko et al 2014 

These three theories were tested in a study conducted by Melioli Rodgers Rodrigues Chabrol 2015 where they explored the relationship between internet use and bulimic symptoms within these theoretical frameworks and found that the use of the internet and of social media in particular tempts individuals to become active users by constantly being connected to their social circle by regularly posting pictures and new statuses on different networks The thought of having one s virtual image examined and assessed by others may increase the feelings of self objectification Additionally the possibility to control one s presentation online and selectively present the most positive aspects of the self may lead to a gradual creation of an online self which may be closer to the social or media ideals than the individual really is Furthermore this study found that body shame and body image avoidance represent two mechanisms that may account for the association between internet use and bulimic symptoms Of the three frameworks impression management and self objectifications are the ones that should be considered as more useful to explore the relationships between Internet use and disordered eating symptoms Melioli et al 2015 Adolescents and young adults often use social media sites keep social ties and form new ones as well as to seek out information about others and this is a form of social grooming Tufeckci 2008 These social interactions can increase the opportunities to view the idealized versions of themselves that other users of social media post on their profiles and this in turn may lead to a greater tendency to compare themselves to the pictures they see of others Therefore according to social comparison theory Festinger 1954 it is reasonable to assume that engaging in this behaviour and process of social grooming may be strongly associated with body image dissatisfaction