Survey Links Facebook Use to Negative Body Image

Each day we here about the negative effects that Facebook are having the population and here are the results of a US Survey.

An article today in About.com by Susan Cowden talks about the fact that The Center for Eating Disorders at Sheppard Pratt sponsored and has released the results of a national (U.S.) survey of Facebook users to determine how it affects their body image and self esteem.  The online survey was of 600 Facebook users from age 16-40 and showed that:

• 75%  are unhappy with their body
• 51%  said that Facebook makes them feel more conscious of their body and weight
• 51%  find themselves comparing their own bodies with those of friends
• 32%  report that they feel sad when looking at friends’ photo

These results are consistent with those released from another survey by the University of Haifa in Israel that linked Facebook use to eating disorders in adolescents.  Unfortunately, it seems that the immediate access to photographs and the need to always be ‘camera ready’ is impacting users of Facebook in a negative way.

Do you believe that Facebook affects how you view yourself? Do you feel pressure to always look ‘camera ready’ in case a photo ends up online?