#ChegaDeHate: about social networks and self-esteem –

In a controversial revelation, it has emerged that Facebook knows the effect that the photo app Instagram has on self-esteem of teenage girls. The information was recently released, proving that Mark Zuckerberg’s company, owner of the app, has been studying, at least since 2019, the effect that the app has on the mental health of younger users. The result was, again and again, that it has a negative effect mainly on girls’ self-esteem.

“We have worsened body image issues for one in three girls,” says the document, according to the Wall Street Journal. “Thirty-two percent of teen girls say that when they feel bad about their bodies, Instagram makes them feel worse.” And this includes everything from self-comparisons with unrealistic standards of beauty to the judgmental comments they receive on the networks about their appearance.

The internet has evolved a lot since it became popular and the effect of social media in mental health is one of the main discussions we see, including in the applications themselves. That’s why Good shape joins the other titles of Editora for the campaign #ChegaDeHate, a collective effort to create a friendlier internet. In particular, the posts seek to encourage conversation and exchange without hateful comments and attacks, as is common online.

Internet, social networks and self-esteem

Is the negativity of the networks chasing you? (woocat/Getty Images)

“Internet content stimulates our self-esteem because, in fact, we are comparing ourselves all the time”, explains the psychologist Fabiane de Fariacreator of the platform atherapy. “It can even damage our self-esteem, and it’s important to remember all the time that Instagram, social networks, anything we see on the internet, is a picture frame – and in the picture frames happy people are placed. ”

The professional explains that it is essential to bear in mind that what we see online is not people’s reality, but a part of what they live. Therefore, the first step to prevent living on the internet from having such a big effect on self-esteem is to remember this excerpt that we take as truth.

The psychologist also says that the effects that social networks, specifically, have on the way we see ourselves are reversible, but they start with an individual questioning. “Influence is a trigger that we automatically think about. So, we have to put in this system the capacity to question in order to be able to reverse this influence”, she explains.

An important point is that social networks were developed in a way very similar to the slot machines we see in casinos: that is, a system of almost spontaneous stimulus and response, which generate addictive behavior. The likes, comments, mentions, and the search for each of these answers online, became not only this hook for addiction to social networks, but also a mechanism of social validation. “But validation has to be with ourselves, it’s developing self-love. We don’t need an audience to validate ourselves, and that’s what we need to keep in mind”, says Fabiane.

The way we carry out this movement of disconnecting validation via social networks can vary – in addition to the first step of identifying the clippings, and not the reality, of each one in an online profile, the second would be precisely to use offline experiences or conversations to understand what is, in fact, the validation we need and want to have.

#ChegaDeHate: how to make the internet friendlier?

From mean comments to name-calling, attacks and even cancellations, it’s hard to think of the internet today as a non-toxic environment. However, as in any other environment, its level of toxicity depends on the people who are there and how they relate to each other.

“The internet has been seen as a toxic environment because people go there without the ability to filter, without judgment”, continues the psychologist. “People go to the internet, take it for themselves, they don’t make that movement of stopping, thinking and questioning.”

For the professional, however, it is also possible to reverse the relationship we have today with this environment. “It was social networks, this whole environment, that made us stronger when we were isolated and brought us closer to people when we were in a pandemic. It can be a source of help, research, connection with people who are going through the same problem as us”, she continues. “It can also be an empowering environment.”

The idea, then, is to enter the internet already with a filter. But don’t worry, it’s not a filter that changes appearance or that, once again, only shows and captures clippings of people’s lives. This filter has to do with the discernment that says why and why a person will use these applications. “It’s ter the ability to filter and use the internet for good things and not take it all for yourself. Put reflection, questioning, in the middle of the process”, concludes Fabiane.