Does your teen ever get nervous about posting photos of themselves on social media when they’re in the middle of a breakout?
According to a recent survey of more than 1,000 adolescents, more than half reported that social media makes having acne harder, and about one-third reported that social media increased their anxiety about their breakouts.
Here are some more statistics about the ways these adolescents changed their social-media behavior when their skin didn’t look as great as they wished:
More than two-thirds of the adolescents said that they believe most of their peers edit or somehow change photos of themselves to hide imperfections in their skin.
Eighty-six percent of the adolescents said they have had acne, and among those who said they have acne, 71 percent said it negatively affected their body image and attractiveness and 67 percent said it decreased their self-esteem.
And half of all the adolescents said they did at least one of the following things to avoid people seeing the imperfections in their skin:
- Choosing not to include a photo of themselves with acne
- Deleting or untagging a photo of themselves with pimples
- Asking someone to remove a picture of them with acne
- Staying off social media to avoid posting and seeing pictures of themselves
Wow—that’s a lot of pressure!
Perfectionism is rampant in our culture, and social media can increase the pressure to look perfect.
Has social media made it harder for your teen to accept themselves as they are, with all the challenges that come along with being an adolescent? What has it done to their anxiety levels? What are your strategies for helping your teen accept themselves when they don’t look as awesome as they wish they did? Share with us in the comments.